Remember that day not too long ago where my day was so epically bad that I had to post about it? Yeah, the day with not one, but two potty-training accidents in an hour, spilled milk and flour, scorched dinner, and general chaos?
Remember how I ended that night with such a sweet surprise of silly putty in my back jean pocket?
Well, good news!
I got all that silly putty out, even the deeply smashed in parts, and it was ridiculously simple.
First off, as soon as I discovered the silly putty, I pulled out as much as I could. But of course, since I’d sat on it for a while before I found it, it was stuck pretty well.
There was a good bit of silly putty left smooshed into the fabric, and I had no idea how to get it off. I actually waited a day or two before even trying to tackle the mess because I was a little worried that it would require a lot of effort.
After I pulled out as much silly putty as I could by hand.
However, I also had a few pairs of Elijah’s jeans marked up with dry erase marker, so I decided to experiment on both problems at the same time.
I investigated silly putty remedies on Pinterest and Google, and I found that many solutions called for ice cubes or freezing the silly putty and/or rubbing alcohol and WD40.
*SPOILER ALERT* – None of those are the easy solution that I found!
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- Ice in the putty pocket.
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- After letting the ice sit on the fabric for over 10 minutes, then picking off pieces of putty.
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- Other side of the pocket after picking off frozen putty. Fun.
I did try stuffing the pocket with ice cubes, and I managed to pick a few tiny pieces off after the ice froze the putty, but glancing around at my table, I spotted something else that I decided to try.
Hand sanitizer.
With its alcohol-base but thicker consistency, I had just seen it help somewhat to get dry erase markers out of Elijah’s jeans, and since so many silly putty solutions suggestion rubbing alcohol, the hand sanitizer was worth a try.
I turned the pocket inside out, with the putty-iest parts showing and squirted some sanitizer on it.
Hand sanitizer on the pocket.
All I did was massage the gel into the putty and use my nails to scrub it in a bit. A few seconds of working it in, and the putty dissolved, leaving the jeans clean.
That was it. A few more squirts of the sanitizer and rubbing it in, and the pocket was done. All the silly putty was gone without a whole lot of effort.
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- Clean pockets, still damp from the hand sanitizer, but free of putty.
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- Other side of the pocket, all clean
After that, I just washed the jeans as I normally would.*
It was amazingly simple.
*Note: Since hand sanitizer is alcohol-based, it might stain some fabrics, such as silk. As with all cleaners, test an inconspicuous spot of the fabric first.
With boys, I’ve learned how to handle all kinds of stains:
How to Get Dry Erase Marker Out of Clothing
How to Get Grease Stains (even set-in ones) Out of Clothing
How to Get Grass Stains Out of Clothes
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That hand sanitizer trick for silly putty is amazing!! We had silly putty all over a mermaid snuggy tail. The hand sanitizer dissolved it right out with just a bit of rubbing it in…satin or “furry” didn’t matter what type of fabric. No staining. No silly putty. AMAZING!! So thankful I found you on Pinterest. We saved a mermaid’s tail from taking a dumpster dive!
Yea! I’m so glad, Becky! I’m sure you’re not the only one in your household to be glad that you were able to save the mermaid tail! Happy I could help.
Wow did that ever work! I was LIVID that my son got silly putty all over my brand new throw cushions. I tried this trick, and now you can’t even tell. Thank you, thank you!
It works! Thank you!!!
You are welcome, Shannon! 🙂
I came home and found my favorite sherpa throw with silly putty dried hard in several places and it was A LOT of silly putty! I thought I’d have to throw it away. The clear hand sanitizer worked amazingly well! I did have to saturate it, work to take off chunks, then saturate again and work out with my finger nails and used a wipe to keep cleaning out of my nails and off the blanket, but with patience I was able to save the blanket. You do need to allow the hand sanitizer to sit for a few minutes, making it easier to scrape, so it wasn’t total magic, but compared to the other posts I read and mess of WD40, this was a miracle!!!
I’m so glad it saved your throw, Linda. Yes, sometimes it requires a little more waiting or effort, but I was really happy to find something simple that took care of it! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
That is an amazing tip! My kiddo cake in with putty on her jeans, her sweatshirt, and her robe. I googled solutions and found this. I told her about it and she took it outside and worked on it for about ten minutes. She came back in and had it all scraped off. I’m impressed!
My son decided the best place to test his new glow in the dark silly putty was under his covers at night. What a surprise to find in the morning! The hand sanitizer worked like a charm and even saved his favorite stuffed lovey. I can’t thank you enough.
