How do you remove ink from a dryer? And Clothes?
Robert from Staten Island, NY
Regarding the bleach and towel method, does it have to be a "white" towel? Because I have an old towel I can use, but it's not white. (03/25/2008)
By Vicki
The bleach and water with white towels did the trick for me. Just be careful when opening the dryer door, there may be some bleach in the air, and you don't want to inhale it. Thanks for the help. (03/26/2008)
By Curtis
Thanks for the tips, Magic eracer with the nail polish works perfect to remove ink out of the dryer. The best part is you can reuse the magic eracer by washing it out in cold water. (04/05/2008)
By Steve
Thank you so much for the help with the magic scrubs and nail polish remover to get the ink out of my dryer it worked really great. (04/07/2008)
By
THANK YOU SO MUCH to whoever posted the cleaning instructions for the bleach soaked towels to remove ink from a dryer drum. I had an ink pen explode in my dryer and was worried that it was ruined. I tried the Clorox Clean up and other items around the house and nothing would work. I drenched a couple of towels & rags (you need a couple) in bleach and water and ran them in the dryer for about 30 minutes and the ink is basically gone! I did have to repeat this 3 times, but it was well worth it! THANKS so much for the great post! (04/14/2008)
By Melissa
I just used the magic eraser and fingernail polish remover. It's the best fix for ink in the dryer I have ever used!! (04/16/2008)
By
I've found that the stuff you clean counter top ovens works as good as anything and does not smell. (04/16/2008)
By steve
I heartily endorse the towels with bleach. I used about 5 towels and they were soggy with bleach water(more bleach than water). I dampened them twice and ran the dryer for about two hours. Towels absorbed the ink. Now I have to wash them. I don't know if the ink will come out but I probably don't care. Rather ink on my towels than on good clothes. (04/27/2008)
By Deborah
Awesome! The towels with bleach worked well. Thank you very much. And greetings from PuertoRico (April 2008) (04/29/2008)
By Mike
Great tips. Son left red pen in pants - somewhere - I check all pockets, but may have missed one. Boy do I hate those many pocketed cargo pants. Tried rubbing alcohol with some luck then used the magic eraser with acetone nail polish and that really did the trick. I am now finishing up with the clorox clean up and some towels tumbling away. Son did all the scrubbing, it was his pen after all and he is 13. At least I opened up the garage and sliding glass doors so he could have some air. Was so worried when I saw the original mess since this dryer is only a few months old. Thanks again! (05/04/2008)
By mom2mcd
Great tips. Son left red pen in pants - somewhere - I check all pockets, but may have missed one. Boy do I hate those many pocketed cargo pants. Tried rubbing alcohol with some luck then used the magic eraser with acetone nail polish and that really did the trick. I am now finishing up with the clorox clean up and some towels tumbling away.
By mom2mcd
Wow, we all seem to have something ELSE in common, we did this to our almost new dryers. I have the towels and bleach tumbling away with all my fingers crossed, if that doesnt work I will go to magic eraser and nail polish remover. (05/04/2008)
By Dano
Trying the towels with bleach. Hopefully it will work. (05/10/2008)
By Fran
NEED HELP QUICK, about bleach trick: trying to clean it fast as I can so I don't get spanking :( So do I have to get like 5 towels or something soaked in bleach and water and run the dryer? Like actually dry the towels? (05/14/2008)
By eric
Thank you, thank you. I am trying the bleach in the dryer right now. I am pregnant so I am trying to avoid breathing in anything I don't have too. I am doing the clorox bleach on the towels right now (hoping it will work). (05/31/2008)
By merriann
Nail polish remover worked like magic! But be sure to clean the drum several times with soap and water because a distributor website said not to use flammable materials...and nail polish remover is extremely flammable! Thanks! (06/03/2008)
By katie
Okay, so I tried the towels with Clorox Clean-up. No dice. Tried the magic eraser. Nada. Finally, I pulled out the nail polish remover, and I made some progress, but then I had to wash it out with dish-washing liquid and water (that stuff's flammable) and now I'm going to try the bleachy towels again. Folks, it just wasn't that easy, and after at least an hour, it definitely doesn't look as good as new. Beat those who do not check pockets before doing laundry. Draw and quarter them, I say! (06/14/2008)
high heat dryer setting with a towel soaked in bleach... perfect (06/17/2008)
By
I had a pen that exploded in my dryer today and one of my friends suggested simple green to get the ink out. I tried magic eraser, bleach and pledge all purpose cleaner, but the simple green worked almost instantly. Now the inside of the dryer looks new again! (06/22/2008)
By Greg
Wow-thanks to all who suggested using bleach towels to remove ink from our dryer. I drenched 3 towels turned the dryer on high and within 30 minutes I was out of the dog house with my wife Susan. We both appreciate the suggestion. (06/22/2008)
By Bill P.
