My son got blue ink on the $10,000 couch and I owe my marriage and his life to your advice.
Thanks,
Matt
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Rubbing alcohol, cotton balls, and LOTS of patience! Dip, dab, pat dry, repeat!
Try antibacterial hand gel, rub it into stain and let sit for 10min, then blot with soft cloth. I've used this on many different stains ink, adhesives, even magic marker and it is very effective and it didin't harm any surface I used it on.
I would hire a professional since the couch was costly. If you try to clean in yourself, it may make it worse.
Hairspray gets ink out. If it's a light colored fabric material, dab or blot - don't wipe. Repeat several times. Be patient, it works.
Also, there is a cleaner you can buy for different kinds of problems. I don't remember the name of it but you can only find it in yellow, small size bottles (an ounce or 2), at a grocery store or Walmart in the laundry detergent aisle.
The name of that product in the yellow bottle I believe is Carbona
My girlfriend babysits and one of the kids drew on her cloth-covered couch with ink pen. She bought something called "Awesome" all purpose concentrated cleaner for $1.00 at the Family Dollar store (Dollar Tree has it, too). It's a yellow liquid in a clear spray bottle, is 20 oz., and the directions say for ink you should use it "straight" without diluting it.
Try mixing about a 1/4 vinegar and a couple table spoons of baking soda. (careful, too much baking soda will result in a volcano like erruption) Blot the stain, keep blotting it takes patience. Use a white cloth and move to new section on cloth as old section becomes full of ink residue. Hope it works, it worked like a charm on my cream carpet.
After reading about hand gel, tried it. Awesome!
2 year old drew all over couch. Blotted it with a washcloth, applying GermX hand sanitizer to cloth and it worked great!
Removing ink from leather is not a cleaning problem.
Most ink removal products will not work simply because of the length of time the ink has been on the leather.
Ink is a dye and has re-coloured the leather (this is what it is meant to do)
The longer the ink has been on the leather the harder it is to remove because it soaks into the finish. Once it has soaked into the finish you have to use very strong products to remove it, which will also remove finish and pigment which then need replacing.
Pigment/Protected leather
If the ink is on a pigmented leather then the first thing you should try is an LTT Ink Stick. The fresher the ink the more chance you have of removing it. It is a good idea to have one in your house if you have pale leather and children!!!!
Old ink will be harder to remove than new ink and may mean resorting to solvents which will also remove the finish. This is probably best left to the experts
If an ink stick doesn't work a solvent based remover will need to be used and it may also remove finish and pigment so is best left to the experts.
You should also be using LTT Leather Protect on your suite. This will act like a 'scotchgard' and will make any more mishaps easier to clean off.
You will see many people recommending household products to remove ink this is not recommended as most simply will not work, some may appear to work but the damage they cause can make a much bigger problem which is then un-repairable (even by a technician)
DO NOT USE THE FOLLOWING:
Hairspray - This is very risky as it can make the matter far worse by spreading the ink over a bigger area and can sometimes then be impossible to fix.
DO NOT try ink removing products on aniline style leathers as most will leave a greasy residue which will then cause another problem.
Because aniline style leathers are absorbent the ink will carry on moving through the leather and may become less obvious over time. Cleaning and protecting will also help to dissipate the ink.
Leather Care consultant
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