The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Hair-Removing Wax, Watchmaker Tweezers
Posted by M Johnson (Bothell, WA) on 07/27/2023
★★★★★
Hair removing wax and watchmaker tweezers for splinters
When my son was little he went barefoot in bark mulch and got a huge number of splinters sticking straight out of the bottom of his little feet. My quick thinking neighbor ran home and grabbed a pot of wax used to remove unwanted hair. She heated it to warm and spread it all over the bottoms of his feet. When it cooled, we peeled it off. It removed the vast majority of the splinters. I was able to remove the rest with watchmaker tweezers, which I've used many times to pull out thorns and splinters.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Mike (Kent, UK) on 12/17/2020 25 posts
★★★★★
Apple Cider Vinegar for Splinter
It seemed to work for me too! It's hard to know what did the bulk of the work - the ACV, the needle I dug it a bit with or the tweezers that I eventually used to pull it out (much to my very high level of relief! ).
The splinter was in a knuckle on my left hand. The ACV did seem to make the skin very pale and a bit numb I guess. It was only on it for about 3 minutes. And then the tweezers yanked the splinter right out!
So yeah, seemed to work well!
Vinegar
Posted by Mutsa (Zimbabwe) on 01/01/2017
★★★★★
Thank you. Apple Cider Vinegar worked for me today as I am writing. I thank God. The splinter was stuck deep in my hand finger nails and I followed the steps it came off easly without pain when I pulled it after it appeared on the surface.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Mike (Abington, Pennsylvania) on 06/19/2016
★★★★★
Got a hairline splinter on the bottom of my big toe. Read up on ACV cures here, and decided to give it a try.
Filled a dish with ACV, soaked the toe for about 2 mins, then used a swiss-army knife to scrape away some skin, so the splinter had an exit. It was delicate and required a bit of patience, as the splinter was deeply seeded. After three soaks for 2mins each, piece by piece, I was able to remove the splinter completely with the knife and tweezers. ACV is a wonderful home remedy!
White Vinegar
Posted by Krazierkay (Newcastle, Nsw, Australia.) on 10/17/2012
★★★★★
Had a nasty splinter in my finger that wouldn't budge. Tried Magnoplasm and Bi carb soda paste and wouldn't budge and my skin was swollen around the splinter. To painful to get to it with the needle. Tried the vinegar. Soaked it for 30 mins. Swelling reduced to a shriveled finger look. I was able to slide it out with a needle with very little pain. Thank you Earth Clinic.
Epsom Salt
Posted by Anonymosaurus Rex ( Somewhere, Alone, Listening To Radiohead) on 09/05/2012
★★★★★
To remove splinters, try using magnesium sulfate (AKA Epsom salts).
You can either use a small amount of water to make a paste and apply this to the area and cover with a bandage, or you can soak the splinter in epsom salts if a bandage cannot be applied.
This method will also reduce the local swelling and any pus that is around the splinter.
White Vinegar
Posted by Lil Bread (South Bend, In) on 01/12/2011
★★★★★
About three weeks ago I got a long wood splinter in my finger. I pulled out about 1/2 inch of wood and thought that was all of it but sadly it wasn't. I tried soaking in Hydrogen peroxide, alcohol and salt water to no avail. I came across this article about soaking in vinegar. I submerged the finger in vinegar for about 30 minutes. Squeezed the Affected area and out popped the 1/2 inch long splinter. I was amazed.
White Bread in Milk
Posted by Sharon (Vancouver, BC Canada) on 03/05/2009
★★★★★
I had a huge painful wood splinter under my thumbnail that was impossible to reach with tweezers and about a week later it either became infected or I had an allergic reaction to the wood itself which was cedar. A good friend insisted that white bread boiled in milk would remove it, and (ignoring my protests about the evils of white bread and milk) proceeded to boil 1/2 a slice of white bread in about 1 cup of milk for about two minutes, then while it was still very hot but not boiling, put a blob of this mixture on my fingernail and covered it with a bandaid. I was given strict instructions not to remove the bandaid until it was completely dry, so I left it on overnight and the next mornng removed it to find that the splinter had been almost completly drawn out from under my nail and was very easy to remove. I was very grateful and also amazed...that simple home remedy saved me a trip to the doctors who would likely have used a scalpel!