We had a lot of ink in the dryer, and we tried mr. clean, ammonia, paint thinner, a variety of alcohol based things, and goo gone. nothing worked that well- lots of hard scrubbing with minimal results. Tried the bleach towels and within 20 minutes it was completely gone. Best housecleaning tip I have ever tried. (06/24/2008)
By Doug
My parents are the "as seen on TV" people who whenever something good comes on, they order it right away. Every time we see a new product come on TV my mom is usually ordering it. Our garage is full of junk that they've bought off TV. So with that said, I found a great multipurpose cleaner called "LA's Totally Awesome Concentrated Multipurpose Cleaner". (Stupid name I know!) I thought, hmm, couldn't make it any worse! So I sprayed some on the ink in my dryer, and let it set for 1-2 minutes, it was already coming off, so I scrubbed at the bigger spots with a laundry stain brush and soaked the smaller spots and rubbed it down with a towel to dry it off and voila! Worked like a charm and only took about 10 minutes!
Good luck! (06/25/2008)
By Anonymous
The towel drenched in Clorex is working!
MUAHUAHA!
Whoever invented this is a genius. Now I won't get yelled at by my parents!
Editor's Note: Make sure that you have good ventilation whenever using bleach. (07/05/2008)
By Eric
Forget the bleach towel! It did not touch the ink stains in my dryer, and it left a scratchy residue all over the inside of the dryer. It felt like sandpaper, and then we had to use Dawn and elbow grease to remove the residue. Ink stains remain, and the people who posted about the bleach towel neglected to mention that the towel you use should be a throw away. The combination of bleach and heat eats the towel and when you wash it later, it turns into shredded fluff in your washing machine. Another machine then needs to be cleaned! What a mess. (07/06/2008)
By Karen
Thank you to everyone for suggestions. We were house sitting and a pen exploded in our bosses dryer (on the last day none the less). We tried the bleach towels and it took it all away. Thanks again! (07/06/2008)
By Justin
The bleach soaked towels! WOW AMAZED! The only thing that work forget the other crap about perfume or degreaser! Bleach soaked towels! (07/19/2008)
By JON
Ok it's a brand new dryer and I had used some goo gone pro power spray gel and some of the ink came off and now there are like light blue pen ink still left in the dryer and I tried the hairspray, the mr clean magic marker, nail polish remover, rubbing alcohol and nothing seems to work, don't know how to get the rest of the ink off and my mom is really really mad, so what can I do?
(07/26/2008)
By
I did the bleached towels first but had to follow up with finger nail polish remover. Used 2 8oz bottles and some elbow grease
Thanks to everyone who posted help. (07/26/2008)
By DAB
Thanks for the tip. I used the bleach soaked towel trick and it really worked. I was amazed. Thank you. My dryer was only 6 months old. (07/29/2008)
By
Prepare to be amazed!
Though there are probably different inks with different properties, my dryer (wife's dryer) was very stubborn.
I tried a multitude of suggestions on small spots:
WD-40
Acetone
Neutral Cleaner
Industrial Degrease
Simple Green
The Eraser
Rubbing Alcohol
Fantastic
Greased Lightning
Lighter Fluid
and found TWO products that actually had any real level of success. Yes, I did preheat the dryer before attempting any of these items.
Soft Scrubb with bleach actually removed ink and left the porcelain white with plenty of scrubbing
But... hold on to your bootstraps Betty, the winner is...
You ain't gonna believe this.. Drum roll please...
OFF! Skintastic Family unscented OFF! Mosquito spray OFF! The one with the orange pump sprayer on top!
You won't believe your eyes. It dissolved the THICKER splotches of ink ten times quicker than cheap mascara would in a thunderstorm watching your favorite tear jerker...old yeller.. One pump of the sprayer and the ink runs off lickety schplit with no effort.
Words of Caution here folks, it probably is NOT HEALTHY to be breathing this for an extended period. Wear a mask and have Plenty of Ventilation.
Again, this is what worked on OUR dryer with OUR ink stain. It seems that there are no two alike.You may need to finish up with Soft Scrub... and have a drink or two (08/02/2008)
By Steve Foss
Off bug spray really does work! Wow! (08/05/2008)
By
After many failed tries, soft scrub, gojo, and rubbing alcohol, I finally use a acetone base nail polish remover. Just pre-heat dryer for about 5 to 10 mins and get to work. So far so good. Thanks for the advice. (08/06/2008)
By Scarlett
My wife took my pants out of the closet, not the floor or a laundry hamper, but the closet, put them in the washer and then the dryer. "You left a pen in your pants and now the dryer is ruined," she claimed, assigning the blame squarely upon my shoulders. Scrubbing with various products proved futile. When we came upon this website and tried the bleach soaked towels we both let out a sigh of relief. The great majority of stains had been vanquished. (08/09/2008)
By Mike
My girl friends mom just bought a new dryer and one of my work pen was just washed in it. what a mess! I really have tried everything and acetone was the only thing to remove all of the ink pen. Now it looks just the same as it was. (08/09/2008)
By justin
Will this work for pen that has been 'cooked' into the dryer? I just took possession of my house back from renters and the dryer is covered in pen. They won't divulge how long it has been covered in pen for. I really appreciate your help! (08/11/2008)
By
I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. I had an ink pen explode in my dryer and get cooked into the drum. I used OFF Mosquito Spray and it literally dissolved and ran on contact. A little wiping and my dryer looks like new! WooHOO! (08/12/2008)
By Kevin
I tried the Off that Kevin suggested and it worked fabulously on the stainless steel drum. Although now that I've seen it remove ink so easily I won't be able to spray it on my kids again! It did not work on the plastic surrounding the drum, it dissovled the ink but also the plastic so now that is one huge smeared mess and will need another solution. (08/17/2008)
By Dana
We tried:
(poor results)
1. baby wipes
2. lysol wipes
3. vodka (had no rubbing alcohol
(fair results)
4. nail polish remover
5. spray nine
6. rubbing alcohol
7. magic eraser
(good results)
8. Easy-Off oven cleaner
The spray 9, rubbing alcohol and nail polish remover worked a little but you really had to work up a sweat to get anywhere. Easy off was a bit easier but the
WINNER IS...
