Tips for removing Ink from clothing and fabric
How to get ink out of clothes
First you need to determine what type of ink makes up the stain. There are three common
types of inks.
- Water Based Inks - from the markers that are used for transparencies and overhead
projectors. - Permanent Ink - found in many markers, fountain pens, stamp pads and even some
ball point pens are now filled with permanent ink. - Ballpoint Ink
Dry Erase Marker is not an ink. See our special tips on How to remove Dry Erase Marker
To remove Water Based Inks
Pre-treat with heavy-duty liquid detergent, then rinse thoroughly.
Next soak the stained garment in a dilute solution of all-fabric powdered bleach.
If the above steps do not remove the stain you can try soaking the garment in a dilute solution
of liquid chlorine bleach and water if the clothing is white or light colored.
Warning - bleaching damage to colored garments is irreversible. Also, since bleaching can
alter the color of the garment, bleach the whole garment and not just a spot.
To remove Permanent Ink and Permanent Markers
It is called permanent ink for a reason - it may be very difficult to remove the whole stain. The
procedure below should help to lighten the stain significantly.
First, place the garment on an old but absorbent towel that you don’t care if it gets stained (or
on a thick pad of paper towels) on a flat work surface. Use a clean white rag or paper towels
dipped in rubbing alcohol and dab at the stain. You should see the stain transfer to the rag.
Use another dry cloth to blot up the solution between applications.
Keep applying the rubbing alcohol and blotting it up several times. Then rinse the spot with
clean water and blot that up. Repeat until stain is gone or at least lighter
To remove Ballpoint Ink
First, spray or sponge with dry cleaning solvent like perchloroethylene or trichloroethylene
then rub with heavy-duty liquid laundry detergent and rinse thoroughly.
Second, soak the stained garment in a dilute solution of all-fabric powdered bleach.
If the these steps do not remove the stain you can try soaking the garment in a dilute solution
of liquid chlorine bleach and water if the clothing is white or light colored.
Warning - bleaching damage to colored garments is irreversible. Also, since bleaching can
alter the color of the garment, bleach the whole garment and not just a spot. If the stain is
not gone in 15 minutes, it cannot be removed by bleaching and further bleaching will only
weaken the fabric.
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