Best way to clean your hands or clothes from ink stains?

[Centurion]

The other week there was a video of King Charles III getting ink on his hands after signing a document. It took like he took out his handkerchief which helped a little, but what would have been the best way for King Charles to get the ink stains off his hands?. Let’s say the ink was water-based or Noodler’s bullet-proof ink.

 

Could the ink stains on his hands get on his clothes?

[lapis]

Check this post which arrived a month ago... and this one eight years ago..... not that there haven't been any others in the meantime..................

[joss]

King Charles III definitely needs a Royal Supply of household ammonia. That works perfect for removing fountain pen inks stains from the hands.

[Centurion]

8 hours ago, joss said:

King Charles III definitely needs a Royal Supply of household ammonia. That works perfect for removing fountain pen inks stains from the hands.

Diluted to 5 %? I forget what pen cleaning solution is diluted to?

 

If someone eats food with ink stained hands (e.g. fried chicken), how dangerous is it to consume a little ink dye? 

[joss]

16 hours ago, Centurion said:

Diluted to 5 %? I forget what pen cleaning solution is diluted to?

 

If someone eats food with ink stained hands (e.g. fried chicken), how dangerous is it to consume a little ink dye? 

Household ammonia is already diluted (to 7%?) so that should do the trick, it is very effective.

I think that the heath risk of ink traces on your fingers is nothing to worry about.

[Bristol24]

What is odd about ink-stained fingers, at least from my experience, is that the more waterproof (on paper) inks, especially iron gall inks, tend to wash off with just water or water and dish soap.  The less waterproof but often referred to as "permanent" inks are the more problematic and are the ones that require ammonia and soap to get hands clean.  "Clean," by the way, especially when it pertains to ink stained hands is a retaliative term.  Sometimes the faint hint will remain for a day or so, even after some serious cleaning.  I may be wrong on this because I am relying on recollection and not real time testing (I have no desire to get my hands stained on purpose) but, as I recall, Watermans Serenity Blue washes out of pens quite readily but can be a bit of a challenge to get off the hands.  The same applies to Sailor Blue and Parker Quink Permanent Black... if I recall correctly.

 

Cliff 

[inkstainedruth]

I suppose the odds of transferring ink from your hands to your clothing are pretty good, if you're not careful -- but usually I either wash my hands right away, or it's dried by the time I get around to doing it (like I said in one of the links that lapis posted -- Ink Nix works very well on getting ink off your hands).  I suspect that any similar product which has grit/pumice in it (such as lava soap) would also work well, because you're effectively removing the top layer of skin in the process (and you'd get a similar effect from washing your hair).

On fabric, Amodex works very well, but it takes a fair amount of "elbow grease", scrubbing the stain with the little toothbrush they include in some boxes (I didn't get a brush with the last bottle, so I'm glad I kept the one from the previous box, and it's on the shelf in the laundry room).  Plus, you need to be able to work from the back side of the garment and keep moving the paper toweling you've got underneath the fabric where where the stain is, in order to blot it onto the paper toweling.  

But using Amodex is something I don't really see HRM Charles III doing on his own --  because for him, that would be the valet's job....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

[Centurion]

7 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

I suppose the odds of transferring ink from your hands to your clothing are pretty good, if you're not careful -- but usually I either wash my hands right away, or it's dried by the time I get around to doing it (like I said in one of the links that lapis posted -- Ink Nix works very well on getting ink off your hands).  I suspect that any similar product which has grit/pumice in it (such as lava soap) would also work well, because you're effectively removing the top layer of skin in the process (and you'd get a similar effect from washing your hair).

On fabric, Amodex works very well, but it takes a fair amount of "elbow grease", scrubbing the stain with the little toothbrush they include in some boxes (I didn't get a brush with the last bottle, so I'm glad I kept the one from the previous box, and it's on the shelf in the laundry room).  Plus, you need to be able to work from the back side of the garment and keep moving the paper toweling you've got underneath the fabric where where the stain is, in order to blot it onto the paper toweling.  

But using Amodex is something I don't really see HRM Charles III doing on his own --  because for him, that would be the valet's job....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

Amazon doesn't have Ink Nix! And neither does Walmart.  But they both carry Amodex.

[inkstainedruth]

I got my jar of Ink Nix from Indy-Pen-Dance at a pen show.  But I just checked their website and it's not listed, so they may be out of it. 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

ETA: I just did a quick Google search.  JetPens lists it on their website but doesn't appear to carry it.  They do give the manufacturer, though -- a company in Milwaukee called John Bull.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find more information than that.

[inkstainedruth]

Well I was wrong -- Ink Nix was the *old* stuff that people used to recommend.  The stuff that I got from Indy-Pen-Dance is Ink Zap, which is apparently also available at Anderson Pens (I just saw a new e-ad from Anderson that I had sort of glossed over earlier earlier, and hadn't scrolled down through the entire thing).

Sorry for the confusion (it's been a week -- and it's only TUESDAY... ).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

[Runnin_Ute]

I have had good luck in getting ink off my hands using shampoo and just shampooing my hair. Your hair to some extent acts like a brush. Most of the time (but not always) I can get ink out of a shirt using Spray and Wash before washing the garment.

[Lars_E]

Dropped a bottle of ink (Noodler's Black Swan in English Roses) on the kitchen floor last week. Panic! Grabbed Isopropanol and tried to clean, but the floor remained stained. Because I had my weekly shopping on the counter, including bathroom/toilet cleaned, I quickly grabbed it and sprayed it on the stained floor and cabinet. Worked wonders. Since I had a rag full of the stuff in my hand, I cleaned my hands with it. Ink gone. 

 

I DO NOT RECOMMEND DOING THIS! 😀

[amberleadavis]

On 10/10/2022 at 9:28 AM, Lars_E said:

Dropped a bottle of ink (Noodler's Black Swan in English Roses) on the kitchen floor last week. Panic! Grabbed Isopropanol and tried to clean, but the floor remained stained. Because I had my weekly shopping on the counter, including bathroom/toilet cleaned, I quickly grabbed it and sprayed it on the stained floor and cabinet. Worked wonders. Since I had a rag full of the stuff in my hand, I cleaned my hands with it. Ink gone. 

 

I DO NOT RECOMMEND DOING THIS! 😀

 

Which part?