Removing Makeup Stains from Restroom Sinks

Every public restroom suffers from makeup stains sooner or later. Whether it's due to customers spilling liquid foundation or dropping tubes of lipstick, your sinks will eventually suffer staining from waterproof beauty products. Stainless steel sinks and countertops are the best at repelling makeup stains, but this material is rarely used in public restrooms. Sinks and counters in public restrooms are most likely made of ceramic, marble, or marble composite materials, all of which are susceptible to staining when makeup products touch lighter surfaces. There are two steps to cleaning makeup from restroom sinks: removing the physical products left behind and removing the stains that damage your fixtures.

Removing Makeup Residue

The makeup residue in your sink and on your countertops can be powdery or greasy. Whatever the consistency, this residue has the potential to leave a stain. The key to removing these substances is to get them up off of the surface without pushing them into the materials, which can lead to even more stubborn stains. If the makeup is in a dry, powdered form, you should gently brush it away with a dry paper towel. Greasy lipstick and liquid foundation need to be treated more aggressively. Wipe them up with a clean, dry paper towel, rubbing as little as possible. Then, blot the countertop and sink to soak up the pigment. When the physical makeup is gone and nothing is left but the stain, you can move on to the next step.

Removing Makeup Stains

Makeup stains are made up of small amounts of pigment that were left on the sink and have bonded with the surface as a result. You won't be able to remove these stains by simply wiping the sink; you will have to use chemical and physical intervention. The first product to use is ordinary dish soap, which can break up and remove greasy substances. Unfortunately, if you don't use the right tools and technique, you'll redeposit the pigment onto the next part of the sink you touch.

To avoid this cross-contamination, you should use a microfiber towel with a technique called eight fold wiping. Start off by folding the square towel twice to make a smaller square. Then wipe the surface using one face of the towel. Once you've wiped one area, turn the towel over to present a clean surface for the next area. Afterward, you can turn the towel inside out and refold it for two more clean surfaces. This folding process will create eight different surfaces that you can use to clean up the makeup. Specialty microfiber towels, like Kaivac's SmartTowel, make this technique foolproof by printing numbers on the fold lines. This design allows your employees to know which part of the folded towel to use next to avoid cross contamination.

After using dish detergent, scrub the sink with moistened baking soda to remove any remaining makeup stains. Use the same folded towel technique to prevent makeup you remove from staining a clean part of the sink or countertop.

For more information on cleaning restrooms, or on tools to help you do the job, click here.

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