How to Remove Glitter from Your Clothes

Co-authored by Sergey Paramonov and Amber Crain

Last Updated: October 5, 2022

Craft projects, holiday decorations and special events may leave your clothing covered in glitter. Unfortunately, glitter is stubborn and it will usually take more than just brushing at it with your hand to remove it from fabric. From there the glitter can spread all over your home and bedding unless you get rid of it completely. The techniques for removing glitter from your clothing are easy and all you need are items you probably already have – tape, a lint roller, and aerosol hair spray.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Using Adhesives

1
Wash and dry the clothing. You don’t have to do this first, but if you’re dealing with a significant amount of glitter, you probably should – otherwise you may find yourself going through a lot of tape or lint roller sheets. Run the glittery clothing through your typical washing and drying cycle. Make sure you wash these items by themselves. Adding other items into the same load with them will transfer the glitter to those garments, as well.
2
Carefully apply strips of Scotch or masking tape to the fabric. Lay the clothing out flat on a hard surface. Pull a large piece of tape off the tape roll. Place the tape strip, sticky side down, directly onto the fabric. Press down firmly. Then pull the tape up from the fabric. The glitter will stick to the tape. Repeat this as many times as necessary to remove all the glitter.^{[1]
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- After using a single piece of tape several times, the sticky side will start to lose its adhesive properties. Throw it away and start with a new piece.
- Avoid using duct tape, which will not work as well as Scotch or masking tape and may damage some fabrics.
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3
Use a lint roller. Lint rollers are a little more user-friendly and work better than tape strips on large surface areas. Remove the outer wrapping from the roller to expose the sticky surface. Roll it up and down over the fabric. After you make several passes, the adhesive properties will lessen. Pull the sticky sheet from the roller along the perforated line, which will reveal a fresh sticky side. Make as many passes as it takes to remove the glitter from the clothing.
- For stubborn glitter, use the roller vertically, then go across the same area with horizontal motions.
- Lint rollers can be purchased at any grocery store. They are usually found on the same as aisle as laundry detergent and other related laundry items.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Using Hair Spray

1
Coat the clothing with aerosol hair spray. Hold the glittery items in front of you and spray them liberally with hair spray from an aerosol can. Make sure you get into all of the nooks and crannies of your garments. If you’re dealing with a large amount of glitter, turn the items inside out and spray the interior, as well. Allow the hair spray to dry completely.
- Avoid using hair spray that doesn’t come in an aerosol spray can, since the mist won’t be fine enough to be effective.
2
Wash and dry the clothing. After the hair spray has completely dried, place the items in your washing machine. Wash them as you normally would. Once the cycle is compete, remove the garments and place them in the dryer. Dry them as usual. Once dry, pull the clothing out and shake them out. They should be glitter-free.
- Do not put any other clothing in with your glittery items or you risk transferring the glitter. Wash and dry them by themselves.^{[2]
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3
Clean out the inside of your washer and dryer. To prevent the glitter from spreading onto future loads of your clothing, thoroughly clean the inside of both the washer and dryer before doing any more laundry. Get a sponge damp and wipe down the interior parts of your machines. Make sure to get into the nooks and crannies. Clean your dryer’s lint trap thoroughly.
- If you suspect glitter has fallen into the slot that your lint trap slides into, use your vacuum cleaner with the hose attachment to retrieve it.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Removing Glitter from Other Places

1
Use coconut oil to remove glitter from your face and skin. Pour a small amount of coconut oil into your hand. Rub the substance onto your skin gently, right over the glitter, using circular motions. The sparkly bits will loosen and dislodge. Soak a large cotton ball with water and run it over the same area of skin. This will remove the oil and get rid of any remaining pieces of glitter on your skin.^{[3]
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2
Use olive oil to remove glitter from your hair. Hop into the shower and pour a liberal amount of high quality olive oil into your hands. Massage the oil into your hair, taking care to work it all the way down to the scalp. Leave the oil on your hair for at least ten minutes, then rinse it out thoroughly. The glitter will wash away with the oil and your hair will feel silky smooth.^{[4]
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- If you have oily hair, apply your regular shampoo, work it into a lather, and then rinse the oil and shampoo from your hair thoroughly.
3
Vacuum your carpet with a hose attachment. If you’ve dropped glitter onto your carpet, get out your vacuum cleaner and use the hose attachment to suck up as much of it as possible. Do not use the attachment with the brush on the end, or the glitter will become embedded in the bristles and spread around your home.
- Follow up with strips of tape to get the stubborn pieces out of the carpet.
4
Use a wet cloth on tile and hardwood flooring. Get as much of the glitter up as you can by using your broom. Be sure to rinse your broom bristles out later – otherwise, the glitter will spread. Then soak a cloth with water and wipe down the flooring. The glitter should stick to the cloth. Run it under the tap to rinse the glitter off, then continue wiping the floor down until you’ve removed all of the glitter.^{[5]
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- You can use the tape method for any stubborn pieces of glitter that remain.
- Use a cloth for this – don’t use your mop. The glitter will embed itself into the mop fibers and can be difficult to remove.

Community Q&A

Question

I've got a piece of fabric that has glitter and would prefer it without the glitter, any ideas on how to remove it?

doppy doppy

Community Answer

Using a regular can of aerosol hairspray spray over all the glitter, making sure you cover every bit of glitter. Allow the hairspray to dry until it's hard. Now wash clothing as usual, by itself, in the machine. A regular wash should remove all glitter.