How to Remove Ink From Printed Cards

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Things You'll Need

  • Cotton swabs

  • Bleach

  • Fine sandpaper

Removing ink stains from printed cards will ensure they look professional.

An ink stain can make the most professional printed cards look sloppy and undesirable. Using white-out to cover an ink stain or mistake provides a solution, but leaves its own undesirable mark. Fortunately, ink mistakes are much easier to remove from card stock than from thinner paper. Common methods of ink removal include blotting, bleaching and scraping, or a combination of the three.

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Step 1

Use a cotton swab to absorb the wet ink, but change the swab frequently to prevent smearing. This method only works if you catch the mistake quickly, while the ink is still wet.

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Step 2

Apply bleach to a cotton swab, using just enough to get the swab moist. Carefully blot at the ink stain with the cotton swab to lighten the stain.

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Step 3

Allow the bleach treatment to dry completely and repeat if desired. If the ink has disappeared to your satisfaction, then stop here, you don't need to take further action.

Step 4

Gently scrape at the ink stain with fine sandpaper to scratch the ink off the surface of the cardstock. You may need to repeat this action several times to remove the ink. The result will leave a small indentation in the card because the sandpaper also removed a layer of the paper.

Tip

Gluing a piece of sandpaper to the eraser of a pencil will make it easier to handle, particularly over small surface areas.

A bleach pen may also produce satisfactory results, but you should always test on an inconspicuous area before committing to this method.

Warning

When using the sandpaper method, only rub in one direction to avoid ripping or degrading the paper too severely.

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