Some lessons are hard to learn so I'm hoping someone may have a surefire way of getting ink out of fabric. DS did 8 pairs of pants (8 pairs!!!!!!) at one time and neglected to check his pockets for the everpresent ink pens. From what he said, they made it through the wash process OK but disaster occurred in the dryer. He was only able to selvedge 2 that were wearable. These weren't jeans but work slacks, corduroys and AE cargo pants. Does anyone have a good method to get the ink out w/o taking the color of the pants? He has tried hairspray, WD40, Shout, Resolve and laundry soap. It's kinda funny (not really but) he said that when it would happen to me when he lived here, it never really sunk in. If the pants had to be replaced, which was very, very rarely since I was pretty good about checking his pockets, I bought the new ones. But now that it's his responsibility, it's a whole new ballgame. He actually apologized for several things he has said in the past. My son has grown into a man. Course my first response when he told me was to tell him I would help him buy some new pants. Go figure! I know he doesn't have the money so what's the point of his feeling even worse. He was going to hit the thrift shop today to see if he could find anything he could use but the members of the QB have been so very helpful with so many things that I thought I would try here too. I'm sure he would be very happy with any help anyone could offer. Thanks friends.

Wendy

How about Grandma's spot remover?

Maybe call the manufacturer of the pen(s) to find out if they can recommend something?

Perhaps you could dye the pants the color of the ink.

Go to the Dollar Tree and buy the product named Awesome. It is in a spray bottle.

My husband marked his work shirt with a huge (at least 6 inch) patch of ink and it all came out. His shirts are khaki colored.

They sell Awesome at the dollar stores, I don't know about Walmart.

the only thing that helped me was the cheaps hair spray i could find the more laquar sp? that is in it the better

Hairspray! I'm sure all teachers had a can of hairspray handy even if they didn't ever use it on their hair. Great for getting out ink, marker, etc..

Since they've been through the dryer, the ink might be set...he can't do much harm to them at this point. Use one pair as the major guinea pig.

Bigger problem...make sure all the ink is out of the dryer or it will continue to mess up the next loads.

(It is nice though when they finally agree you weren't as dumb as they thought you were)

Hi Wendy, Do they still sell Aqua Net hair spray? That always worked like a charm for ink. That Awesome stuff from the dollar works pretty good, too. Another thing I used to do (yes I did), I would take one of those harsh metal brushes like you use for brushing suede or for 'brushing' rust on metal and I would lightly 'beat' the spot after I sprayed it with the remover. Don't rub the brush over it, just beat it. It beats the remover into the threads. It didn't hurt the fabric and the spot usually disappeared. Sounds strange, I know, but with 4 kids you try anything and it worked the majority of the time. LOL

try Zout...not Shout, it's called Zout and it works pretty good.

You might try your local hardware store/paint section.They make something called OOPS to remove paint. There are other brands too. Check to see if it is safe for fabric. I've udes OOPS to remove paint, marker, ink from clothing. The only time it failed me was on nail polish.