How to Get Rid of Warts With Duct Tape
The purpose of the duct tape is to starve the wart of both oxygen and sunlight. It’s the same effect when a plaster for a minor wound gets wet and turns your skin into a soft old prune. The skin (or in this case, the wart) that is moist and has little oxygen around it will soften enough to be able to file a small amount away each time.
Preparation:
Clean and dry the area thoroughly to ensure the duct tape will stick properly to your skin.
OPTIONAL: Try covering the wart with a very small amount of salicylic acid and avoid the surrounding skin if possible. Salicylic acid can be extracted from the list of plants below with either alcohol or castor oil (other carrier oils won’t work in this situation since they don’t have the right molecular structure to make them somewhat ‘polar’).
- White willow bark (Salix alba)
- Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
- Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria)
- Lady’s mantle (Alchemilla Vulgaris)
- Black cohosh (Actaea racemosa)
- Blue Flag Iris (Iris versicolor)
- Granny Smith apples
- Tomatoes
Use a strong duct tape that is not transparent. Cut a small piece that is slightly bigger than the wart, making sure it sticks to your skin properly and completely covers the wart – remember you need to starve it of both oxygen and sunlight.
The duct tape should be left on for 5 – 6 days, depending on where it is located and how well it has been kept covered. If the duct tape starts to fall off, clean the area and replace the duct tape straight away. The tape usually needs to be replaced straight after showering. The wart will start to turn white during these 5 – 6 days and the skin immediately around it will wrinkle like a prune.
Related: The All-Purpose Salve Everyone Should Keep in Their Home (Learn More)
Removing the Wart
Carefully remove the duct tape and soak the wart in warm water for 5 – 10 minutes.
Use an old emery board, nail file or fine sand paper to scrap away the softened layers of the wart. Be sure not to use the board or file on your nails again, as it will spread the virus. Only file or sand away the soft dead skin of the wart, which may only take less than a minute.
Leave the wart uncovered overnight and then repeat the whole process again the next morning; applying duct tape (and possibly salicylic acid) and filing away the dead, white tissue after 5 – 6 days. It’s important to allow the wart to dry out for 6 – 8 hours between treatments, but try to avoid exposing the wart to sunlight during these few hours of drying.
When only using duct tape, it can take approximately 8 weeks to remove a wart, bearing in mind that warts on the foot take longer.
When combined with plant-based salicylic acid, the duct tape method can take approximately 4 – 6 weeks to remove a wart.
Some Limitations Using Duct Tape to Remove Warts
This method doesn’t actually treat the virus that causes warts, since it’s only an aesthetic solution.
It shouldn’t be used on genital warts or near the nose or mouth. Warts located on the feet can take longer to soften and remove due to the tougher skin.
You may also like:
Do This Before Going to Bed To Rebuild Your Gums (Video)
OR ,…take some “toothache plant” seed head , rub it on the wart , and just snip it off. cover with bandaid , DONE !! make sure scissors are clean and dipped in alcohol before use.
what is toothache plant?
https://www.rareseeds.com/store/vegetables/toothache-plant
What is ‘toothache plant’? Does it have another name?
I had five or six medium sized warts on both hands for a few years about 4-5 years. They would shrink on their own and then increase. I know it was in regards to my nutrition or some nutrient. I couldn’t figure it out. I saw a YouTube video about using ACV. It worked as I used it daily and covered with a bandaid. It took two weeks of daily applications. I can’t even see any sign of them and it has been about six months without them. Good to know duct tape works also.
Hi Hillary,
ACV is also an amazing remedy for warts. We are happy to hear that you got rid of them in just two weeks.
Here is also a list of other 50 Uses of Apple Cider Vinegar:
https://thelostherbs.com/50-essential-uses-of-apple-cider-vinegar/
Many blessings and good health!
I thought that warts were caused by a virus and viruses don’t like oxygen. When our immune system gets weak, then warts are more prevalent. Also people who have type “A” blood have weak immune systems so they may be more likely to get warts.
I have type O blood and a fantastic immune system, have lots of the warts, over my torso mostly.
If it’s dandelion season, use the milk of the stem. Rub into the wart frequently. Works like a charm!
How about one growing under your thumbnail?? Started on the outside, tip of thumbnail, then under nail. Causing pain!
Hi Betty,
You can try oregano oil since it will be easier to apply it in your case, Oregano oil contains compounds that give it antifungal, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and pain-killing properties. It also contains the compound carvacrol, which has been studied for its antiviral properties. These properties make oregano oil helpful for treating warts.
You can also prepare 2 parts ACV in one part of the water. Soak a clean cloth or cotton in the solution, apply it directly to the affected area. Repeat the instruction every night until the wart falls off.
