Remove Ink Stains from Leather Upholstery
Ink – whether from a ball point pen or a felt tip marker – can easily stain your leather upholstery and leave an unsightly mark. This could be especially prone to occurring if you have a small child in the house learning to draw or write, who has decided to use your leather furniture as a canvas. Fortunately, with the stain removal methods below, there is no need to resort to throwing out your leather furniture after it gets an ink stain.
Contents
Steps
Rubbing Alcohol Method
The rubbing alcohol method may be used for ballpoint pen or felt tip marker ink stains. The method would work best if the ink stain is still fresh.
- Blot at the stained area using a soft, dry cloth or paper towel. Try to get as much of the ink out as possible, without spreading the stain to surrounding areas.
- Apply a leather cleaner to the stain. Make sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions as indicated on the packaging.
- Moisten a cotton ball or a cotton bud with rubbing alcohol. The cotton ball or bud should be moist enough, but not dripping wet.
- Gently rub at the stain using the moistened cotton. The ink should start to transfer to the cotton. Work from the outside of the stained area towards the middle.
- Change the cotton ball or bud with a new one as soon as it picks up enough ink, to avoid smearing the ink stain to other parts of the leather. Repeat the rubbing process until the ink stain is fully removed.
- Dry the area using a blow dryer set at the lowest heat setting. This will allow the alcohol to evaporate instead of eating away at the leather.
- Apply leather conditioner to the area using a soft cloth. The leather conditioner will allow for moisture to be restored to the leather.
Hairspray Method
The hairspray method is an alternative to the rubbing alcohol method.
- Get a can of hairspray, and spray a small amount directly on the stained area.
- Leave the hairspray on the stain for about 5 minutes.
- Use a soft, dry cloth to gently wipe the hairspray from the leather. Make sure not to rub too hard. The hairspray should start lifting the ink. Repeat the process of spraying and wiping as necessary, until the ink stain is fully removed.
- Dampen another piece of cloth. Wipe the stained area using the damp cloth to remove any remaining stickiness from the hairspray.
- Apply leather conditioner to the area using a soft cloth. The leather conditioner will allow for moisture to be restored to the leather.
Tips
- Work on removing the ink stain as soon as you encounter it, since stains which have already set are harder to remove.
- If you are concerned about potentially damaging an expensive piece of leather upholstery with the above methods, or if the ink still does not come off completely, you might want to consider having a professional cleaner deal with the stain removal.
- Try the above methods first on a small, inconspicuous area of the leather, to check for possible discoloration.
Things You’ll Need
- Soft, dry cloth
- Paper towel
- Leather cleaner
- Leather conditioner
- Cotton balls
- Cotton buds
- Rubbing alcohol
- Blow dryer
- Hairspray
