Remove Sticky Hairspray Residue From Your Floor With A Borax And Water Paste

Getting ready in the bathroom always gets messy when it isn't cleaned immediately. You have hair all over the place, and makeup products taking up space on the counter never find their way back into the drawers. While cleaning up hair and returning items to their designated place is easy, getting hairspray residue off the floor can be more difficult. You've probably tried mopping it away or applying a floor-cleaning solution, but nothing seems to work. Never fear — borax and water are here to help clean up that sticky hairspray mess.

Yes — luckily, all you need is borax and water to remove unwanted sticky hairspray remains from your bathroom floors, and you can easily find the two ingredients at home without running to the grocery store. (Borax can be used in multiple ways around the house, such as cleaning your windows, garbage disposal, carpets, and floors.)

If it's not cleaned right away, it can be harder to remove — so here's how to best get rid of it as soon as possible.

The easiest way to remove sticky hairspray residue is with a borax and water paste. Borax is known to be used as a cleaning booster, especially in laundry, so helps whiten darker spots. Most folks use baking soda, but it isn't as strong as borax, so it won't remove hairspray buildup too well. For the borax paste, you'll need borax and hot water, a scrubbing tool like an old toothbrush or scrub brush, and a damp cleaning towel. The borax paste is safe on any flooring — linoleum, vinyl, laminate, tile, wood floors, you name it.

Mix your borax and hot water in a bowl — take care to add the hot water to the borax in small amounts until you create a smooth paste. Now, use your brush to apply the paste to the floor and scrub the excess hairspray. Or, pour the borax paste over the floor, then scrub it clean. Regardless of how you apply it, you want to scrub in circular motions until you see the hairspray remnants start to lift. Once you remove all of the stickiness, wipe the remains with your damp towel. To ensure all hairspray remains are cleaned up, mop the area with hot water and allow it to dry. If you notice a few extra sticky spots, use the paste as a spot treatment to remove them.

The borax and water paste can work for different areas around the house with hairspray buildup. For example, the bathroom walls and doors can be exposed to the hairspray if you're holding the can several inches away from your hair. You don't want the walls and doors to have a layer of remnant on them — this is where dust particles will congregate. Sometimes you can get away with wiping it with a damp towel if you clean up the hairspray as soon as you're done using it, but if you leave it standing for too long, then the borax paste will remove it quickly. Moreover, you can use the paste on countertops and glass.

On the other hand, if you wear glasses while doing your hair, they can also get exposed to and sprayed by the hairspray. Some folks aren't comfortable wearing contacts, so dealing with sticky glasses can be frustrating. While using your regular lens cleaner spray is an option, the borax paste is handy in case you run out of your cleaning spray. However, you'll want to add more water to the paste to create a liquid solution for removing residue on your glasses.