TL;DR Use alcohol-based solutions like rubbing alcohol or hairspray, blot rather than rub, and consider professional dry cleaning for stubborn stains.
Alcohol-Based Solutions
Alcohol is frequently recommended for removing ink stains. Rubbing alcohol, vodka, and nail polish remover (which contains acetone) are popular choices [1:1]
[1:2]
[1:3]. These solvents can dissolve the ink, making it easier to lift from the fabric. It's important to blot the stain with a clean cloth rather than rub it, as rubbing can spread the ink further into the fabric
[1:2].
Hairspray
Hairspray is another common household item used for ink stain removal, particularly for ballpoint pen ink [1:2]
[1:3]. However, it's noted that newer formulations may not be as effective as older ones
[3:5]. Look for hairsprays with high alcohol content, such as Aqua Net or Rave
[3:8].
Specialized Products
For those seeking more specialized products, Amodex and Carbona stain removers have been recommended [2:4]
[5:3]. These products are designed specifically for ink and other tough stains and might offer better results than general household items.
Alternative Methods
Some alternative methods include using rotten milk, which reportedly lifts ink stains effectively [3:1]. Another approach involves soaking the stained garment in a mixture of dish soap, vinegar, and warm water
[4:2]
[4:4]. Dawn dish soap and OxiClean have also been suggested for their stain-removing capabilities
[2:3]
[4:3].
Professional Dry Cleaning
If home remedies fail, professional dry cleaning is a viable option. Dry cleaners use solvent-based stain removers that can handle stubborn ink stains without damaging the fabric [5:1]. This is especially recommended for delicate fabrics or heavy-set stains that resist other treatments.
I think I left a pen in my pocket when I went to do the laundry last weekend, and when I took these pants out, I saw these incredibly strong blue ink stains. I tried washing them again, and I've now been attacking a single stain with alcohol wipes, to mixed results. Are there any better methods to getting these stains out? they bleed all the way through and are pretty dark
What kind of ink? Regular ballpoint pen comes out with hairspray. Spray, rinse, repeat. And don’t try to push the ink through the fabric, dab it off, rather than push it deeper.
Other inks need rubbing alcohol, dab it off too, with a clean cloth and try not to spread it.
it was ballpoint 🙃 I didn't know that putting it through a dryer would cause it to set, so it's been a bit of an uphill battle
Hairspray and/or nail varnish remover will sort it out no problem. May take a few goes but I've had worse and got it all out
To add it'll look like it spreads but don't worry it'll just wash out. I put some paper towel behind to let the liquid soak into it with the ink then blot what I can away.
Pretty much impossible with stains that heavy.
You could try: Hairspray, brake cleaner (perc), 100% isopropyl alcohol, acetone, shaving cream (I'm dubious about this one). But I highly doubt you'll be able to remove it without damaging the material.
Dry clean. Or specialist stain removers.
What works nearly 100% of the time for me is soaking overnight in 1 gallon of vodka. Then wash cold the next day. Repeat as needed. Should be no more than 3 times for heavy set stains
Vodka works because its alcohol ...try 92% isopropyl alcohol (medical), I've also had luck with acetone (nail polish remover). Blot with either repeatedly , pressing with paper towel on the inside to help pull it thru. should fade.
Isopropyl will evaporate too fast in this case. I said vodka because of the amount of time needed for a heavy set stain like that, they can let it sit in a gallon of it for a long time and have no need for blotting either
Step 2: drink most of the vodka and bin the trousers. In the morning you won’t care.
Rubbing alcohol, if that doesn't get it out I'd consider dying the pants
Ink the whole pair
I had a cartoonish accident because I was a little too excited to fill a new pen. How do I clean this without turning all my clothes blue?
I'd hit it with rubbing alcohol. I spilled a whole sample vial of 2oz on my ottoman that's made of cloth. It looked like a crime scene till I used rubbing alcohol, took damn near all of it out but the white fibers were slightly pink. Hope this helps and good luck! Stay inky!
