How to remove ink from clothes

How to remove ink from clothes

1. 1

   Test the alcohol on a hidden seam

   Dab a little rubbing alcohol on an inside seam, wait a few minutes, and blot with a white towel. If color comes off on the towel, use a prewash stain remover instead.

   Why: Alcohol dissolves ink because ink is dye, and it can dissolve some fabric dyes for the same reason.

2. 2

   Put the stain face down on paper towels

   Lay several layers of white paper towels on a flat surface and put the stain face down on them, so the back of the fabric faces up.

   Why: Ink loosened from the back is pushed out the shortest way, into the towel, instead of through the whole garment.

3. 3

   Dampen around the stain, then the stain

   Moisten a ring around the stain with rubbing alcohol first, then dab the stain itself from the back with a soaked cotton ball. Don't rub.

   Why: Wetting the edge first stops the dissolved ink from spreading outward into a wider ring.

4. 4

   Change the towels often

   Keep dabbing, and move the stain onto a clean area of towel or a fresh sheet each time you see ink on the one below. Continue until no more color transfers.

   Why: A towel that's already inky can put ink back into the fabric.

5. 5

   Rinse and work in detergent

   Rinse the area well with water, then rub a little liquid laundry detergent into it and let it sit for a few minutes.

   Why: Detergent lifts the loosened dye and the oily ink carrier, and rinsing removes the alcohol.

6. 6

   Wash, then air-dry and check

   Wash as the care label directs and hang to dry. If a faint color remains, soak in oxygen bleach (or use chlorine bleach on white cotton that allows it) and wash again.

   Why: The ink's dye can stay after the carrier is gone, and bleach is what breaks down leftover dye. Dryer heat would set it.

Why there's no single ink remover

Ink is color carried in a liquid, and the carrier decides what dissolves it. Ballpoint ink is a thick, oily paste of dyes in glycol or oil-type solvents, so it responds to alcohol and solvent. Gel and rollerball inks are water-based gels with pigment or dye. Washable felt-tip and fountain-pen inks are dyes in water and usually rinse out with water and detergent.

That's why the American Cleaning Institute warns that some ballpoint, felt-tip and liquid inks may be impossible to remove, and why a wash before pretreatment is risky: the University of Kentucky and Texas A&M both note that laundering can set some inks. Ink is a combination stain, carrier plus dye, so you remove it in two stages.

By situation

Ballpoint pen ink

This is what the alcohol method is for. Dried ballpoint still often redissolves in alcohol, so an old pen mark is worth trying. The University of Kentucky also lists glycerin as helpful for ballpoint ink: work it in to soften the paste, then rinse and wash.

Gel pen, felt-tip and washable ink

Start with water and liquid detergent, since these inks are water-based and often rinse out while fresh. If color remains, move on to the alcohol method and then an oxygen bleach soak.

Ink on jeans

Denim is thick, so use more towel layers underneath and press firmly when you dab. Test the alcohol inside a hem first: indigo and other dark dyes can lighten where alcohol touches them.

The shirt already went through the wash or dryer

If it was only washed, don't dry it: repeat the alcohol blotting and a prewash stain remover, then wash again. If it has been machine-dried, the same method is worth a try, but some inks will now be permanent.

White vs. colored clothes

On whites, follow the alcohol with chlorine bleach (if the label allows) for any ghost of color. On colors, test the alcohol first and use oxygen bleach only.

Acetate, silk, wool and dry-clean-only items

On acetate and triacetate, dilute the alcohol with two parts water. Take silk, wool and dry-clean-only garments to a cleaner and tell them it's ink.

What not to do

• Don't wash the garment before pretreating. Laundering can set some inks permanently.
• Don't rub or scrub the stain. Rubbing spreads dissolved ink into a bigger stain.
• Don't use milk. New Mexico State Extension calls milk on ink an unreliable old remedy, and milk can leave a stain of its own.
• Don't put acetone on acetate, triacetate or modacrylic. Acetone dissolves these fibers.

Other methods that work

Prewash stain remover

Kentucky and Texas A&M extension both suggest a prewash pretreatment for ink. These contain solvents and surfactants for oily ink carriers. Follow the label time, then wash.

Caution: Don't leave it on longer than the label says on fabrics with unstable dyes.

Drip alcohol through over a glass

Stretch the stained area tightly over the mouth of a glass and drip rubbing alcohol through it, so the ink drips into the glass. The American Cleaning Institute describes this as an alternative to towels.

Caution: Same dye-fading risk as any alcohol method, so test first.

Hairspray

A traditional ink trick with weak evidence. It relied on the alcohol in older formulas, and modern hairsprays vary and add resins.

Caution: It can leave a sticky residue. Plain rubbing alcohol does the same job more cleanly.

Stain still there?

The stain spread into a bigger blue ring

The alcohol moved ink sideways. Keep dabbing from the back over fresh towels, working from the outer edge in, until no more transfers. Then wash.

A faint gray or blue shadow remains after washing

That's leftover dye. Soak in oxygen bleach for colors, or use chlorine bleach on white cotton that allows it, then wash again.

A pen went through the dryer

Treat each marked garment with the alcohol method. The drum may also be marked; no extension guide covers that, so unplug the dryer and test any cleaner on a small spot before running another load.

Safety

• Rubbing alcohol is flammable. Work in a ventilated room away from flames.
• Don't mix alcohol, solvents and bleach. Rinse well between products.

Never mix cleaning products; see chemicals you must never combine.

Questions

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• Ink stains: the complete guide
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