How to Remove Makeup from Clothing WITHOUT Washing

Posted by Big Brand Wholesale.com on 8th Oct 2021

No matter what you sell online, chances are you have gotten a product with makeup on it. It has always made me wonder how makeup gets on some of the things we have seen it on, ranging from clothing to home goods to shoes… yes, SHOES! How do you get lipstick on a shoe? I guess that part is a mystery, but removing the makeup isn’t. Here’s what you need to do:

Tip: People keep saying to use Dawn Dish Soap but unless you want to wash the clothing afterwards, Dawn contains dyes (which is why it’s pretty blue or a beautiful green color). Those dyes will get on the clothing. The Dye from Dawn Dishsoap will come out but you’ll have to launder or spot-wash the soap. In my opinion, this is a pain in the arse.

Removing makeup from clothing is pretty much the same as removing Sharpie Marker or Ink from Clothing. Thankfully, makeup is usually easier to remove.

What you will need is a NEW sponge or toothbrush. Personally, I think the toothbrush offers a better “scrub” than the sponge. The absolute best toothbrush for cleaning is the Dr. Perfect “extra big toothbrushes”.

The bristle part of the toothbrush is seriously double the size of normal toothbrushes. This allows you to get the job done faster. I cannot rave about the Dr. Perfect enough. My family uses these and we will never go back to a normal toothbrush again.

If you prefer to go the sponge route, you absolutely must purchase this giant 40-pack sponges off Amazon. This is another product that my family swears by:

We have reordered the 40-pack multiple times and have been thrilled about the purchase (and cost! They’re under $12!).

Next you will want to use the DRY toothbrush or sponge to remove whatever makeup will come off effortlessly. It’s likely none will come off but it’s absolutely worth the try.

Next, use the sponge or brush with water. If the makeup comes out with just water; problem solved!

If there is still makeup on the garment it’s time to make genuine effort. You can either purchase a product designed to remove stains or DIY with simple, non-messy ingredients you have at home. If you want to buy a stain remover you should pickup a little bottle of Goof Off:

This product is only about $3 for the small bottle on Amazon. If you love the product there’s a larger size bottle for around $7. The good thing about Goof Off is that its designed for removing almost ALL stains, including marker and pen in addition to removing sticker residue! You can see how this product is valuable to online sellers! BUT, if you won’t want to buy Goof Off you can instead DIY the stain removal.

TIP: IGNORE STUPID MAKEUP REMOVAL TUTORIALS ONLINE! These morons tell you to blend together all of these kitchen ingredients and dump it on the clothing. This is so dumb. Please don’t do this! All you need to use is Alcohol! The key is using something with HIGH ALCOHOL CONCENTRATION. Here’s a couple options:

Actual alcohol - Gin, Vodka, White Rum.
Rubbing Alcohol
Cheap Hairspray - Yes, only the cheap ones.
Nail Polish Remover - AVOID THOSE PINK OR BLUE COLORED POLISH REMOVERS!!!!!
Hand Sanitizer - Again, make sure it is CLEAR. Avoid the colored ones and be sure to avoid anything with glitter in it or those little bead things. For Petes Sake, just use normal, boring sanitizer.

Other ONLINE SUGGESTIONS - These are NOT our suggestions but these are super popular online:

White Vinegar - I’ve heard endlessly that this works. Personally I would be too concerned that my garment would end up smelling like Vinegar… yuck. DO NOT USE APPLE CIDER VINEGAR!!! I don’t care what online people tell you; don’t. Just don’t. Unless you plan to keep the item for yourself or completely launder it afterwards.
Lemon Juice - This is another one people swear by. If you really want to try this make sure the vinegar isn’t dyed yellow. Yep, they really do dye lemon juice.

The rest of the tutorial is pretty obvious stuff: