BROWSE HOW TOs

How to Remove Ink From a Leather Sofa

By eHow Home & Garden Editor

Did the kids get ink on your leather sofa?

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Leather is virtually maintenance-free as a furniture covering, but ink from a ballpoint pen can be particularly hard to remove. Ink marks are certainly easier to remove than a rip, however. Follow these steps to remove those pesky stains various upholstery.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

Leather Master brand Leather Cleaner
Shampoos For Normal Hair
Cotton Swabs
Soft Cloth

Step1

Work on removing the stain as soon as you discover it. Dried ink is especially difficult to get out, unless you act quickly.

Step2

Blot the stain with a soft dry cloth or cotton ball.

Step3

Moisten another cloth and clean lightly with circular movements. Dry the surface with a soft cloth.

Step4

Try a little saddle soap or another leather cleaner, but first read the label regarding its safety for use on your particular kind of leather. You may also try removing the stain with lukewarm water and shampoo.

Step5

Contact the manufacturer for a remedy for the type of ink used - the company may sell its own solvent.

Tips & Warnings

Traditional wisdom recommends treating ink stains with milk or tomato. Cover the stain with a little milk or rub it with the cut side of a half a tomato. Take more care with the tomato remedy, as tomatoes contain some acidity. Rinse either treatment well.
Avoid any kind of cleaner or detergent, unless it's specified for the particular sofa or particular leather, as it could harm the leather.

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Comments

POBOLYCWM said

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on 5/24/2008 I JUST NOTICED INK MARKS ON MY BRAND NEW SOFA AND TRIED ALL SORTS TO GET IT OFF. THE ONLY THING THAT SEEMED TO WORK WAS MY SONS JEAN PAUL GAUTIER COLOGNE. IM SO PLEASED IT CAME OFF

DIVA1970 said

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on 5/4/2008 WELL MY 4 YEAR OLD SCRIBBLED ON HERSELF INCLUDING MY WHITE LEATHER SOFA I WAS VERY UPSET. SO I TOOK HER A BATH AND NOTICED AFTER THE BATH THE INK WAS STILL ON HER SKIN. SO AFTER SEVERL BATHS LATER THE INK FINALLY WAS REMOVED FROM HER SKIN. AS FOR MY COUCH I USED A MIXURE OF BAKING SODA AND WATER AND BEGAN TO CLEAN AND NOTICED THE INK WAS STILL THERE SO IT TOOK ME 4 DAYS 10 MINUTES EACH DAY TO REMOVE THOSE INK STAINS FROM MY COUCH. MY POINT IS LEATHER IS LIKE SKIN, IT CAN TAKE SEVERAL DAYS TO REMOVE THE INK FROM YOUR LEATHER.

Grangejonesy said

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on 12/8/2007 Tried various of these methods but still did not remove. However,used ordinary ladies hair spray. Hey presto it came off on to a clean cloth

valdan16 said

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on 11/1/2007 hair spray did the trick beautifully

claremathews said

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on 9/21/2007 jameson whiskey works to remove ballpoint pen from leather i used it on my brown leather suite i used a cotton ball and neat whiskey and used circular movements it removed it in seconds.