How to Remove Ink from Linen?

• Linen fabric is made from natural fibers that can be easily damaged if washed improperly;
• Ink stains are not the end of the world - there are many easy and simple ways to get rid of them;
• Below we will show you some of the most effective ways to remove ink from linen at home;

Linen is a natural material made from organic fibers - it’s high-quality, breathable, thermo-regulating, and moisture-wicking. In order to not lose any of the amazing advantages of it - you need to be particularly careful when washing natural linen garments, especially if you are about to use any harsh chemical substances.

Ink stains are considered as one of the trickiest ones - it’s easy to get it and difficult to get rid of. However, nothing is impossible these days. With the right knowledge and methods, you can easily remove ink even from fabric such as linen.

In the article below we will introduce you to three easy, and most importantly, natural ways of removing ink from linen without damaging it.

Removing Ink from Linen with Dish Soap and White Vinegar

What’s best about these natural cleaning methods is that most of the tools can be found at your home! Just like for this method you'll need only clean water, dish soap, and white vinegar.

What is the process?

• Mix up a cleaning solution. Fill up a bowl or any other kind of container with about 1 liter of warm water. Then, dissolve half of the teaspoon of dish soap and 1 full tablespoon of white vinegar into the water. Stir everything gently - and the solution is ready!
• Soaking the linen garment. After the cleaning solution is ready, take a dirty linen fabric and soak it into the solution. Let it sit for about half an hour. Stir everything gently time after time.
• Rinsing linen fabric. After soaking the linen garment, take it out and rinse it under the cold running water. You might want to turn the water stream on the part with the stain. Important: Use only cold water because hot water can worsen the stain even more.
• Air-drying the linen garment. The cleaning process is over! Now, remove all the excess liquid from the linen fabric - but don’t twist it. Finally, hang it outside or in a fresh well-ventilated place. Make sure the fabric is hung unfolded and unwrinkled.

Now, if after the cleaning process the ink stain remains - it is recommended to repeat the whole process again with the newly fixed fresh cleaning solution.

Removing Ink from the Linen with Hairspray

This method will require even less equipment - you will simply need alcohol-based hairspray.

What is the process?

• Loosening up the ink stain. Take a linen dirty fabric and spray some of the hairspray on the ink stain. Don’t overdo it - a light coating of it will work fine. After that, leave it for about 10 minutes letting the fibers loosen up.
• Dampen the ink stain. After 10 or 15 minutes, take a piece of clean wet cloth and gently dampen the ink stain. Make sure you do not rub it too hard - try to dampen only the stain itself. You should already notice that the ink is disappearing.
• Wash the linen garment. After the ink is removed from the linen fabric, drop it in the washing machine and run a regular washing cycle. It would be best if you wash that particular item alone because there could still be some ink leftovers that could spread to other clothes during the washing process.
• Air-dry the linen. It’s important that you air-dry your linen clothes instead of putting them in the dryer. The latter option might worsen things even more, especially if the ink stain has not been removed completely.

Now here is one more easy and effortless method to remove the ink stain from your beloved linen item. In this case, you’ll need to find some rubbing alcohol.

What is the process?

• Apply some rubbing alcohol on the ink stain. Make sure the rubbing alcohol covers the stain entirely - pay attention to the edges, especially. After the rubbing alcohol is applied, take some piece of fabric or paper (cardboard, for example) and put it under the stain to avoid any unnecessary spills.
• Cover the stain. Now, find a piece of cotton fabric or a cotton pad (something water-absorbent) and cover the stain with it.
• Squeeze the ink stain. After the cotton pad is put on the ink stain - put something heavy on it to help the rubbing alcohol absorb the stain better. A bigger book would work just fine here. Leave everything to sit like that for about half an hour.
• Blot the ink stain. Now at this part of the process, the ink should start to disappear - rubbing alcohol dissolves the little pieces of ink. At this time, take a roll of clean paper towels and start blotting the stain gently. Again - no rubbing here - you don’t want the ink to spread more. Keep blotting the stain changing the paper towels every few times. It’s very important that the paper towel or rag is clean so that the ink would not get back into the fabric.
• Dampen the ink stain with rubbing alcohol again. To make sure that all the ink leftovers are removed - pour some rubbing alcohol on the ink stain again.
• Rinse the linen garment. Take your linen fabric and rinse it gently with cold water (remember - rinsing is always with cold water, not hot).
• Air-drying the linen item. And now you know well what to do! Hang the linen garment on the flat surface or hang it on the clothesline to prevent wrinkling and creasing. Let it naturally dry up completely before using it again.

Important: Please note that improper use of any cleaning detergent may result in damaging your linen item. Make sure you always follow our official linen care guide carefully.

Here you go - now you have even three easy as ABC methods to remove the ink stain from the linen. Linen clothes and other textiles are awesome. With all the amazing properties it has - no stain could shy you away from purchasing it! Especially when it’s so easy to take care of it.