You should consider seeing a dermatologist if you cannot get rid of warts, warts hurt, or you have many warts. The treatment used depends on the patient’s age and health as well as the type of wart.
Many blessings and good health!
Maori healers cut an onion in half then rub the open onion on the wart. Bury the onion, while it breaks down so does the wart. Have done this method on my brother and daughter with success
How long does it take to extract the acid from the herbs listed? Can I used powdered herbs? I have them for mixtures I make for capsules.
1 week to extract leaves and flowers is fine, but two weeks is better for roots, seeds and stems. Any longer doesn’t really increase the concentration significantly.
If I was going to use powdered herbs, I would sprinkle some directly onto the wart and not bother about the extraction part, but it would depend on where it is located and how easy it is to apply the powdered herbs to the wart….
I’ll try this if I have another, but in the past, I was able to remove a wart by shaving off the top and pulling out a black dot in the middle with tweezers. I don’t know what that was, but my hunch is it was the root that provided blood supply to the wart. It was stretchy. It dried up and fell off after doing this. I see a black dot in the middle of the wart on the foot picture above. I don’t know if all types of warts have a primary root like mine. It was a “seed wart”, flatter than the common round type that’s raised. I didn’t have to shave deep enough to bleed to find the black dot.
After having a reoccurring wart, on the pad of my thumb. I also niticed a black dot,inside a wart, I grabbed it with tweezers, and pulled! It hurt, like the Dickenson, to remove. And bled a little. So I also assume it was a blood supply, and attached to a nerve. But after I removed that dot, the wart never came back.
Apple cider vinegar worked for me. I put vaseline around the wart, soaked a cotton ball in ACV, put it on the wart and secured with a couple of bandaids. Wart died very quickly.
By the way, another extremely useful way to remove a wart is by eating asparagus. It honestly works! And you should eat a lot of it if you can. I had a plantar’s wart for over 30 years that went away after eating asparagus and my son’s warts across his knuckles disappeared after eating asparagus. Sounds strange, but that is the only thing we did a lot of during that time…eating asparagus. Good for you and rids one of warts.
I have heard of getting rid of melanoma with strong iodine 10 drops, 3 times a day for 6 or 7 days then bandage. When the 6th day is done, pull out the root and remove it all.
I have been trying to kill a small flat wart on my ring finger for several years.
I have tried all the above methods.
Just when I think I have finally succeeded, it reappears.
I have had this same wart since I was a child, so not sure how relevant that fact is, in ridding it from my finger.
Try taking a homeopathic remedy called Thuja internally and using it topically as well on the wart. If you have the virus in your body, the warts can keep coming back. Good luck!👍🏼
*GARLIC OIL gets rid of 100% of warts in 2 or 3 weeks. Try sliceing a thin slab of garlic and putting it on the wart, under a bandage. or tape.
*IODINE PROVIDONE Apply twice a day with garlic juice.
*LEMON JUICE – Applied to the wart directly several days with a cotton swab, will probably kill the virus. Be persistant.
*VITAMIN A – Can be applied to warts at bed time and left on during the night. It may take 6 months for big warts to disappear. Jonathan V. Wright, MD’s Green Medicine Volume 1, Issue 10 •
*ZINC is anti viral as well as Olive Leaf Extract.
I use vinegar on a piece of cotton wool just big enough to cover the wart cover it with a bandaid to hold it on rewet the little cotton ball morning and night that’s twice a day takes about 4 days for small warts and longer for larger .It go white down to the roots , you can pull it off with your fingers or some other instruments leaves a little hole in the skin which grows out .You can feel the vinegar burning a little bit
Is there a safe/natural cure for genital warts?
This worked…. When you wake up use your first morning saliva/spit directly on wart before brushing your teeth or drinking. I heard this from talk show host yrs ago (Regis). A teacher told him. I had a wart once, nothing else worked to remove it. I guess the secret to the cure is in your own body. It never came back. Give it a try, can’t hurt!
Some people think that a dog licking it’s own wound helps heal it. I don’t know.
I tried using duct tape one time and it worked years ago but with my new job it keeps falling off. I am a house cleaner and when I clean showers and tubs the tape gets wet.
So I decided to try liquid bandage instead. It even stayed when I took a bath.
The wart is getting smaller every few days. so cool.
using the brush that comes with the liquid bandage put some one and let it dry (dries within 20 seconds or less and then put on another coating and let dry. I have been using it for 7 days now and the warts is almost gone. Should be gone in another 1-2 weeks. stays put when I bathe and clean my client’s tubs and shows