Super glue can attach to the skin very easily as it dries out rather quickly. The most annoying thing is that it won’t come off the way you would want it to. Although this problem isn’t that hazardous, it can lead to serious complications in the form of skin diseases or worse.
That’s why you need to learn how to get super glue off as soon as you find yourself in that sticky situation. This article will show you a couple of easy ways that everyone can try out for themselves in order to remove superglue from their skin.
Getting Super Glue Off Your Skin
How hard it is to get this sticky matter off varies from case to case. However, this list will provide everyone with a solution, no matter the situation.
1. Peel It Off
The first thing that you should do once you find yourself in this situation is to try and peel the glue off. If your skin is rather sensitive then you should avoid peeling as it may damage your skin.
Although this step seems like a pretty logical thing to do, it comes with a catch. You shouldn’t try to take off the super glue if it hasn’t dried out yet. Doing that would only spread the glue even more.
Simply wait for it to dry and then use your fingernails (or tweezers), grab the layer by the edge and try to peel the whole thing off.
If you feel pain of any intensity, stop immediately.
2. Use Warm Water
Soaking the skin in warm soapy water is usually the second step when you are trying to remove super glue from your skin. It is even applicable in the most severe cases of sticky accidents, as we can see in this report where the poor man’s hands were glued together.
Although it didn’t manage to get rid of the super glue in the case above, warm water mixed with soap is known for softening the glue and leading to its easy removal.
The procedure doesn’t take much time to do. Fill a bowl with warm water and add one tablespoon of mild soap. Now, simply soak the glued area and leave it in the bowl for one to two minutes. After that, try to peel the glue off. If it won’t come off yet, try it again.
This solution might be all that you need to get the super glue off, and even if it didn’t work, it will help the other methods.
3. Use Acetone
There was an interesting research study conducted on twenty healthy individuals. All of them put glue on themselves, mainly on their arms. The purpose of this research was to find out what solution works faster: waiting for the glue to dry or using solvents.
It turned out that acetone is one of the fastest tools for getting rid of super glue.
What’s important to know here is that this method works best on people who have harder, tougher skins. People with sensitive skin might find acetone painful as it can dry out their skin and irritate it. Also, acetone should never be applied to open wounds.
Here is the recommended procedure:
- Soften the super glue by using the previous method (method number two) exactly as it is explained. As an extra step, you can add a dash of vinegar. After finishing this step, dry out your skin and continue to the next one.
- Get a nail polish remover that contains acetone. Apply the acetone/nail polish remover to a cotton ball and go over the glue. After a couple of minutes, the super glue should start peeling off as acetone is a solvent for most brands of super glue.
4. Use Lemon Juice
The acid in lemon juice has a similar effect on super glue as acetone. However, lemon juice works best for smaller sticky incidents. Little patches of glue can be softened by lemon juice after a couple of minutes, but when it comes to bigger ones, it might be challenging.
What you can do here is pour the lemon juice into a bowl. Then soak your skin for about 10 minutes. In this case, you can use a cotton swab or even a toothbrush for applying the lemon juice onto the sticky area.
After this is done, use a dry towel and wipe the glue from your skin. It is advised to use a moisturizer after this procedure.
5. Use Margarine
This method is excellent for people with soft and sensitive skin. It is also very simple.
Rub margarine to the glue until it is softened enough for you to peel it off. That’s literally all that there is to it. If you’ve just run out of margarine, olive oil can be an excellent substitute. The procedure with olive oil is exactly the same.
As shown in this medical report, margarine has proven to be quite useful even in some severe cases. In the report, margarine was used to get rid of super glue from a 2-year-old’s mouth.
What if Super Glue Gets in Contact with Your Eyes?
If the super glue got on your eyes, here is something that might help you.
In this case, you should try the second method on our list. Grab a soft piece of cloth and dip it in warm water. After that, rub the glued area very softly. Once you’ve done that, apply a gaze and leave it on for a while. You need to be patient and calm.
What’s important here is not to force your eyes to open. Just wait until you’re able to open them naturally.
Because of irritation, tears might start to flow. You shouldn’t wipe them away as they can help speed up the process by clearing out the glue.
What if You Swallowed Glue?
Swallowing glue represents the most dangerous type of “sticky incidents”. If that’s the case, quickly rinse your mouth with warm water and head out to the emergency room.
Super glue can also cause allergic reactions in some people. Those who are allergic should also immediately go to the emergency room.
The Final Verdict
Getting super glue on your skin is more annoying than it is dangerous. However, if it is left untreated it can cause serious problems and complications.
This article showed you how to get super glue off quickly at home. All of these methods are safe and easy to use.
References:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15620783
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323532.php
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11779306
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5057053/
https://www.wikihow.com/Remove-Super-Glue
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12964347
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4904143/
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