When it is time to be taken off, it takes about 30 minutes to remove gel polish on the nails. To remove the old gel polish off the nails, the topcoat is usually filed off manually as much as possible to expose the gel color polish underneath so it is in direct contact with acetone.
Removing gel polish at home will be faster if a nail drill is used to file off the gel top coat first. A nail drill will be able to remove more gel polish topcoat so that more gel polish color will be in direct contact with acetone. This makes the entire gel polish on a nail dissolve faster and can be quickly taken off with the least amount of time.
Why do you need a nail drill to remove gel polish?
Instead of manually filing the gel top coat that could take up to a minute for each nail depending on how long your nails are, a nail drill can do the same thing for much less time.
Also, with the use of a nail drill, your hands will not get fatigued after manually filling the topcoat on ten of your nails.
Can a nail drill be used at home to remove gel polish faster?
A nail drill can remove the gel top coat much faster and more efficiently. With an adequately sized nail drill, you will be able to safely remove gel polish at home quicker than using a nail file.
Whichever method you use to remove gel polish at home
, removing the gel topcoat will make the process go much quicker.
Best nail drill to remove gel polish fast at home
Since remove the gel polish top coat does not require a nail drill with high power, a small, USB-rechargeable will be sufficient.
I discovered this product on amazon, bought a couple and fell in love with them. They are the ones I reach for whenever I am removing gel polish. I am used to working with bigger table-top nail drills. However, this light and simple design nail drill make it a perfect choice for removing gel polish at home.
Best nail drill bit for removing gel polish
The best nail drill bit to remove gel polish will be a coarse one where the tip is rounded. The coarse-type drill bit will remove the gel polish topcoat in bigger chunks without creating a fine dust cloud that stay longer in the air. The rounded tip does not have a sharp edge so it will not accidentally cut into your skin or cuticles.
I find two nail drill bits are great for removing gel polish: They both have the same shape but one is made out of ceramic and the other made out of metal. Both function the same. However, the metal one will last longer.
Most nail drill handpieces accommodate 3/32 in shank size drill bit. The other shank size is 1/8 in. So if you are purchasing one, make sure you get the right shank size for your nail drill.
How to use a nail drill to remove gel polish?
First, you should attach a coarse drill bit onto the nail drill. Holding a drill bit at the cutting part and gently but firmly push the shank onto the nail drill receptacle.
Note: many nail drill handpieces use this push-in type to attach drill bits, make sure the shank is clean and free of oily substance or it might slip when you apply pressure on it.
Try to push it in in the same center line of the nail drill. If you push the drill bit in at an angle, you will bend the shank, the drill bit will wobble when it is turning. As a result, you will feel the uncomfortable vibration as the rotating drill bit comes in contact with your nails.
Do push the drill bit as far in as possible. The longer it stick out, more chance for it to be bent.
With the nail drill turned on, you can start filing the gel polish top coat off by letting the drill bit touch the gel polish. Let the drill bit touch your nail and apply almost no pressure, move the drill bit from side to side of a nail.
The rotating drill bit will remove the gel polish top coat by cutting away the gel polish.
Do not try to remove the color layer. Doing so you might let the drill bit go down to your natural nails and remove layers of your own nails too.
Remember, it is the topcoat that you want to remove so the color polish will be soaked off next.
After you finish removing most of the gel topcoat, you can use one of the six methods to remove the rest of the gel polish:
- Removing gel polish using finger cots
- Removing gel polish using hot water
- Removing gel polish using aluminum foil
- Removing gel polish using finger caps
- Removing gel polish by soaking in warm acetone
- Removing gel polish using only oil
If any of the method above is unfamiliar to you, you should know about it so you can use it under different situations. You can learn in detail about them here in this article.
Should you use a nail drill to remove gel polish at home?
The mini nail drill has just enough power to remove the gel polish topcoat. If you accidentally press it too hard on your nails, it will stop, preventing it from further cutting into your nails. Because of this, a mini nail drill will not damage your nails comparing to bigger, more powerful ones.
Its small size, as big as a highlight pen does not take up a lot of space in your gel polish collection kit. Being small makes it ideal for traveling.
The USB chargeable feature means you can charge it the same way you would your smartphones but it would last for a couple of working hours that is more than enough to remove a few sets of gel polish at home.
Try it a few times so you can get a hang of it. After that, you will wonder how you removed your gel polish without it before.
This mini nail drill is available on amazon. Get it now so you can have it before your next gel polish removal so you can try it out. It costs about $15.00 which is one gel polish removal at a salon. Check out the latest price here.
Happy drilling.
As a disclaimer, please wear protective goggles, do exercise caution as you are using a power tool and use it at your own risk.
