Did you know that nail polish remover will remove more than just nail polish? If you have ink stains on your hands (that didn't come off with soap and water), apply some nail polish remover to a cotton ball and gently wipe the ink off your hands. As soon as the ink stains are gone, wash your hands with soap and water.
Wet a cotton ball or washcloth with isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol or surgical spirit) and scrub the ink off your skin. Rubbing alcohol is often your best bet for removing the oil-based ink found in most pens. It dissolves oils, allowing you to wipe the ink off your skin.
Specifically, lighter colors like white, yellow, light blue, and pink are the most difficult to remove, as are green, red, and neon colors. White ink (and light colors that were made by combining darker ink with white ink) sometimes turns darker before it begins to fade.
But did you know that the power of Dawn® can also be used as a pretreatment for laundry stains, including oil, ink, grass, and practically anything else in between?
Apply rubbing alcohol, hair spray, or hand sanitizer to dilute the stain, making it easier to remove during the wash. These solvents help tackle most types of ink stains but remember to test the stained garment for colorfastness first as they can also attack fabric dyes and cause further damage.
Does toothpaste remove ink stains? Toothpaste may not be the most effective method for removing ink from fabric, but it can work in a pinch. Just cover the ink stain with a non-gel-based toothpaste and let it sit for several minutes before rinsing the area with cold water. Repeat the steps until the stain is gone.
The alcohol and thickening agents in the hand sanitizer help it soak into your fabric and begin to dissolve the ink stain.
Rubbing alcohol is great for removing ink stains on your hands and on fabric. Use a clean cloth and rub it gently into your skin until the stain is removed.
Make a cleaning solution of natural laundry detergent and vinegar diluted in water, and test it on a corner spot. If it doesn't damage the fabric, soak the stained area in this solution for about half an hour. If the stain is removed after soaking, rinse the fabric with cold water and let it air dry.
Luckily, the ink will only be on the surface of the skin and will not penetrate deep enough to become a permanent part of the skin. The stain may last for a few days or weeks, depending on the amount of ink spilled and how quickly you clean it off.
Since both ink and alcohol have polar groups, they also can dissolve well in water, which, as you know, is comprised of two hydrogens and an oxygen. So alcohol can be used to easily remove ink stains because of their chemical similarity to each other.
If you do not have isopropyl alcohol, you can use substances that contain isopropyl alcohol or isopropanol like hand sanitizers, nail polish, or acetone. They all contain alcohol which breaks down the ink stain making it easier to clean.
Rubbing alcohol is a great way to get rid of permanent marker stains. It's commonly used for wounds and scuffs, but it's also an excellent method for getting rid of Sharpie smears.
To remove ink with vinegar, try soaking the stained area in a mixture of vinegar and water before thoroughly rinsing and washing the item as usual.
Countertop cleaner
Windex is an effective cleaner for any countertop. It's also great for removing transferred ink stains from plastic bags. Simply spray and wipe with a soft cloth. If the surface is particularly dirty, let the solution sit for a few minutes before wiping.
These include things like metallic ink, light greens, light blues, and permanent makeup. Newer tattoos can sometimes pose a problem as well. It doesn't hurt to try. Whether a tattoo can be removed or not can really only be decided on a case-by-case basis.
Green is the hardest color to remove followed by light blue. Neon colors are also incredibly difficult to remove, and typically require multiple treatments with the Ruby laser. As a general rule, the greater the contrast between the color of the tattoo pigment and your skin, the better the result.
Easy Ink to Remove
Black ink, green ink, and blue ink are easier to remove than some other colors, such as red, white, yellow, or orange ink. Lasers can easily pick up on darker inks (with black tattoo ink being the easiest to remove on any skin tone) with a simple laser setting.