The Easiest Way To Clean Up Spilled Glitter Is Already In Your Home

Glitter, whether it's for crafting, decorating, celebrating, or adding a bit of sparkle to skin or hair, can often be one of the most messy items you can bring into your home. This finely ground substance, while pretty and whimsical, can easily find its way into carpets, clothes, and unintended areas long after its moment has passed. If you're still picking up glitter from holiday tree ornaments well into July, one very simple household hack may be game-changing. To quickly remove glitter from a surface, use an item that may already be in your laundry room or wardrobe – a lint roller.

Adhesive lint rollers are the saviors of most pet owners, but they can also be great for picking up substances like glitter from all surfaces, especially carpets, rugs, and upholstery. Using a lint roller before turning to the vacuum cleaner for larger spills could also save you time and energy.

Use the lint roller in much the same way you would use it to remove pet hair or lint. Simply roll it over the surface of the spill a few times and peel away the adhesive sheets as you go. Discard these sheets into the trash can before the glitter starts to fall off and make more of a mess. 

This lint roller hack works best when used in conjunction with other methods to get glitter fully cleaned up. Use the roller to get most of the glitter out of a carpet or upholstered piece of furniture, going back in again with your vacuum to remove any pieces that are stuck deeper in the fibers. For hard surfaces, using the roller along with a wet cloth should clean up any spills before they spread elsewhere in the home. If necessary, you can go back in with the lint roller again to remove the last small bits of glitter. 

While this trick can work on almost every surface, it works especially well on soft and upholstered materials. It can even work on clothes, pillowcases, blankets, and other fabric items, though you may need to also run these pieces through the wash to fully remove the fine particles. After removing most of the glitter with the lint roller, pre-treat the item with a coating of hair spray. Then, once it's dry, run it through a regular wash cycle.

Additionally, the best way to prevent glitter from getting everywhere is by planning ahead. Especially with children, try limiting the glitter to certain areas and covering surfaces with craft paper or plastic for easier clean-up. Large-grain glitter is much easier to remove from a surface than finer varieties, so consider choosing larger particles over smaller ones. If you don't have a lint roller readily available, you can also use masking tape or duct tape wrapped around your hand with the sticky side facing out for a similar trick.