Nearly all of us have had unwanted stains getting on our clothes. It could be coffee, food, or dirt, but often, it is not a big deal. These instances are minor inconvenience at best, and nothing to get really mad about. But how about we take that "minor inconvenience" and multiply it by a hundred times?
Yes, we are referring to the much dreaded ink cartridge leak. If you own or regularly use printers at work, then you know that printer ink leaves you a visible stain that you are praying to the gods was just ketchup.
Printer ink stains ruin your favorite shirt or any light colored fabric in a few seconds. Clothes are one thing, but we have been told about stained sofas, carpets, and desks!
Printer ink stains just about anything it comes into contact with, even your skin. It will leave a noticeable stain that may seem impossible to get rid of. If you are wondering what it is you can do when this happens to you, read on for our tips that might just get the job done.
Act quickly
This advice should be a no-brainer but we are saying it anyway. As soon as you see printer ink spills, you must clean it right away. The longer you put it off, the more difficult it will be to get rid of the stain.
Ink goes into porous materials like furniture and clothes. As it dries up, it will be much harder to remove completely. When the printer ink stain settles, it is pretty hopeless to remove it completely. Sure you can still try all you want, but dried up ink stains will always leave a visible mark no matter how hard you try to get rid of it.
What you can do (right away, might we add) is to soak a paper towel or a rag in cold water as your first method of cleaning up. Yes, that is absolutely correct, cold water is the secret to removing ink stains efficiently.
We understand that it might seem counterintuitive to use cold water and not hot water, but trust us when we say that when it comes to printer ink removal, cold water is always the best first step. Using hot water actually makes the stain settle quicker, especially when the stain is on porous surfaces like fabrics.
Gently dab at the stained area with a rag so it soaks up the stain. Continue doing this until most of the ink has been absorbed by the rag.
Do not scour or scrub the stained area with the wet rag; this is going to make the stain worse. Scrubbing settles the ink deeper into the cloth, and makes it stay there longer. Scrubbing can also spread the printer ink stain onto different parts of the surface - it spreads the darned thing - making it more visible (ugh).
Dabbing at the stain means you get to soak up all loose ink that has not yet settled in the cloth or surface. Continue dabbing until the printer ink is entirely out of your clothes.
Use this secret weapon to get rid of ink stains
You may have heard about it already. A lot of talk about this product that can help get rid of printer ink stains from clothes. Nope, it is not any official cleaning product or any type of chemical. It is but a simple cosmetic product that is used for an entirely unrelated result.
We are talking about hairspray, ladies and gentlemen. This little bottle may just be what you need to save your favorite clothes from complete ruin. Hairspray works by lifting the printer ink stain from your clothes after applying it and allowing it to settle in the fabric. So what exactly is in hairspray that makes it effective at getting printer ink stains out of fabrics?
Surprisingly, the hairspray itself really does not have a lot to do with the process of removing the ink stain. The real magic worker here is the isopropyl alcohol that is in hairsprays. Isopropyl alcohol goes in and dissolves traces of water based printer ink, so you can wash out and get rid of the stain quicker and easier.
Isopropyl alcohol is also quite safe to use on most fabrics and will not damage or discolor clothes you use it on. The best part is that alcohol evaporates quickly. After all the alcohol evaporates, just give the stain another go with cold water and a rag to absorb any excess printer ink, and that does the trick.
Do remember though - that not all hairsprays can do this. Simply because not all hairsprays have isopropyl alcohol in them. Branded, high-end hairsprays often do not contain isopropyl alcohol so they will not even remotely work on removing printer ink stains. The cheaper hair spray brands contain isopropyl alcohol in the mixture. So if you need the power of hairspray to help you get rid of printer ink stains, buy the most affordable bottle you can get your hands on.
Removing printer ink stains from hands
After you have worked at removing the printer ink from your clothes, you may notice that the problematic stain has not vanished completely, and is now on your hands. Your hands are likely the second thing that always gets stained when dealing with a leaking printer cartridge.
If you have ink on your hands, you risk staining everything else you touch. The best thing to do is try and remove the ink from your hands first. Or you can let it settle or dry up before you touch other stuff. No need to worry because printer ink is not toxic and will not harm your health.
A bar of soap is a friend here. No need to use hairspray to get rid of printer ink stains from your hands. While it might be tedious to scrub your hands for minutes at a time, the ink eventually comes off. If the stain remains even after a lot of hand washing, you can try these faster methods:
Using rubbing alcohol is the quickest way to get those annoying ink stains off of your hand. Splash a generous amount of rubbing alcohol on the stained area and scrub. You can also use tea tree oil as it is an effective product when removing stains from your skin.
Summing it up
Getting rid of printer ink stains from clothes might seem impossible, but if you act quickly enough and use effective cleaning methods, you will be able to remove that unwanted stain. Leaky printer cartridges do happen due to various reasons, whether it be defective, mishandled, defective, or old cartridges. Some companies or stores provide ink cartridge refill kits, which can be quite messy if you are not careful. When buying affordable printer ink cartridges, it is always important to choose a reliable store.
Fortunately, here at InkJets, the quality of our printer ink cartridges is our utmost priority. Our range of compatible and remanufactured cartridges are top-rated products that work exactly like our OEM cartridges.
Inkjets.com has established a proven track record of dependability and excellence. Our prices are cheap but we never cut corners when it comes to quality. We aim to make it easier for our customers, especially small businesses and home offices, to quickly find affordable solutions to their ink and toner needs. Shop now and start saving on printing costs today!
