<p>Sorry, TheDad, I don’t have any magic fixes, but I do sympathize! DH, who should never leave the house without a pocket protector, went through a period of time when he ruined at least one shirt a week. I think I used the stain removers from the local grocery store, but they weren’t always successful. It just became a joke at the time. We now pretty much stick to Brooks Brothers shirts for him (they last forever and always look good, but are expensive!), which he hasn’t ruined yet. He’d better watch out!</p>
<p>TheDad: That must be some special ink you’re using! Hairspray has always worked for me (I get it in a pump bottle, not spray, and pour it on)…</p>
<p>DS & DD will be given laminated cards with the following when they leave home 
:</p>
<p>Chocolate: Water Softener & Hot Water (rub paste of water softener on stain and run hot water from tap over it )</p>
<p>Coffee: Waterless hand soap (the stuff in a tub that mechanics use) & water</p>
<p>Red Wine: Borax</p>
<p>Berries: Rub in waterless hand soap wash in cold water</p>
<p>Blood: Windex</p>
<p>Good Luck! ;)</p>
<p>rubbing alcohol</p>
<p>TD, it depends on the fabric. If it’s a 100 percent cotton shirt, this is what I’d try:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>SPRAY 'N WASH STICK. Give it a swipe, then launder it in your regular detergent plus a capful of SPRAY 'N WASH DETERGENT. I’ve used this successfully on ink stains that have gone through the dryer.</p></li>
<li><p>White BAR SOAP (like Ivory). Scrub it first, rinse in cool water. Then, launder in regular colorsafe, non-bleach detergent.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Okay, I’ll do some shopping this weekend. I can tell you this ink…black from Uniball VISION pens…laughs at the Spray 'N Wash stick and then comes back at me with, “Did you hear the one about the two Irishmen named Pat and Mike?”</p>
<p>Color of ink matters…the Uniball blue comes out easier.</p>
<p>Full disclosure: the ink that I got out with Z-Out was blue :(.</p>
<p>But I’m still pulling for my horse in this race. They’re coming down the stretch… C’mon, Z-Out,!</p>
<p>I don’t think the color of ink matters so much as the specific chemical composition used to obtain the color. I’m sure that Holmes could do a monograph.</p>
<p>well, there have been sooo many willing washerwomen here on this thread…I thought I owed everyone a trip to my basement to actually see what it is I was referring to in my post #9…and CARBONA is the brand name…the one labeled # 3 is for ink…# 5 is for grease… it works great for my DH when he also forgets his pocket protector… unfortunately he escapes easier than moi…as I leave the Uniball pens open on the denim couch and they do a slow bleed into the cushion… a constant reminder of my stupidity? Look for Carbona, Dad… if you have already washed and dried the shirt, all bets are off!</p>
<p>I agree with Sluggbugg. Soak shirt and scrubb the ink with a bar of Ivory (has to be Ivory) soap and a finger nail brush. Repeat process until stain is gone. Should take a few days.</p>
<p>TheDad: you may simply have to live with the proof that you are a black-hearted fellow. Ya see, if you had been sensible like I have, and stuck BLUE pens in that pocket, you could at least claim this stain as proof of being blue-blooded (no, my wife doesn’t buy it).</p>
<p>I have not washed the shirt…perhaps I should re-moisten it.</p>
<p>I’m leery of scrubbing it becasuse there’s a delicate pattern (a kind of herringbone) in the fabric that I’m afraid will be “scrubbed out” if I really go to it.</p>
<p>DadOfSam…LOL…you’re my kind of guy.</p>
<p>MaineParent, thanks for the Carbona label.</p>
<p>The 1-9 stuff is Carbona, it works well, but you have to follow the instructions, and I doubt that it would completely clear ink from a white shirt - but you could try. I’ve had good luck with Carbona and pens left in boys’ trouser pockets sent through the wash, but the pants are navy and white houndstooth, and you just had to fade the stains until they disappeared into the background - not reverted to white.</p>
<p>Carbona is the best for those colorless grease marks on knit tops with a small amouth of polyester - the only thing I’ve ever found to get them out. That’s a different number though - I think there are 14 altogether.</p>
<p>I’ve saved a sweater and two shirts from ink stains using rubbing alcohol. Draws the ink right out of the fabric; just be sure to rinse out the alcohol immediately afterwards.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.computergear.com/nerdkit.html[/url]”>http://www.computergear.com/nerdkit.html</a></p>
<p>I finally talked my spouse out of using a pocket protector after showing him these kind of posters 20 years ago…he also used to carry a variety of different pen colors in his shirt pocket just in case (of what?) But who knows…maybe you should consider! :)</p>
<p>Faline, there is <em>nothing</em> wrong with carrying two or three different colored pens on one’s pocket and I disdain the use of a pocket protector. Besides, the Dean of the School of Engineering invited me to find another major and so I did. (For things like church or parties, I generally make do with just one pen…black.)</p>
<p>The shirt in question is a medium to slightly darkish blue. Y’all are giving me hope. I should amend my earlier remark to say it’s not the “pattern” I’m worried of scrubbing it’s that the pattern is “textured.”</p>
<p>Cangel, fwiw, I don’t own a white shirt and wouldn’t unless I needed one for a special occasion…contrarian Southern Californian be we. [My own tic left over from the Sixties…the white shirt is just too much a symbol of conformist corporate America, even if I’m working <em>in</em> corporate America.]</p>
<p>If it’s blue, there’s hope! With Carbona, you only partly scrub, you put a white cloth beneath the stain and it releases the ink “particles” which wick into the white cloth - the problem is it could take the rest of your natural life to work the ink out. Just how attached are you to this shirt???</p>
<p>Okay, I just read up on Uniball Vision pens, TD. They have waterproof, fadeproof ink, so you’ve got what we call in Marthaville a laundry “situation.” Btw, while I was looking up ink formulas, I found a method for removing ink from my dryer! Yay! </p>
<p>Try this: Soak with hair spray (Aqua Net), then dry. Brush lightly with a solution of white vinegar and water. Rinse with clear water. </p>
<p>If that doesn’t work, try this basic remedy for removing oily stains: Make a paste of sugar and water. Rub it into the stain and let it set before washing. Warm wash in a colorsafe, non-bleach detergent.</p>
<p>I’m with Cangel. A trip to Banana Republic will ultimately solve this problem. :D</p>
<p>Okay, I’m “cheap” in unexpected ways…recalling that TheMom refers to me as “Champagne TheDad.” It bugs me to replace a shirt that wasn’t even at the midpoint of its useful life. I may have to check out Brooks Brothers some day. It’s been ages since I bought a shirt anywhere except Nordstrom’s. Even there I need to be picky…I hate the “combined” sizings, like 34/35, that some vendors use to reduce the number of SKU’s. I’m a straight 34, dammit, and that extra half-inch is annoying and, no, I don’t want to leave the shirt to have the sleeves shortened, I want to leave with it in a bag then and there so that I can wear it the next day.</p>
<p>Sluggs, I’m boggled that anyone would [presumably Google] to read up on the specific ink…I hadn’t thought of that and I regard Google as the Eighth Wonder of the World.</p>
<p>TD, if you go the Brooks Brothers route, be sure to check the no-iron shirts. Even though I send DH’s shirts out, they just look nicer all day long, and survive coast-to-coast airline trips better.</p>
<p>yes sjmom…I am just catching on the the ten bucks more for the treated no wrinkle fabric pays off and also mean, no iron, less stains and better packing fabrics.<br>
TheDad, I buy my sons and spouse shirts on Ebay that are NWOT New without Tags or NWT or Samples with tags removed. Lots less money for fashion.</p>