Hi, Erica! I’m so glad it worked for you! You are welcome. 🙂
My son did the same thing last night! I saved his shirt with sanitizer, but haven’t tried the fleece blanket yet. Based on these comments, I’m very optimistic that it will work! Thank you for sharing!
This totally worked. My 10 year old got it all out herself. It was stuck on the couch cover which had been washed AND dried.
I’m so glad it was helpful for you, Bonnie! 🙂
This just saved my $200 Columbia coat!! So EASY! Thank you SO much!!!
Awesome, Kelli! You are welcome. 🙂
Yes it worked!!! So easy! I was holding my infant at the time so I put the sanitizer on and let it just sit. I came back to it and it was all disintegrated so I just did a little scraping and threw it in the wash! Favourite baby outfit saved!!!
Awesome, Hope! There are some little outfits that would just be heartbreaking to lose!
My sister got putty on my dad’s really expensive shirts. I couldn’t find rubbing alcohol so I look for something else. I tried this and it worked!! Like really well. Thank you so much
Awesome, Jenna!
It sorta worked
I cannot believe how well this worked! I was ready to throw away my daughter’s car seat and buy a new one. She had it all over the seat and one of her favorite pairs of pants. I squeezed some sanitizer on them and the putty just disappeared! Thank you so much!
Awesome, Nicole! Car seats aren’t cheap, so I’m so happy it worked.
Thank you so much! I was worried that my grandmother’s quilt was ruined! I’m so glad I found this solution! I can’t thank you enough!
Thank you I thought I was going to have to throw away my sheets.
Thank you soooooooo much. The silly putty got stuck to one of my dresses today and it was a really pretty one. Using the hand sanitizer worked like a charm. Again thank you soooooooo much
You are so welcome, Caitlin! I’m glad it worked and saved your dress. There’s nothing like a great dress, is there? 🙂
Amazing! Just rescued my daughters white dress from silver putty! Dissolved it no issues then used some vanish to remove the last of the colour stain. Looks good as new. So glad I googled this or the dress would’ve been in the bin. Never would have thought hand sanitizer would be good for cleaning with lol. Took 10 minutes tops to remove putty about 2 inches diameter. Then 5 minutes giving it a rub with some vanish and a rinse – stain all gone. Thank you so much for this discovery!
You’re welcome, Jennifer! It was all a discover from my own necessity! Haha! The things that kids help us learn, right? 😉
After being woken up by my little boy with a lump of putty on the back of his pjs I panicked as am holiday with none of my usual cleaning aids! But I did have hand sanitizer and this really works!!! Will have to dig out hubbies shorts stained with purple putty when I get home to see if I can budge that… Thanks for the help!
You’re my hero today! Now if you could just give me the solution to getting nail polish out of a bathroom rug. 😂
Oh, yay! I’m glad I could help, Robyn. 🙂
Thank you so so much! I got 2 containers of putty on my fav pair of sheets. I got so nervous but then I tried hand sanitizer and boom the putty was gone!! I then realized I got more on my favorite comforter and blanket. I got all the putty out in about 10 minutes! You are my hero thanks so much!
Thank you so much. My son got putty in my blanket and i thought i would habe to throw it out. When I read on line about the ice and alcohol I thought oh man. But I ran across this and it worked like a charm. It can out so easy and it save my blanket. I can’t thank you enough.
You are quite welcome, Arian! I’m just sharing what worked for me because I know I’m not the only one with kids who find themselves with silly putty. 🙂 So glad it helped you, too!
You are awesome, putty dissolved right away. Saved son’s new bedspread. Thank you.
Do you know how to get ink off bluejeans.
Hi, Virginia! I’m so glad it helped! And as for the blue jeans, I’d try hand sanitizer on them, too, as alcohol-based things like hairspray or hand sanitizer are great for getting ink out of most fabrics. I would follow the same process I use for getting dry erase marker out of my boys’jeans. https://lifeinlapehaven.com/2016/01/12/get-dry-erase-marker-out/
You just saved me from throwing out a pair of pants! Thanks for taking the time to share this. 🙂
You are welcome, Miriam!
This remedy is brilliant. I tried four different ways to remove the Melting a Snowman from my daughters brand new pajamas before I found your solution . The putty had managed to get everywhere!!!! This hand sanitizer tip is gold! Thank you sooo much. I showed my daughter the results and her tears were dried. Thank you so much. #sograteful (Sydney, Australia)
Oh, Katrina, you are welcome! So happy to have helped you save those PJ’s! 🙂
Thank you this totally worked. I was able to save my favorite yoga pants!
