Hand Sanitizer – The Primer Cleaner

Last week I was working on a client project, applying some white oil-based paint primer over some stains on a wall before I painted. When I got home, I brought out my paint trays and let them dry in the garage. I moved the truck out of the garage to get ready for a night out with my wife. Once the truck was out, I decided I would throw away the used rollers and wash up the handles.

I walked inside and once I stepped through the door, I realized I had primer all over me. I so focused on the cleaning, I didn’t notice the primer was on my hands, which soon was on my nice dark green jacket as a few hand-sized globs.

I wasn’t much for fixing clothing, I thought it was ruined for sure, but my wife urged me to fix it. Together, we worked though a couple ideas and here is what I learned.

Our Process:

First, we tried dish soap. It wasn’t a great option. It took out a little, but not much.

Then, we tried paint thinner. Don’t try paint thinner. It does nothing.

Finally, we tried hand sanitizer. Hand sanitizer worked great! I washed the coat after applying it and there was no discoloration or damage to the fabric. I can’t even see where the paint was before!

I would highly recommend using hand sanitizer as your first method of oil-based paint removal from any clothes. Another point to note, you need to get after the paint stain early. I was lucky I was at home, but if I was on a job out of the area, I might not have got the stain out.

If you want more ideas on how to get any oil-based paint out of clothing, check out this article from Hunker.com.

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