How to Get Ink Pen Out of Clothing

Ink spots on clothes

INK STAINS: Was the pen left in the pocket before washing and drying? Did ink markings suddenly appear on the expensive jeans?

What to do? After 40 years of laundry experience, the best remover of ink ever invented is hairspray.

Below are three ways to attack the situation - good luck!

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Hairspray
• Rubbing Alchohol
• WD-40 or Resolve Carpet Cleaner
• Paper Towels

1. Hairspray first choice for many

   HAIRSPRAY: AS soon as possible treat stain by spraying with hair spray. This will work if you have just a little staining and not a huge area of stain.
   1)SPRAY and let sit for 1-2 minutes.
   2)Place clothing between two paper towels. Press from backside of clothing onto paper towel and let the front side paper towel absorb the ink. Do not rub as that will damage the material
   3)Apply Oxy Clean or Shout and pretreat stain
   4)then wash in warm water as usual. Repeat if ink is not totally out. Try to avoid drying clothes until ink is gone.

2. Main ingredient in hairspray

   ALCOHOL: The main ingredient in hairspray that dissolves ink. Gently dab over pen ink and let set for a minute or two following instructions of step 1. (without hairspray) Launder as usual.

3. Dissolve ink spots

   WD-40: This is strong desolvent and to use only over large areas or if you have nothing else available. Spray, let set one to two minutes and rinse immediately. Then wash as usual with warm water.

   On additional product is Resolve Carpet cleaner let it soak a couple of hours. Rinse and repeat if necessary. Then wash as usual.

Tips & Warnings

• If pen left ink in the washer or dryer make sure to wipe those out with rubbing alcohol and get rid of the residual stain.

• Rubbing the clothing can cause a lot of damage so avoid rubbing vigorously.

Resources

• Ehow spring contest