Any ideas on how to remove pen stains from wood without damaging the wood?
Pete Ricks
I was wondering if any one can help me? My dog got to a pen and it exploded and it's all over my furniture. I was wondering if there is anything to take the pen out?
I feel your pain! My 2-year old did the same with a Sharpie. If it's wood, try alcohol - you can find very "strong" alcohol at Wal Mart - it is I think 91% and we applied it and rubbed the ink off with old rags. It worked pretty well on fabric as well, but prepare for a lot of blotting.
I have found that this works for both pen ink AND blood....Take a paper towel and fold it in fourths then lay it over the spot. Take regular hairspray and spray THROUGH the paper towel until saturated. You will see the ink being soaked up by the paper towel. Keep moving the paper towel to clean spots as it soaks up. DO NOT SCRUB! It might take several tries, but once the stain is faded you can use a carpet spot cleaner to finish it off. GOOD LUCK!
A defective ballpoint pen left smudges of blue ink all over my oak desktop. I used nail polish remover (with acetone), putting a little on a paper towel and rubbing lightly, just enough to take the ink off.
How do I get ink pen off of solid oak furniture?
By Ruthie from Millersport, OH
I have brought a bed and found felt tip pen all over the wooden part. Does anyone have any ideas on how to get it off?
By katherine from Saltash, Cornwall, UK
I've had great luck using rubbing alcohol to remove most felt-tip permanent pens. You could also use fingernail polish remover, but that may take of some of the stain or wood's finish. They make 2 types of fingernail polish remover. The kind make for artificial nails is the safest to try first. The kind not make for artificial nails is the strongest.
Just use a Q-tip & make sure the solution doesn't drip. You may have to keep rubbing the Q-tip with alcohol back & forth. Sometimes it has to soak in a bit before it works & sometimes it works right away. Are you sure it's a permanent pen? Sometime water-color pens can look just like permanent pens & come off easily with soap & water.
Well, it depends partly on how old and worn the finish on the wood is. I would proceed cautiously in case the varnish is thin; if you start removing the ink and it smears you don't want to make it worse by spreading it onto bare wood.
Get a million q tips and some 90 per cent rubbing alcohol, at any large drug store. Most rubbing alcohol is 70 percent, but you can find the 90-91 percent. Have an old absorbent rag like a white t shirt also.
Dip q tip into alcohol and wipe with upward stroke and blot spot [on wood] immediately. See if anything happens. If it does loosen ink, proceed but don't push cloth onto other areas without ink, just use a folded little bit on the exact spot and always use a clean piece of the rag, never one that's been stained with previously removed ink. Slow and carefully, until you get the hang of it.
Alcohol could affect the varnish if it's an older varnish; not likely to if it's modern polyurethane.
Others here may know a better method, but this is where I would start. If it doesn't work you have a nice bottle of rubbing alcohol, good for a lot of things and a new stash of q tips.
Mr. Clean Magic Eraser! I had leaked red ink on my finished window sill. Normal scrubbing did not work, neither did the alcohol. In fact, the stains I tried alcohol on seemed to imbed deeper. I had tried Magic Eraser in the past, but it did not seem to work because I had not given it enough time. However this time, I started on one of the smaller stains and the difference was very noticeable.
Magic eraser worked great!
Dish soap with a mildly rough scrubber worked for me.
My child got a red paint pen stain all over my cherry wood desktop. I can't get off? Any ideas without ruining the wood?
I used an eraser sponge. All you need to do is make sure the eraser sponge is just damp and rub the area. Today, I removed felt pen marks off a varnished dresser; the marks had been there for over 15 years!
I followed the advice about using nail varnish remover and it worked beautifully. However, using Pledge afterwards did not seem to restore the varnish as I would have hoped. I tried olive oil instead and that did the trick nicely.
Any advice on how to remove pen ink from very delicate wood without damaging the wood?
Thanks!
Try making a paste of baking soda and water. Rub over the stain gently with a moistened soft cloth.
Care needs to always be taken when removing stains from wood furniture. The products used could damage the finish; pretest solutions in an inconspicous location. This is a page about how to remove an ink stain on wood furniture.
I have a new built-in desk/shelving made from MDF polyurethane and my partner's ballpoint ink has now marked the desk top. Can anyone suggest how to best clean and remove the ink stains without scratching the surface?
Many thanks.
How to take Bic pen off a brand new pine TV stand that won't leave a mark. I only got the TV unit yesurday and my kid drew on it a bit. Not happy!
Try GooGone or lemon oil (it's furniture polis/restorer). What ever you do, DON'T use nail polish remover or rubbing alcohol or hair spray, as these will most likely remove the finish altogether or at least leave it very dull looking. You could even try vegetable or olive oil. Even WD-40 might work......just some type of a mild oil. Good luck and let us know what worked for you.
I've had really good luck removing ink from wood using a mixture of baking soda and water to make a paste. Use a clean cloth to take a small amount of the paste and rub it into the wood. Use your fingers to rub the paste into the wood and allow this to set and dry. Now dampen a cloth with just a bit of water and start to rub the area and remove the dried paste.
In some cases, if the stain is really deep you can mix the baking soda with some toothpaste and rub this into the stain and allow it to dry. Then clean this up using a damp cloth and apply some mineral oil to the area to restore the wood.
You don't want to use a lot of water on the stain because it can make it spread even deeper into the wood. A lemon slice is also good to remove ink stains from wood. You can rub the lemon slice on the ink stain and remove the ink from the wood.
A mixture of salt and water also works. No matter what method you try I would test it first on an area under the table and not directly on the stain. Just keep in mind when you clean the mixture off the stain you need to use a damp cloth only and not a really wet cloth because you don't want to add too much water to the wood top of the table.
