How to store press-on nails between wears
How to store press-on nails: clean the old adhesive off the back, let the set dry completely, and keep each nail in finger order in a labelled box or tray. Store it flat, somewhere dry, away from heat and direct sun, and the set is ready for its next wear.
This guide is about the time between wears: the part after the set comes off and before it goes back on. Taking a set off is covered in how to remove press-on nails, and whether a set can be worn again is covered in can you reuse press-on nails.
Before you store them: clean and dry
Do this straight after the soak, while the old adhesive is still soft.
- Clean off the old glue or tab. Buff or peel it off the back of each press-on. Old adhesive left on the back makes the nail sit slightly raised next time, and it is easier to shift now than after weeks in a drawer. The cleaning method is step 2 of the reuse guide.
- Wash off the oil. The removal soak leaves oil on the backs. Wash the press-ons in warm soapy water so it does not sit there while the set is stored.
- Let them dry completely. Lay them on a towel, backs up, until there is no water left inside the curve. A damp press-on shut in a box stays damp.
Storing a set clean means the next wear starts with a quick check, not a cleaning job.
How to store press-on nails, step by step
The aim is simple: keep press-on nails flat, dry, sorted and easy to find. These steps work for any set.
- Lay the set out in finger order. Thumb to little finger, one row per hand. A thumb press-on is wider than a little-finger one, and the nails in between differ too, so each press-on belongs to one finger. Sorting them now saves matching them up again later.
- Label each nail’s place. Use L1 to L5 for the left hand and R1 to R5 for the right, thumb first. A strip of masking tape under each section of a tray, or a numbered piece of card, works fine.
- Note anything you changed. If you filed the sides of a nail to fit, it now fits that finger better than any other. Write it down, so it goes back to the same place.
- Put them in a box or sectioned tray. One nail per section is ideal. A small craft or bead organiser with a lid does the job well. If you kept the box or case the set arrived in, that works too.
- Write on the lid. The design, the size of the set (we make three sizes) and the date you took it off. With more than one set, this is how you find the right one in a hurry.
- Store it flat, cool and dark. A drawer or a shelf inside a cupboard, in a room at normal room temperature. Keep it out of reach of children.
Where not to keep them
Treat a stored set like jewellery you want to keep looking new: somewhere cool, dry and out of the light. Avoid:
- A sunny windowsill or a car. Direct sun and a closed car both get hot.
- Near a radiator, heater or hair tools. Keep the box away from anything that runs hot.
- The bathroom. Steam from showers and baths means damp, and damp is what you dried the set to avoid.
- Loose in a make-up bag or pocket. Nails get pressed, bent and mixed up.
Storing your glue and adhesive tabs
The adhesive needs looking after as much as the set does.
- Nail glue: cap on straight after use. Nail glue is often a cyanoacrylate glue, which sets quickly in the presence of water. Close the cap tightly and keep the bottle somewhere dry. Follow the storage note and date on the label of the glue you use.
- Adhesive tabs: keep them on their sheet. Store the sheet flat in its packet, dry and away from dust, so the sticky side stays clean for the next wear.
- Keep both out of reach of children, in the same place as the set if you like, so everything for the next wear is together.
Before you wear a stored set again
Take the nails out one at a time and check each one:
- Is it whole, with no crack or chip at the edge?
- Does it still sit flat against its finger?
- Is the back clean and even?
A nail that passes all three is ready. If the back still has adhesive on it, clean it again before you wear it. If a nail is cracked or no longer sits flat, it may be ready to retire, and the reuse guide linked above lists the signs. Then put the set on exactly like a new one, with fresh glue or a fresh tab, following how to apply press-on nails.
How to store press-ons when you have more than one set
Give each set its own box or tray, labelled on the lid with the design and size, and keep the boxes flat, side by side in one drawer, lids up so the labels are easy to read. Store the adhesive in the same drawer. Adding a set? Choose the closest of our three sizes using the sizing guide, then file the sides of any press-on that sits over the skin.
A safety note
Keep nail glue away from your eyes and out of reach of children. Stop wearing the set if your skin gets sore or irritated.
Read next: how to remove press-on nails for the soak that comes before storing, and can you reuse press-on nails for cleaning the backs and when to retire a nail.
Questions we get asked
- How do you store press-on nails so they do not get mixed up?
- Lay them out thumb to little finger for each hand, then put them in a box or tray with small sections and label each section, for example L1 to L5 and R1 to R5. Write the set's size and design on the lid.
- Can I store press-on nails with old glue still on the back?
- Clean it off first. Old glue left on the back makes the press-on sit slightly raised next time, and it is easier to buff off straight after the soak than weeks later.
- Where should I not keep press-on nails?
- Not loose in a make-up bag, not on a sunny windowsill, not near a radiator or in a hot car, and not in a steamy bathroom. A drawer or shelf in a room that stays at normal room temperature is ideal.
- How long can you store press-on nails?
- We do not put a time on it. Check each nail before you wear the set again. If it is whole, sits flat on your natural nail and the finish looks right, it is ready to wear.
- Can you reuse press-on nails after storing them?
- Yes, if they came off by soaking and were cleaned and dried before storing. Put them on with fresh glue or fresh adhesive tabs, exactly like a new set.