Stained Fabric to Perfection!

As a volunteer at a thrift store, I have a first look at many of the donations that are brought to the store. One was this large, bed cover in great condition, but was covered in ball point ink stains.
What to do? It wouldn’t sell in it’s current condition. I volunteered to take it home to see what I could do with it.
- On the largest of the ink stains I poured 91% rubbing alcohol on the spot & blotted until the stain was dispersed but not gone. I used paper towels under the spot to absorb the ink & blotted with another paper towel changing when they were covered with stain.


- On the smaller stains, I put rubbing alcohol into a small spray bottle & sprayed each stain.


- All stains received a small amount of Dawn Dishing Washing liquid which I gently rubbed into the spot.


- The entire thing went into the wash with another small squeeze of Dawn with white vinegar poured into the “bleach” & “softener” compartments. The vinegar is not necessary, but I use it in every cycle to help keep my front loader free from odors.


After washing & examining the coverlet, I found all the spots that were treated came out!
Paper towels with ink transfer.
The Dawn Dishwashing liquid gently worked into the stain.
The ink starts to break up. Notice how the ink has transferred to the paper towel.
As the ink spreads, it will look much worse than when you started.
before
after


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Mother Daughter Projects
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  • Gale Gale on Nov 19, 2023

    Using vinegar in your washer is not a good idea. Vinegar eats rubber and your seals with start to leak after awhile.

  • Katen Katen on Feb 03, 2024

    When daughter first born I did load of her laundry. All the beautiful brand new things lovingly gifted our family. A ball point pen found its way into machine. My heart was broken. Then I recalled hairspray is supposed to remove. I took damp clothes to kitchen sink, poured two bottles of cheapest pump hairspray into sink. Swished around, let sit, swished/sit a bit more (about an hr overall). Rinsed and rewashed. Absolutely not a mark but one item which I redid by direct spray and washed, gone. Still have a few pieces for granddaughter, if she ever comes

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