How to Get Super Glue off of Your Hands with Salt

Standard Method

Put a little salt in your hands. There's no "right" amount of salt to use here — just use more or less depending on how much glue you need to remove. Regular table salt works great, but you can try this method with sea salt, kosher salt, or another type of fine-grain salt as well. Avoid harsh, coarse salts like rock salt, which can cut up your hands. If you're unsure how much to use, start with two tablespoons and add more as needed.

Add water to make a paste. Adding about half as much water as you added salt should make a loose, salty paste. Stir the salt and water together in your hand (or a separate container) to get it uniform. Warm water works best. Warmer temperatures speed up the reactions that help break down glue at a chemical level. For a particularly tough job, try adding lemon juice instead of water. The acid in the juice helps dissolve the glue.

Rub the paste into your hand for about a minute. Use one hand to rub it into the glue-covered area on the other hand. If both hands have glue on them, rub them together with the paste in between. Use constant, gentle pressure to work the salt into the glue. As you rub, it will gradually cause the glue to break up and peel away. After about a minute, rinse some of the salt off and see whether the glue seems to be coming off. If the glue has all washed away, you're already done! However, it will usually take a few more applications before you make significant progress.

Add more salt and water as needed. As you continue rubbing, you'll gradually lose the paste (which can make it a good idea to do this over the sink. Continue adding salt and water to keep the paste's loose but abrasive consistency. Depending on how thick the glue is, you may want to have several applications of salt measured out ahead of time.

Repeat until the salt is gone. Keep rubbing the salt paste in, rinsing bits of glue away, and applying more salt paste. Eventually, you'll be able to remove much of the glue. You may not be able to get all of it off the first time you try, but repeated applications will definitely speed up the process. Even if the glue doesn't come off right away, don't worry — it will eventually fall off on its own. The natural oils in your hands will loosen the glue over time and it will fall off through your normal daily actions. It's rare for super glue to stick to the skin for more than about two days.

Additional Ideas

Try using olive oil with the salt. Olive oil (and other cooking oils like canola oil, peanut oil, etc.) work just as well as water for making a salt paste. They also provide a few side benefits on top of this — for instance, they're good natural moisturizers and leave skin feeling soft and smooth. Some also find that oils give their skin a healthy, attractive "glow." Note, however, that oils aren't always a wise idea. If you have naturally oily skin already, adding extra oil may cause blemishes, for instance.

Use acetone to dissolve the glue. Acetone is a chemical solvent used to dissolve certain types of adhesives and plastic compounds. Using acetone in your paste instead of water will make most types of super glue dissolve much faster than normal. However, care must be taken — acetone can be harsh on dry or delicate skin, so use it in moderation and follow up with a moisturizer. Acetone is found in most (but not all) nail polish removers. Check the ingredients label on a bottle of nail polish remover before using it — non-acetone products may not work as well.

Apply laundry detergent. Laundry detergent is great for working away at dried-on super glue. However, you won't want to substitute it for the water in the method above. Instead, add a drop of detergent to a small amount of water in a bowl (no more than 1-2 tablespoons) and mix salt into this. Use the resulting soapy paste to break down the super glue. Rinse well with water when you're done. Leftover soapy residue on your hands can make its way into your next meal if you don't wash your hands. While this is unlikely to be dangerous, it can make you sick.

Use the salt rub as an exfoliator. The salt rub in the method above can be a great homemade beauty product even if you don't have super glue on your hands. Rubbing clean skin gently with the rub removes the top layer of dead cells, leaving your skin looking fresh and healthy. Best of all, since the only ingredients are salt and water (or oil), this DIY exfoliating scrub stores well. Just keep it in an airtight container in a cool, dark place and the paste should keep for months.