How to Remove Ink Stains from your Best Clothes?

They all make use of ink pens every day. And while it doesn’t cost much to get a fancy pen for your writing, it could cost you a lot if you do get ink on your clothes.

If you have ever had to throw away your clothes (whites especially) because you spilled ink on them, it will interest you to know that you no longer have to. Having taken the risk myself to try and remove ink stains from my clothes, I can say that it is worth it to give it a try before condemning your ink-stained clothes.

oBetter Understand the type of Ink Stain

You could easily decide which method will be best to get out ink stains from your clothes once you can understand the different types of ink stains.

Water-based ink stains from water markers and poster colors are not much of a problem to get out from clothes. It could be easy for you to throw the cloth in the washing machine with a strong detergent and run a quick wash cycle. But from personal experience, I find that it may be best to blot some of the stains away manually before washing.

Permanent markers on the other hand leave behind some oily stains that stick deeper into fabrics making it hard to get out. And if you happen to have your whites stained with ink, you want to use bleach to go deep into the stains.

oAct quick with ink stains

The longer the ink dries on the cloth the harder it is to remove. This means that you want to act quickly to get out the stain. If you happen to notice the spill on time, you can quickly soak the cloth in a bowl of water and get started with blotting out the stain with either vinegar or rubbing alcohol.

How to Remove Water-based Ink Stains

Water-based ink dries quickly and doesn’t stick into the layering of the fabric making it easy to get out. You can quickly get out water markers, poster colors, and similar stains from clothes by simply washing them with good laundry detergent in the washing machine.

Even though they may not be much to deal with, you want to avoid using homemade laundry detergents to remove tough stains. While they may be an eco-friendly and nice suggestion to get you started on some DIY projects at home, they don’t do much to remove ink stains from clothes.

You will need a strong washing solution that can penetrate deep into fabrics. And if you do need to blot out water-based ink stains from clothes want to make sure to make use of distilled white vinegar or rubbing alcohol only.

How to Remove Permanent Marker Ink Stains

If you are dealing with oil-based ink stains like the ones you will get from permanent markers and ball-point pens, you will need to act quickly. You can take off the cloth immediately after you notice the stain and soak it in a bowl of water to prevent the ink stain from drying out.

While you will also need to wash the cloth with laundry detergent, you will have to get out some of the stains manually by blotting them out with paper towels and a natural fabric softener.

oUse White Vinegar

White vinegar has a lot of application in the home and you could also trust it to help with removing ink stains. You will need to get some paper towels, ensure that you have pure white vinegar, and apply it to the stain.

Before applying the vinegar, you want to make sure to protect the unaffected section of the cloth by placing a towel in between it. A few drops of vinegar directly on the stain will soak deep into the fabric softening things up for when you begin blotting out with the paper towels. Once you are satisfied with the cleaning, you can now go ahead to wash the cloth in the washing machine in a normal wash cycle.

oUse Rubbing Alcohol

Just like white vinegar helps with softening up fabric for stain removal, you could also trust rubbing alcohol to help with ink stains. Get your protective covering in place to prevent the stain from spreading when you begin blotting out.

Add some drops of rubbing alcohol directly to the stain and allow it to soak in. Using the paper towels, gently blot out the stain adding more rubbing alcohol to soften the fabric.

When you are satisfied with how much ink stains have gotten out, you can now wash the cloth in the washing machine on a normal laundry cycle.