8. OFF Skintastic Family spray. WOW! IT makes me feel weird that I spray this stuff on my family. The ink ran off super-duper easy. Spray and wipe. About as easy as washing your windows with windex. You need a fan for the fumes though. (08/17/2008)
By Janice
A really big thank you goes out to whoever posted the Off mosquito repellent to remove ink in the dryer. I tried the bleached soaked towels and it helped lighten up the ink but did not completely remove it. So then I thought I would just try the Off Mosquito Repellent and I was amazed at how fast the ink just dripped away! Awesome. Thank You! (08/18/2008)
By Melinda
I tried the Simple Green and I tried the Off! Family bug spray (though mine has a pink cap, not orange). The Simple Green didn't work at all. The bug spray, however started working on the stains immediately. I recommend that you focus on small areas at a time...don't try to spray the whole dryer and wipe it down. It didn't remove every stain completely, but it got the major parts at least. Our dryer has been stained blue for years from a pair of dark jeans so I was happy with what it did remove.
After cleaning it, the dryer (of course) smelled like bug spray so I unplugged it and opened the door to let it air out overnight. This morning, I did not detect the smell at all. (08/21/2008)
By Sarah
I used 100% acetone to clean the ink out of my dryer it worked great. I would recommend using a fan to ventilate the area as the smell gets really strong. (08/22/2008)
By Suzanne.
I DID IT. That's right I did it. I left a pen in my pant pocket. This site really helped me. What work for me was that mr clean eraser original in the blue box. That's what I started off with. I took off the big globs of ink in the drum. Then I used nail polish remover, and that worked too. It removed most of the stains but the drum was still messed up. So the last thing really worked. I soaked some rags with Clorox bleach and I ran the dryer for about 30 min..
It worked. It really worked that why I'm writing. So here it is in a nut shell 1. mr clean eraser 2. nail polish remover. Make sure you let it air out and wipe it down with a wet rag. Acetone is flammable 3. bleach rags and run the dryer for 30 min. My dryer is as good as new. Thanks guys! (08/23/2008)
By bob the guy who left the pen in his pant pocket
OFF mosquito spray works the best! Spray it on, and it instantly makes the ink run of the dryer drum. Wipe up with paper towels and your done.
Word of caution: You should wear a painter respirator aka dust mask because the OFF is really strong and probably not good for your lungs. Also have a fan blowing near by. If you don't use a dust mask, be sure to hold your breath when spraying it. (08/23/2008)
By Charlie
Tried the Off Skintastic and the majority of the ink just melted away! Now I'm trying the soaked towel with Javex 2. Not Clorex but I'll let you know if it works! (08/27/2008)
By
I tried the Off Skintastic and it removed the majority of the ink stains. Now I'm trying the soaked towel with Javex 2. It's not regular bleach but I'll let you know if it works! (08/27/2008)
By Michelle
OMG! I kinda skeptical about the OFF Spray, which worked pretty well to get the bigger, nastier stains out. I followed this by using Simply Green (which did nothing). AND FINALLY, the 3 towels soaked in bleach CLEANED EVERYTHING OUT! AMAZING! Had to come back to give DUE PROPS! (08/27/2008)
By jojo
A jar of Cotton Balls + 1 bottle of Nail Polish Remover = Ink removed from the dryer.
I had put the clothes in the dryer the night before, so the ink had set and dried on the drum and on the clothes. It took me about ten minutes total to get all the ink out of the drum. I look in the dryer and see the dryer the way it was before last night. (08/30/2008)
By Kevin
I should have used the bleach soaked towels first. I tried finger nail polish remover with slow progress, then alcohol with little progress then deep woods off with more progress finally I decided to stop with all the elbow grease and use 2 bleach soaked towels in the dryer after ten minutes almost all the stain are gone. Thanks for the idea. (09/06/2008)
By Happy
We tried Off and it helped somewhat, but the bleach soaked towels did the trick. It took away all of the ink- (09/07/2008)
By Kathy
I just had to post because I had a freak out today with an ink pen destroyed my dryer. Or so I thought! I soaked 3 towels in some heavy bleach water in my washer and lightly rung them out. Then I put them in my dryer for about 40 minutes and ALL WAS CLEAN! It was amazing and worked beautifully. I think it is cleaner than it started! Thanks for the advise all! (09/15/2008)
By dholi
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