Use a few drops of Dawn dish soap and rub into the cloth under running water. Once most of the ink is out, soak the whole thing in a tub of water mixed with OxiClean.
If you have access to Amodex thats been great for me.
What did a search on the sub turn up?
https://www.reddit.com/r/fountainpens/comments/1iofkmo/how_do_i_get_fountain_pen_ink_out_of_clothes/
Alcohol or acetone depends more on the fabric of the bag. Start with a little alcohol wipe or dab some on a paper towel and just start gentle scrubbing over the ink only (it will spread so you want to focus the ink area) if it starts to come off then just keep gentle scrubbing with fresh alcohol until it’s gone.
Hairspray also works if you don’t have alcohol but it leaves a sticky residue so make sure to give a gentle wipe after if you need to go that route.
I read something recently about hairspray formulations having changed, so they're not as good at stain removal as older formulation.
Yeah the newer ones for flexible hold are not what you want. You want all day hold, pure alcohol, hair spray lol they still exist get like Aqua Net or Rave. The cheaper the better for stain removal.
Rubbing alcohol always work for me, sometimes, also water, press on the tissue gently and scrub a bit. I don't know if it would damage the vinil but I have also saved bags and clothes with a bit of dish soap
Don't use bleach, you could turn the vinyl yellow. Ink is soluble in alcohol, so, sanitiser, vodka, or rubbing alcohol will get rid of it.
Just here to say I dig that pencil bag. Good luck.
I agree. That print is adorable!
Aww thanks! I'm just afraid the ink stain will make it look bad or something haha
My cousin gifted this bag to me after she got back from Japan and I love it so much :')
Rotten milk lifts pen ink stains remarkably well. Just set out a little milk for a day or so, once it has curdled, cover the stain until the ink has lifted and then wash.
This works wonders, came here to suggest milk!!
Hope this works!
How can I remove ink from my shirt(beige color and 100% cotton) and also my chinos (black) Does giving it for drycleaners work and will drycleaning damage fabric?
For anyone with this same issue: if it’s a cotton garmet, lightly spray alcohol based hairspray on the stains, soak in a solution of 1/2 tsp washing detergent 1 tbsp vinegar & warm water for 30 minutes. Rinse with cold water & allow to air dry. I thought my favorite sweatshirt was ruined. It was SO much ink. But it came right out! Good luck!
I have gotten so many stains out (blood, ink, lipstick, etc.) by using shout First, then blue dawn dish soap, scrubbing that all in, waiting over night, then soaking in oxyc lean in the washing machine (I have a top loader) Then running the machine like normal. Sometimes I have to do it twice (the lipstick incident was awful) But I have had success each time
Mix some white vinegar and a bit of dish soap into warm water, soak the clothes in that mixture
Boost
I was once able to remove a small ink stain on patterned material by using nail polish remover.
My husband left a black ink pen in his pocket and I didn’t catch it until I was pulling the clothes out of the dryer. Most items are covered in black ink blots 😭 is there any hope? I thought about soaking in rubbing alcohol then washing again. Is it worth it? Any advice or suggestions appreciated!
Back in the day we used hair spray to get ink out. I don’t know if it still works
Amodex or Carbona stain devils - you should be able to find at least one of these at the grocery store.
I’ve never had much luck with rubbing alcohol or hairspray.
Soak in 93% alcohol, blot, repeat. Just soaking and then washing won’t work. The other option is to outsource this to your friendly local professional dry cleaner. Solvent stain removers can do a lot.
Hand sanitizer or nail varnish remover may work
Ok I will try
The stain honestly doesn’t bother me THAT much… worse case I’ll just cover it up with come pins or patches. I just figured I’d try to give it a shot if there’s an easy enough solution.
So far I’ve only scrubbed with dawn dish soap and let sit in warm water for a bit and it didn’t budge. I’ve looked online but haven’t found any concrete solutions yet for this specific kind of material.
Dye the bag blue if it won't come out. Cut off the patch, dye, and put it back on.