White Vinegar
Posted by Beth (Madison, Wisconsin) on 07/10/2008
★★★★★
I had a tiny wood splinter in my finger. I first tried to take it out with my tweezers; I had to rip of the top layer of the skin to get to the splinter. I only got 90% of it out that way. Then, I read a post on this wonderful website about using white vinegar. I soaked my finger in the vinegar for several minutes and then pulled out the rest of the splinter with my tweezers painlessly. Wow, I was happy. That was last night, and now this morning, as I look at that same finger, I don't see any marks or cuts where the splinter was!! Thank you all for creating a fantastic website and for contributing more safe remedies to it!!
White Vinegar
Posted by Jamie (Gilbert, Arizona) on 05/13/2008
★★★★★
SPLINTER REMEDY: White vinegar removed a splinter quickly and pain free! My 2 year old son grabbed a catus and had, what seemed like, hundreds of splinters all over his hand. We soaked it in a bowl of plain, white vinegar and the splinters all popped out on their own!
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by John (Ontario) on 01/01/2017
★★★★★
I soaked my finger for around 40 minutes or more, since the sliver was a bit deep, I had to peel back some skin. The vinegar is good for killing the surface layers of skin so that I could more easily peel off the skin with as little hassle and pain as possible. Be patient and this should work great!
Vinegar
Posted by Toni (Henderson ) on 03/27/2015
★★★★★
I was a little skeptical about the whole vinegar treatment for splinters but I got one under my fingernail that could not be removed and it hurt so bad that after reading this I had nothing to lose. I went home from work and soaked in for 15 minutes in white vinegar. I bandaged it and left it alone for the night. The next day, I massaged the splinter on my fingernail in a forward position. On the third try, the splinter came out in one complete piece. I was so excited and my husband couldn't even believe it worked, but it did.
Epsom Salt
Posted by Adstradamous (Cincinnati, Oh) on 07/15/2014
★★★★★
Epsom salt for splinters
My sister and I noticed a large red bump on my sons butt cheek one afternoon. We had no idea what it was and could see nothing inside when we examined it. The next day my sister decided to soak his bottom half in an epsom salt bath and a splinter surfaced! It was obviously infected, but as soon as the splinter came out it began to heal. I soaked him about 3 more times and made an appointment with his doctor just in case. Later that night a small, pale yellow bump surfaced as well! The epsom salts were also pulling the infection out! By the time we saw the doctor, there was no infection and nothing left behind in the skin!
White Vinegar
Posted by Goldy (South Elgin, Il) on 10/27/2012
★★★★★
OMG!!! This vinegar things really works! Had a small pc. of a thorn in my thumb for a couple days. Soaked it in vinegar for 30 min. After reading this and it worked! Had to pull a tiny bit of the skin away from the top with a needle, but I started sqeezing it after that and it came right out!!! Thanks everybody! Many Blessings!
Neosporin
Posted by Caca (Orangeburg, South Carolina Usa) on 04/25/2012
★★★★★
After a splinter got under my fingernail, I cut nail as low as possible and pulled skin back from nail. After several attempts to remove splinter with needle (after sterilizing it), I had no success. I then soaked finger in alcohol for about three minutes. After making sure there was an opening over the splinter I forced neosporin ointment under the nail. I only waited about two hours before I pulled skin back from under nail and then pushed on the nail and the splinter slid out. Thank goodness. Maybe it was just just luck..... but it worked for me.
Bread Poultice
Posted by Mmsg (Somewhere, Europe) on 06/15/2015
Ricky, you can try. But what helped me was a 10 minute vinegar soak. Any vinegar.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Donna (Taneytown, Md) on 06/10/2010
★★★★★
Thank you for the Apple Cider remedy. I had a splinter under my fingernail so I did 3 things. I soaked it in the vinegar, then in warm warm 20 minutes each. Then I remembered my Dad using a piece of bacon fat to draw splinters. I then washed throughly and added a small piece of bacon fat to area where splinter was under the nail-was on top of nail kinda after trimming the nail as far back as I could. Put a band-aid on it to hold in place as slept with it on. The next morning with just a little coaxing the splinter came out! I am not sure what really worked but the combo seemed to disinfect, clean and draw it out.
White Vinegar
Posted by Mmsg (Somewhere, Europe) on 10/21/2015
The people I've seen opening and eating it, handle it with workman's gloves. But be forewarned: it has multiple small pits, NOT for little children. But, I'm told it's sweet!!!
