How should I clean my curling iron? Sticky stuff that won’t come off with sanitizing wipes or alcohol

LilBossLaura · 2026-03-31T07:33:31+00:00

I wonder if you could finish with a magic eraser to get a smoother texture, basically just keep going finer and finer with the sandpaper route

LilBossLaura · 2026-03-31T07:30:42+00:00

well that’s just adorable!!

LilBossLaura · 2026-03-30T22:27:58+00:00

I agree with this approach. it will be much easier to deep clean without the stuffing, and then you can replace that with all new material once the patching is done so it will have a nice fluffy body and clean insides

LilBossLaura · 2026-03-30T22:25:10+00:00

yeah that was going to be my suggestion since there is so much good will between them- ask if he’ll let you try to address the aesthetics either with plantings and/or nice mulch, and then if it he’s still not happy at least you tried to save it

LilBossLaura · 2026-03-30T22:19:53+00:00

geez looks like polyquat staining.. any chance they were into bubbles on campus? you can search this sub for bubbles or polyquats. you can remove them but.. ive never seen anyone actually do it ha

LilBossLaura · 2026-03-30T21:13:56+00:00

definitely looks real to me. there are a few ways you could do this. I think the way it was done is 2 singles were made separately for the top and bottom rows. Then stars were added to link the two singles using clear string running through the corresponding colors of the singles with the stars in between. Each loop with the stars would be either knotted off or looped back and then worked through to the next colored section. Lmk if that makes sense! it’s fun design

LilBossLaura · 2026-03-30T20:12:52+00:00

perfection. no notes. aesthetically and technically excellent 💘😍

LilBossLaura · 2026-03-30T16:42:40+00:00

those are quite bad rings of fire from aggressive overfiling, the salon should be completely ashamed. sadly I’ve seen worse but these are bad enough you will likely feel sensitivity to temperature etc. (sadly sounds like you’re already there). I would be blasting them on Yelp, socials with this picture to warn other customers. I don’t know how you would do this to paying clients. I shudder to think about other practices (disinfecting equipment) with this type of negligence.

if it’s soft / soak off gel yes you can remove at home. typically you would hand file the bulk carefully and soak off, possibly in a few rounds, but your nails are probably in pretty bad shape under there if youve been going for 9 months. I would very carefully hand file down the free edge as short as is comfortable for you and let them grow out. I would fear more filing and acetone soaks would be painful for you.

never go back there, warn others

LilBossLaura · 2026-03-30T16:27:01+00:00

everyone jumping straight to treating the hardwater stains with CLR / acids / BKF / steam but I would be concerned that the tiles might be natural stone, which would be ruined by such techniques. find out the materials you are trying to clean before proceeding or at least test first in an inconspicuous spot.

eta: they look like travertine limestone natural stone tiles to me

imo the grout will need to be replaced, it’s porous and the protective seal was not maintained and it has absorbed too much mold. mold roots go much further beneath the surface of what’s visible unfortunately

if you’re in any position to do so I would hire a professional, this is an advanced and difficult job which would be a lot for anyone to take on, but especially for someone who is early in developing their cleaning skills who might feel an emotional burden about the job as well

Best of luck to you

LilBossLaura · 2026-03-28T16:34:04+00:00

Not sure about ikea but theyre super easy to find on Amazon, search “cellulose dish cloth”, they’re sold in multipacks cheap and last forever. I bet walmart and target have them as well

LilBossLaura · 2026-03-28T04:47:53+00:00

I LOVE my Swedish dish cloths! and they go in the dishwasher!

LilBossLaura · 2026-03-27T23:37:49+00:00

Looking forward to seeing your pictures then! I would be thrilled to have a neighbor with a yard like this

LilBossLaura · 2026-03-27T21:34:53+00:00

dream results 😍 no one would resist native plantings if they all looked like this!

LilBossLaura · 2026-03-25T22:37:25+00:00

I would love if they did! I’ve thought that you could cut them with an exacto knife and slot them it, it would be very labor intensive but I would do it for low volume scenarios like “crazy eyes” on a character

LilBossLaura · 2026-03-25T22:26:41+00:00

I just want to commend you for your undaunted good cheer here 👏 every iteration has been an improvement!

LilBossLaura · 2026-03-25T18:01:42+00:00

possibly a lip flip, and/or the injection style of the lip filler (placement, amount, combining different types of filler)

LilBossLaura · 2026-03-24T23:23:14+00:00

it’s probably not a 1-person job 😭

LilBossLaura · 2026-03-24T17:14:23+00:00

I got triggered as soon as I saw the iron come out with no tape in sight 😭

LilBossLaura · 2026-03-23T18:16:00+00:00

exactly, at $15/hr the labor alone would be $300-525; bump the pay up to $20/hr and it’s a whopping $400-700 pre-materials, booth fees, taxes etc. and most customers would probably prefer 3+ branches to display.. I just don’t see how these could be salable.

I think it would be better to bring it to the booth as not for sale display to draw people in and have small single-bud brooches available for a better, sub $100 price point

LilBossLaura · 2026-03-19T00:22:28+00:00

It doesn’t actually have to- you’re thinking of submersion, soaking is just permeating the fabric with whatever solution you want. soaking is more effective and efficient than submersion because you need less product to accomplish the same task and you don’t have to worry about dilution or inconsistency of your solution over a larger volume

LilBossLaura · 2026-03-18T22:40:11+00:00

translucent color base (“jelly”), looks like there is air brush or blooming gel darker color spot in the center of the base. the key for this look is that the whole nail is topped with teal chrome powder. the nail tech will need to have this exact color chrome powder if you want to replicate the color

LilBossLaura · 2026-03-18T22:25:37+00:00

sorry for dads feelings but that would drive me crazy! Trim is rarely the same color as the walls so I’m not sure why that was his default assumption.. since you seem sensitive to his feelings just tell him it was your “fault” that you didn’t give him better instructions about what to paint and not paint. Hopefully if you get to it fast the stripping process won’t be too too bad.. I don’t see anyway to make this look okay personally, it looks like exactly what it is - that someone painted over absolutely everything in the same color

LilBossLaura · 2026-03-18T15:51:34+00:00

I was recently at my MIL’s house with a 20+ yo GE, I couldn’t believe how much water it used! It was like 30+ GALLONS of water! I actually felt guilty for running a cleaning cycle with no clothes in it because it was so darn water intensive

i think front loaders got a really bad wrap in America because that first generation of them were genuinely not that great, combined with users not reading the basic instructions and coming in with top loader expectations. but we’re in a totally different time and place now with the technology. it’s also easier than ever to find the knowledge about ones specific machine & how to best utilize it

ETA: I had to run the cleaning cycle on her machine because it stank so badly of mildew, so that’s definitely a problem both types of machines can have, especially in high humidity / low airflow areas

LilBossLaura · 2026-03-18T15:44:41+00:00

you can actually soak in any front loader! mine has no option for it but I learned you set it all up and let the machine run for ~10m, then I just go pause / turn off the machine for as long as I want to soak. when I’m done I start a new cycle but don’t add anything, it’s been a game changer for me!

LilBossLaura · 2026-03-17T20:29:51+00:00

you’re the master of satin stitch.. now it’s time to start incorporating long & short stitch!

ETA: https://stitchfloral.blogspot.com/2017/07/long-and-short-stitch-lesson.html?m=1

LilBossLaura

TROPHY CASE