Hand sanitizer or isopropyl alcohol is worth a try
Sew something on top of it, like a patch
I’ve used hairspray to get out pen ink out of bags. Not sure if this has been ran through the washer though? and if it would affect the hairspray working? But it’s worth a try lol
A friendly PSA to take your pens out of your sleeves every day, no matter what.
What can I do to get these stains out?
I did this once and got it out with rubbing alcohol. The ink in most pens is alcohol soluble. Soak it and rinse it several times and then run it in the wash
Baking soda will go a long ass way with this. Put sanitizer on, it will release the ink, then add the baking soda and it will absorb the ink slowly. When the soda looks as dark as the ink, scrape away and repeat. It's a time consuming process, it will not look perfect, you may decide buying a new one is worth it over the hassle. You have a large area there.
Does the alcohol percentage matter? Like 70% or 99%?
i was able to get pen stains out of abu's with hand sanitizer so it doesn't take much.
Use 70 since 99 is really flammable and not usually found at the store. But like they said, soak the ink section where it's completely submerged. When you see the ink bleeding out and the alcohol turning into the color, replace the alcohol. May need to do this a few times before washing in the wash again
I’ve used hand sanitizer
Be sure to put paper towels inside the sleeve, or the alcohol will just make it bleed to the other side.
OP could also use white vinegar w/ baking soda mixed with rubbing alcohol or a solvent based solution before the ink grounds in
Did the same thing in tech school. Soaked the area in heavy duty stain remover from the BX for about an hour and then washed like normal. Still wearing the same top 2 years later.
Happened to me at AMS. Most of it came out just scrubbing in liquid laundry detergent, then letting it soak a bit and doing a cold wash.
Hair spray and paper towels. Trust me. DO NOT put it in the dryer until gone
Hair spray 100%. A toothbrush can help, too. I initially went to fashion school and that’s how I knew hairspray was the answer.
My pen leaked on my USSF jersey and I havent been able to get it out. is there a special trick that anyone uses?
OxyClean liquid in the sink. Warm water.
Ha! I did this literally a month ago.
If the ink is new - rubbing alcohol, or hairspray. Hand sanitiser also works. Rub it on (don’t be sparing). Then wash it.
You may need to do it a few times. Depending on the colour of your shirt, and the amount of ink (and how long it was there for) will determine if it’s possible and/or how long you need to keep doing it for.
I did it to a red shirt. Bought another in the end (my ink had dried in, as I hadn’t realised until before my next game).
yeah its been there for a while. its on my yellow so its my most used. i may just need to get a new shirt.
Dry cleaners is always your best bet BEFORE trying anything else.
⬆️ This is the way. ⬆️
Can I upvote this twice?
I did that, too. Goof off helped a little. Google said borax, but it didn’t do much that I could figure. Good news is nothing faded the jersey, bad news is nothing faded the ink.
Google says to use alcohol, hairspray, or hand sanitizer.
Yeah but with these cheap, thin OSI jerseys it will fade the color.
yeah id be worried with alcohol. these jerseys arent cheap
Have you tried alcohol or hand sanitizer??? It works to get ink out of clothes... might be worth a shot
Hi, I haven’t tried that! I’ll try the hand sanitizer! Thank you for responding!!
I couldn’t find any hand sanitizer immediately but I have rubbing alcohol and it’s helping!! Thank you so much!! I appreciate the help <3
Yay!!! Nothing worse than when your mani is ruined. I know no else notices but when mine is i cant look at anything else!!
Melamine sponges remove everything!
Hi, I googled melamine sponge, it’s like a magic eraser??
Yes
Never heard of those
Lestoil!
Just redo it if it’s regular polish
Hair spray?? Takes pen off other things
How to get rid of a pen ink stain
Here are some effective methods to remove pen ink stains:
Immediate Action:
Rubbing Alcohol:
Hand Sanitizer:
Milk:
Vinegar and Cornstarch Paste:
Commercial Stain Removers:
Important Tips:
Recommendation: Start with rubbing alcohol or hand sanitizer, as these are often the most effective and readily available solutions for ink stains.
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