The best way to remove lipstick from handbag lining

So the lid has come off your favourite red lipstick and it’s been rattling around in your handbag for who knows how long! What’s the best way to remove those lipstick stains from your bag’s lining?

We’ve tested four household items which are often recommended to remove make up stains and ranked their effectiveness from 1 to 4. They were: dishwashing liquid, rubbing alcohol, oil based make up remover and a new kind of make up remover called micellar water.

When cleaning the lining of your handbag, if possible turn the lining out of the bag. This makes it much easier to access. Use a cotton pad or a cloth to apply the product and rub in the direction of the weave. To dry, either leave the lining hanging out of the bag to dry naturally or use a hair dryer.

Watch the video above to witness the effectiveness of each product for yourself .

Here’s how we ranked each product.

1. Dishwashing liquid on a damp cloth. With a little elbow grease, it easily scrubbed away the worst of the stain.
2. Micellar water. It was a tough choice between the micellar water and the dishwashing liquid. This left only the faintest hint of a stain with minimal effort.
3. Oil based make up remover. Most people probably have this type of make up remover at home, however, it did surprising little to remove the stain.
4. Rubbing alcohol. As you can see from the video, the rubbing alcohol barely did anything to remove the stain. It does however, work great on pen ink stains!