Ink Pen Washed and Dried with Full Load of Laundry

Updated on July 19, 2008
L.B. asks from Columbus, GA
17 answers

My 19 year old son added a couple of his work shirts to the laundry yesterday. Needless to day he forgot to take his black ink pen out of his pocket and I washed and dried the clothes with the pen. How do you get the ink stains out of clothes that have already been dried?

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F.B.

answers from Atlanta on

I've used the carpet cleaner Spot Shot before when the same thing happened. It took several times but it got dried on ink out of one of my daughter's dresses.

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K.W.

answers from Atlanta on

Try Zout....

My youngest son feel asleep with a blue marker in his bed... What a mess !!! I thought that the bedsheets and his clothes were ruined.

I put Zout on the stain and let it sit for 5 minutes. Washed and was amazed that the majority of the stain was gone. Washed a second time and the stain was completely gone.

It is hard to find, but I found it at Bed, Bath & Beyond.

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J.K.

answers from Charleston on

I've never tried this on ink, but it has removed pretty much everything else I've dried into our clothes so far. Mix 1c Clorox 2, 1c Cascade and fill the basin with HOT water. Then add your clothes and soak overnight. Good luck!

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D.S.

answers from Savannah on

Some of the items will be ruined but the best remedy for getting out ink stains is hairspray! Just saturate the stains with the hairspray and rewash. It should take out the ink. Unfortunately, the hairspray will also take the color out of some things that aren't colorfast. Hope this helps. Good luck!

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G.M.

answers from Columbia on

I would check the internet, but I have gotten ink out of my clothes with regular alcohol. It made it just disappear, I was astounded and relieved. Might want to try it.

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J.L.

answers from Atlanta on

Hair Spray worked well for me when my husband did the same thing. I used a cheap brand.
good luck

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A.P.

answers from Atlanta on

We use something called PreSpot or Sol U Mel. Both are made with ingredients that aren't harmful to us or the environment, and they work really well. Take a look at www.saferforyourhome.com for more info, and let me know if you have any questions! ____@____.com

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N.K.

answers from Atlanta on

I have used totally toddler stain remover before directly pour it on the stains and either rub them or let them soak in in and then wash them in Borax twenty mule team- it should work- i acidentally did this when my 6 yr old left something inky in his pocket- it was all over everything!!!! I used the totally toddler and then borax and then it did remove most of the stains...then every wash after that they started fading more..
Good luck - it's a pain.

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A.S.

answers from Atlanta on

I have had success with hair spray on slacks. It has not worked for me on shirts but that may have been because they are always starched. Anyway, spray it on the pen mark and rub.

Good Luck.

E.M.

answers from Atlanta on

What colors are his shirts? You coud trying soaking them with dishwasher detergent but I am not sure you an remove the ink completely I have found ink is touch to remove Good luck....Do you know if they are looking for bilingual (english and spanish) personel at your school.

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M.H.

answers from Atlanta on

Hi L.,

I always used cheap aerosol hairspray on ink and it worked pretty well with a little elbow grease but I had to work with it for a while. (It also made me light headed from the fumes.) I use the same thing Amy uses and just like she said it is natural and will break the ink down even before you start scrubbing. Some inks are naturally based and some are chemically based so that can make a difference. The company I purchase it from is an inexpensive membership club so you have to be referred to the company by an current member. I would be glad to help as I'm sure Amy would too.

Regards,

M.
www.go2harmony.healthyhometour.com

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S.P.

answers from Columbus on

Try hair spray aqua net works best, also try rubbing alcohol.

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B.M.

answers from Atlanta on

This is a regular thing at our house. I just throw them back in the washing machine and rewash it without pretreating or anything. The only thing it didn't come out of was a shirt that had a lot of spandex in it. It only had a few spots on it and I always wore it under something else I wasn't worried. After the third time wearing and washing it the stain came out. I very rarely use spot cleaner the first time around because I can usually get it out the second washing.

Good Luck

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Y.W.

answers from Athens on

I would use any hairspray or grease lightening.

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D.S.

answers from Charleston on

I found this on the zout website after someone mentioned the product....

http://www.zout.com

Always follow garment label instructions when pretreating and laundering your clothes. For colored garments, test an inside seam for colorfastness. If the garment is washable, follow the instructions below.
To remove ballpoint ink stains, place stain face down on white paper towels. Sponge with rubbing or denatured alcohol (hair spray usually works well). Then rinse and launder with Purex® detergent. Magic Marker or felt tip pin stains are very difficult to remove. Try flushing with cold water until pigments are removed; then rub liquid detergent or Zout® stain remover into stain. Rinse and repeat process until most of the stain is removed. Then add 1-4 tablespoons of household ammonia (per quart of water) to warm sudsy water. Soak garment for 30 minutes. Rinse thoroughly, then launder in the warmest water recommended on the garment label.

Good Luck!

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R.D.

answers from Spartanburg on

I had an ink disaster recently and I was amazed at what worked-- just plain soaking. I tried scrubbing with several cleaners and nothing was working, and my mother suggested just soaking the garments for a while. I thought she was crazy, but I set them in the washtub with just plain water and detergent and let them sit for several hours-- and the ink just dissolved out! I couldn't believe it.. it's worth a try. Good luck!

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D.P.

answers from Atlanta on

You could call a dry cleaner for some advice -- they've got all the tricks of the trade for stain removal -- but I'm pretty sure you aren't going to be able to get the ink out.

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