All The Tools You Need To Remove A Gel Manicure At Home, According To Nail Techs

With the right tools and a little patience, you really can do it yourself.

Whether the polish is starting to chip or you’re sick of the color, sometimes you must get rid of your manicure. But if you got gel nails, taking it off is a little more intensive than wiping with some remover and a cotton ball.

Mariia Demchenko via Getty Images

According to Saren Thach, a nail tech and co-owner at Philly Nail Company, this is because gel polishes contain photoinitiators and other ingredients that go through a chemical reaction called polymerization when exposed to LED lights. Ann Nguyen, a nail tech and owner of Top Coat Nail Studio in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, called this process “curing,” noting that as the polish hardens to a solid gel under LED lights, it becomes harder to take off, which is why it chips less than regular manis. 

Getting your nails professionally redone is always an option, but Thach and Nguyen said it is possible to safely remove a gel manicure at home. They both recommend ensuring you have all the right tools and trying to be patient and gentle in the process, though. You may have to repeat some of the steps mentioned below so you don’t force or pry the polish off, potentially hurting your nails in the process. 

To help you on your DIY nail journey, Thach, Nguyen and other nail techs broke down how to take off a gel mani and everything you need in the process.

1. File off the top coat

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According to Lisa McElhone, founder of Lacquer Lounge in Philadelphia, the first step to removing a gel manicure at home is carefully filing off the shiny seal of the topcoat. "You know you’ve removed enough when the color is dull," McElhone told HuffPost. Ann Nguyen, nail tech and owner of Top Coat Nail Studio in nearby Bryn Mawr, said you should use 100/180 grit nail files, which are rough enough without being too harsh. 

Get a 100/180 file from Amazon for $7.99.

2. Lather on the cuticle oil...

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After scratching down the topcoat, generously apply cuticle oil, said Saren Thach, co-owner and nail tech of Philly Nail Company. "Put it around the cuticle only, not the nail bed," she said. "Rub upwards towards knuckles."

Get the cuticle oil from Amazon for $9.87.

3. ...or some Vaseline or Aquaphor

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If you want to be extra careful with your skin, Nguyen and McElhone said to use Aquaphor or Vaseline around your cuticles and the skin around your nails to not only hydrate but also create a barrier between your skin and acetone, according to McElhone.

Get them both from Amazon: the Vaseline for $6.28 and the Aquaphor for $9.58.

4. Foil-wrap cotton balls dipped in pure acetone

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After you prep your nails with oils, it's time for pure acetone.

"Soak a cotton ball in acetone and place it directly on the nail. Then, wrap the nail with a small square (4x4) of aluminum foil to hold the cotton ball in place and sit for 15-30 minutes," McElhone suggested. To speed up the process, she suggested putting a hot towel over your fingers. 

All three techs said that this is the step for which you want to be the most patient. After the first 15-30 minutes, they suggest pressing down, sliding the cotton ball and foil off and checking to see if you need to rewrap your nails. If there's still a lot of polish, or if it doesn't seem to be easily flaking off, you'll want to re-wrap. (Note that while acetone is safe to use at home, you should keep it out of reach of pets and children and be careful not to spill or ingest it.)

Get them from Amazon: the acetone for $8.45, the cotton balls for $2.69, and the foil sheets for $7.99.

5. Gently push the rest of the polish off with sticks

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After fully soaking and wrapping the nails, the rest of the polish should come off, the techs said. They all recommended using orange wood cuticle pusher stickers to gently remove the remainder.

Get the sticks from Amazon for $5.99.

6. Give your naked nails a little buff

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After all the gel polish is gone, Thach recommended giving your nails a gentle buff and then putting more cuticle oil onto the nailbed. "The key to keeping your nails strong and healthy is to apply cuticle oil often after removal. This will prevent nail brittleness and helps keep the flexibility of the nails to prevent breakage," she said.

Get the buffer from Amazon for $4.69.

7. Make sure your hands and nails are hydrated

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To keep your hands feeling good, McElhone recommended putting hand cream on your nails and hands to keep them moisturized. Favorite hand creams among readers here include the heavy-duty O'Keefee's Working Hands, La Roche-Posay's soothing Cicaplast hand cream, and L’Occitane's shea butter hand cream.

Get them from Amazon: O'Keefee's Working Hands cream for $17.99, La Roche-Posay's soothing Cicaplast hand cream for $10.99, and L'Occitane's shea butter hand cream for $13.

8. Or grab a handy kit

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To really make the process especially easy, Nguyen pointed out you can find gel removal kits online, but you'll want to make sure they have all the tools you need and they likely won't come with acetone. This set includes 10 nail clips, an empty nail polish remover pump bottle, 500 cotton pads, a 100/180 grit nail file, a 1000/4000 grit nail buffer, a nail brush, and two stainless steel remover tools. 

Get the kit from Amazon for $8.99.