I washed and dried a load of clothes without realizing there was an ink pen in with the clothes. Is there a way to get the ink out of the clothes? TIA

By Cat on Monday, December 4, 2006 - 11:26 pm:

Hair spray will take ink out. Just spray it on and then wash it out. Both dh and ds have left pens in pockets.

By Kathy on Tuesday, December 5, 2006 - 08:02 am:

Thanks Cat.

By Bemerry84 on Tuesday, December 5, 2006 - 08:29 am:

Ditto Cat, hairspray works wonders.

By Kathy on Tuesday, December 5, 2006 - 12:28 pm:

Well, I tried it and it didn't work. Maybe I did it wrong. I will try it again later.

By Imamommyx4 on Tuesday, December 5, 2006 - 01:20 pm:

From personal experience, hairspray works well when you get it on your shirt, spray it & let it dry, then toss in the wash.

But I had the same problem once with an ink pen in somebody's pocket that broke in the wash/dryer. No good news about this one. Never did get it out. I turned it into work/paint clothes. Something about the heat from the dryer just set in the ink.

By Ginny~moderator on Tuesday, December 5, 2006 - 01:48 pm:

I've had Debbie's experience also - once it's gone through the dryer, it's set, and you are out of luck. If you are talking about white shirts, maybe - just maybe - you can soak some of the stain out by soaking them in a strong dishwasher detergent solution, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

By Kathy on Tuesday, December 5, 2006 - 02:28 pm:

Yeah..everything has gone through the dryer. I didn't even notice it as I was putting it in.

By Bemerry84 on Tuesday, December 5, 2006 - 03:25 pm:

Mine went through the dryer too but I used the liquid hair spray with the pump and saturated it and left it soak overnight and it did come out. I had to do the process a couple times. The clothing it was on was new and I wanted it out, so I worked at it until it was. I also dabbed it with paper towel to pick up the ink and kept spraying it, it was a very very dark spot and eventually it was gone.

By Kathy on Wednesday, December 6, 2006 - 12:11 am:

Thanks Bemerry. I will not give up quite yet!

By Dana on Wednesday, December 6, 2006 - 08:46 am:

Rubbing alcohol is supose to work too. They say it is the alcohol in the hairspray that makes it work.

By Imamommyx4 on Wednesday, December 6, 2006 - 01:38 pm:

Just thinking--Rit makes a stain/dye remover. I've used it a time or two on bad dye jobs and does a good job. Maybe it would work on the ink.

By Missbookworm on Wednesday, December 6, 2006 - 10:04 pm:

I got crayons, on clothes, in the dryer I had to wash it about 3 times before it came out. I didn't put any special cleaners though, just washed them repeatedly, thank goodness the crayon came out some of the clothes that got it were my work clothes!!

I hope you get the ink out!