This worked great, so fast, and no scrubbing!
WOW!!!! Thank you!!!! How wonderful!!! Fast and easy! Thank you!
This was the best solution i have ever used! Thank you!!!! My kid apparently snuck it into bed with him last night and it was all over his sheets, favourite blanket and comforter 🙁 It really was amazing how quickly this worked 🙂
Awesome, Erin! Kids can be sneaky, can’t they? 🙂 I’m happy you found my post, and I’m so glad it helped you out.
Totally worked for me! I too saw the post for wd40 and we have brand new carpet and my daughter got silly putty all over it. I didn’t want to put anything one the carpet that would ruin it. The hand sanitizer totally worked!!!
Thank you. This tip saved my sons favorite stuffed animal after he went to bed with silly putty one night. The stuffy was a present from my late father and irreplaceable. It worked so fast.
Thank you for saving my sofa from purple putty. Also sending a thank you from my son as your tips saved his putty which wasn’t on the sofa 😊
Laura & son, so happy to help! I’m glad he gets to keep playing (safely) with his the putty.
I had worked and worked to get putty off my granddaughter’s navy blue lace dress. The sanitizer took it out instantly! Only trouble is it also took out some color 🙁 But at least the putty is gone and maybe won’t show so much when it dries. As they say, “you can’t see the numbers on a racehorse”, so maybe on a moving child, the color difference won’t show.
Acetone FREE nail polish remover and blot. Then wash as usual. I have done this before on a soft beige bedroom carpet. Worked great. Good luck
This is a freaking miracle! My son got putty on the hoodie I bought him for back to school just a few days ago. Hand sanitizer just took it right out, I was completely shocked!
IT’S JUST LIKE MAGIC! Oh my word, thank you for posting. Saved my son’s brand new shorts in less than 30 seconds. Just. Like. Magic.
Thank you for your tip. In getting ready to use it now to get putty out of my heated blanket. It’s been a while since I’ve had this happen, but I’m a mom of 3 boys and 1 girl. I STILL have putty stuck in my popcorn ceiling from 7ish years ago. This doesn’t work on ceilings, lol. I do have a tip for you. If you haven’t already run into this, nail polish in the carpet. Let it dry completely. Spray it with Windex(original blue) leave for 5 minutes, spray again and rub. If it is ready it will pill up, if you need to let it sit a few more minutes it won’t. Once it pills up rub a bit and you’ll see it cone right out like magic. It’s AMAZING!
We can’t afford much of anything new, so almost everything we own is used, hand-me-down, cheap, broken/chipped/stained/ripped…and frankly, just plain ugly. A couple years ago I happened across an amazing deal ($5/ea) on 3 brand new duvet covers that were beautiful, and a perfectly unique design for my daughters. The price shot up 6× as much a day or 2 after I ordered them! I even had a relative collect the package from our house when it was delivered so it couldn’t be stolen; the covers were only $15 but felt “priceless” to me! I was beyond thrilled to finally give my children something they could feel proud of when friends came over, since most everything else we own is shabby. Well, last night I discovered one of the duvets had silly putty ALL OVER it, on both sides, and particularly on the white part. It was a HORRIBLE mess. It was an innocent accident – in fact my daughter had been trying to write a sweet message to her daddy and me on her bed rail with silly putty and it slipped off during the night! – but I still had to leave the room to have a little cry. Why did it have to be one of the only beautiful things we owned?! (I do try to keep the right perspective on “things” but raising kids is messy and depleting, and those covers represented a little piece of beauty in my otherwise ugly home…) I wasn’t about to put WD40 on it; I’ve tried washing out putty before (don’t bother); and ice doesn’t do a THING!!! I felt so discouraged. Finding your article was a balm! There were more gobs of ground-in putty than I could count, but the sanitizer totally neutralized it and I could scrape it right off. Sadly there is still staining, but maybe I can still find a way to get that out. At least the cover can still be used and ugliness didn’t totally win the day, for a change! (Haha!) Including in my emotions…though I left the room before getting angry, having a solution that made a noticeable improvement helped me calm down even more, and I could show my daughter the love she needed (she felt bad enough). So from one mom to another, THANK YOU for sharing this solution.
Oh, I hope the staining goes away! I’m glad I could help you save not only the special covers (we’ve had a lot of hand-me-downs around our house, too – so I get it), but more importantly, help you not destroy that even more special relationship with your daughter. Sounds like you are doing a great job as a mom!
[…] putty, slipped into my pocket by my mischievous Josiah at some point during the chaotic evening and smooshed hopelessly into the fabric because I’d already sat down on it before I realized […]
I tried your trick for silly putty on my daughter’s favorite sweater! Worked perfectly. Found your suggestion on pinterest! Thanks!
It worked so well and so easy! Thank you!
You just saved my 7 year olds life! Red putty stuck all over my gray fabric couch (6 mo old couch at that). It literally just wiped away ❤️
[…] A Ridiculously Simple Way to Get Silly Putty Out of Fabric .) […]
Just tried this and it worked immediately! Best solution ever! We had a good-sized glob of putty smooshed into a fluffy blanket, so much actually that I thought I’d have to throw it away, but instead tried this and the whole thing has been removed in about 90 seconds. Thank you for sharing this.
Came out like a charm! Luckily with this pandemic I had tons of hand sanitizer on hand! But it is far enough into the pandemic that hand sanitizer is available again!
Amazing, this worked like a charm. I had to spend some time scraping out the putting from the cotton knit since it had melted in some, but it seems to be putty-free now. Waiting to see if I have to treat for grease too, but I was staggered at how effectively this dissolved the putty. thank you for sharing this!
Just used the hand sanitizer to remove red putty from my couch cushion, however the grease stain is still there, what would you recommend to remove the grease stain?
I’ve found that a lot of grease stains come out with dish detergent or baking soda, but it might depend on the fabric.
Oh my goodness thank you! My daughters got a glitter putty for Christmas and got it on a mermaid tail blanket, a comforter, a brand new shirt, the carpet, and a mattress! I have not used on all of it yet, but after reading this I used it on the mermaid tail and the comforter and it worked! I was so worried sick that I wouldn’t be able to get it out! I’m sure it will be a success with the rest as well. Almost 5 years later this article is still helping people. I will be bookmarking your articles as these girls are always staining or yucking up stuff. They keep me on my toes! Thank you again!
My grandson took glittery sticky cheap Dollar Tree silly putty in blue for one leg and pink for the other furry pajama leg and squished it in really good. Then he came to me and said, “Grandma, look at what I did.” He is five years old. I would think he either wouldn’t do that, or at least not be so proud of the fact that he did do it. I showed my daughter when she picked him up. She said they were ruined and to throw them out. Then I found this site.
Thank you so much. It took an hour and more than half bottle of hand sanitizer (small bottle on the counter,) but it came out with a little scraping of my finger nails. I let it sit for several hours. It wasn’t completely dry, but I think if I had put it on earlier, it would have come out easier.
God Bless,
S. Smith
Thank you thank you thank you. I was so panicked when I saw glittery putty smeared into my couch. A dap of hand sanitizer (and I definitely have that these days) and it was gone!!
Worked great! Little skeptical at first especially since it was a semi-fluffy blanket, but a little bit of mild scrubbing and it came right out.
My 5 year old thought it would be funny if he left his putty on my bed, I sat in it and wondered why I couldn’t get up…I pulled off what I could and searched for a way to take the stain out of my white fitted sheet, hand sanitizer totally worked like a charm! I tried ice like Google suggested and it didn’t do a dang thing
You saved my favorite black pants which went through the washer and dryer with my son’s silly putty! Thanks a million!
I know this is an older post but whoooo-boy did you save me with this one!!! My 6yo boy has a “Bindy” (Blanket they no longer make) that he holds dear. He got “Thinking Putty” all over it before he left for his grandparents’. He was distraught (I was a little upset as I have told him to keep that stuff out of the living room). Anyway I told him that I would do the best that I could to get it out but couldn’t make promises. THEN I FOUND YOUR AMAZING POST!!! It totally worked an I am STOKED to surprise him with a clean Bindy when he gets home… Thank you! thankyouthankyouthankyou…..
You are welcome! I’m so happy you were able to save it for him. 🙂
Thank you for this! Just saved a couch cushion from some Easter putty my kid got from school!
I got pink silly putty out of my black golf shirt. Amazing! Thanks!
You forgot to mention the difficulty of getting the melted silly putty out of your nails!
Thank you this was a life changer! I was thinking my son’s blanket was ruined but this got all the pink puddy out of his sherpa blanket.