Ink Incident! Spill...

[Robert Hughes]

Yesterday I wore my gray pinstriped suit to work. When I got to the office, I reached into my pocket to pull out the Noodler's Black-loaded Esterbrook J and - pulled out the cap. Uh Oh, where's that pen? Digging down, I finally found it, down in the bottom of the pocket, its contents drained away. Yikes! And on the front of the jacket, a silver dollar sized black stain, still damp. I rushed off to the men's room, soaked in cool water, rubbed with hand soap, rinsed multiple times, and got a lot of ink out. But the stain, well I don't hold much hope for recovering from it. I took the jacket, wet and with a dark gray spot, to the dry cleaner, and they're giving it a 50/50 chance; I'll find out next Monday.

 

What's your "big spill" story?

Edited February 6, 2008 by Robert Hughes

[Grog]

I am very sorry about your mishap. I had something very similar happen to me on a straw-coloured, brand new suit, where both the jacket AND skirt were stained.

 

Am I right in understanding that Amodex would do nothing for Noodler's waterproof inks? I haven't tried yet - I guess I should.

 

If it would have been regular ink, I would have recommended Amodex and nothing else, trying to absorb the ink with blotting paper while you rub the other side, instead of running it under water because it tends to spread the stain. (I didn't know that at the time, and finished ruining the suit as I tried to clean it.) But with Noodler's black....

[simonrob]

Yesterday I wore my gray pinstriped suit to work. When I got to the office, I reached into my pocket to pull out the Noodler's Black-loaded Esterbrook J and - pulled out the cap. Uh Oh, where's that pen? Digging down, I finally found it, down in the bottom of the pocket, its contents drained away. Yikes! And on the front of the jacket, a silver dollar sized black stain, still damp. I rushed off to the men's room, soaked in cool water, rubbed with hand soap, rinsed multiple times, and got a lot of ink out. But the stain, well I don't hold much hope for recovering from it. I took the jacket, wet and with a dark gray spot, to the dry cleaner, and they're giving it a 50/50 chance; I'll find out next Monday.

 

What's your "big spill" story?

 

Very similar to yours, only the jacket in question was fairly pale and by the time I noticed what had happened the stain was at least 4" across.... Luckily it was a relatively harmless washable ink and it eventually all came out.

 

Much the same happened to a shirt pocket, only I discovered it before the stain was more than half an inch. By then, however, I had discovered the joys of Noodler's ink and this was Nightshade. Nevertheless, after repeated applications of Oxyclean, Amodex and laundry detergent, the stain became more-or-less invisible. It was interesting to watch the colour changes along the way - from blackish purplish brown through washed-out magenta to washed-out aqua....

 

Simon

[scribbler77]

This happened to me once, many years ago, when the pen slipped out of its cap in my inner coat pocket.

 

Since then, I have tried to carry my pens in a pen case. No mishaps so far with that, except that I once lost a couple of pens when the pen case fell out of my pocket. (I had removed the coat and did not notice that the pens were missing when I put it back on.

[Goodwhiskers]

Amodex, a water-based stain remover, will remove a "bulletproof" Noodler's stain from non-cellulose fabrics such as wool, silk, polyester, acrylic and nylon.

 

Amodex took a dried spot of Noodler's Black right off of my red silk shirt, leaving no evidence behind.

 

Nothing will remove a "bulletproof" Noodler's stain from cellulose fabrics such as cotton, linen, rayon, ramie, hemp, kenaf or jute, unless cutting out the stained area counts as removal.

 

A heavy Noodler's "bulletproof" stain on non-cellulose fabric might take more work to remove, but it should still come out. Robert, I hope your coat has no cellulose and that the cleaners succeed.

[Shangas]

I created a thread for stories like this in the "Writing Instruments" board...

 

...but since we're here - I dropped a 2/3 full bottle of calligraphy ink onto the carpet of my bedroom once when I was a little boy.

 

The stain it left behind was anything but little.

[langere]

Back to Robert Hughes' original story - I also just learned the hard way not to carry Esterbrooks in my shirt pocket. It was a shirt that I was about to give up on, so no great tragedy.

 

I hope other folks know this - the caps tend to come off rather easily on the Esties.

 

Erick

[Viseguy]

Amodex, a water-based stain remover, will remove a "bulletproof" Noodler's stain from non-cellulose fabrics such as wool, silk, polyester, acrylic and nylon.

One of the few advantages of a polyester suit.

[Deirdre]

Maybe I should reconsider my love of linen.

[Ray-Vigo]

I had a similar incident as the original poster. I had a semi-decent casual shirt on (non-work). When I reached into my pocket I found only the cap of my Pelikan 400. I dug down and found the Pelikan, along with a large blue spot of ink. I took the shirt home and washed it (read gave it to the better half to wash). The stain was 100% gone after a single washing in normal soap and water.

 

With an ink spot the difficulty is a function of:

-how long the ink has been there

-what kind of ink

-what kind of fabric

 

In my instance it was Waterman Florida Blue (very washable), normal cotton (does well with a normal washing), and the stain was still fairly recent (very good).

 

Suit materials make for poor clean up (dry cleaning is often the best option, and even that is imperfect and expensive). Heavy black inks (Aurora or the like) are very difficult to clean up, even when the stain is recent too.

Edited February 7, 2008 by Ray-Vigo

[Nellie]

Nothing will remove a "bulletproof" Noodler's stain from cellulose fabrics such as cotton, linen, rayon, ramie, hemp, kenaf or jute, unless cutting out the stained area counts as removal.

 

Well, that's what I thought, too, until a friend of mine removed a fat Hunter Green stain from her creamy white pair of linen trousers with 'bile soap' (- I'm not entirely sure about this translation, "Gallseife", a common stain remover here?) and no problem at all. She didn't even get a chance to do anything to the stain right away but removed it days later when it had already dried (no feathering, though, as usual with Noodler's ).

So I think there's hope for the OP. Good luck, Robert!

[DrPJM1]

I never like to tighten the cap on vintage Sheaffer's Balance pens, thus I lost a shirt to a very large black ink spot.

[sandeep108]

Though the Pelikan's threads are very good and uncaps very nicely, the downside is that I would not carry it around. I have learnt that unless essential, I carry pens only with washable blue in them in my shirt pockets and with a firm cap. I am now using a fabric pen sleeve (to avoid damage to both my phone and the pen banging around in the same pocket), but that may not prevent the ink stain.

[FrankB]

In 50 years, I have only had one pen decide to dump its contents on me. As luck would have it, I was using black ink that day and I was wearing my black (clergy) habit, so the accident was not too apparent. Usually, I knock over bottles of ink at home. But I have managed to knock over a bottle or three at work so I could mess up a good day's work on my desk.

 

But, such spills are part of life with FP's. They do make good stories, though.

[RitaCarbon]

Yesterday, I have found a black ink spot on my Egyptian cotton bed sheet. Yes, I do write my morning pages (Julia Cameron) in my bed, and I use multiple pens with three black inks - Noodler's Eel Bulletproof, Montblanc, and Waterman. But all my pens behave. I still don't know which one of my beloved ones did it and what kind of ink it was.

 

I am premeditating murder of the spot now. Just out of curiosity, if it's Noodler's - would cutting it out with scissors be the only way to get rid of it?

[encephalartos]

Yesterday, I have found a black ink spot on my Egyptian cotton bed sheet. Yes, I do write my morning pages (Julia Cameron) in my bed, and I use multiple pens with three black inks - Noodler's Eel Bulletproof, Montblanc, and Waterman. But all my pens behave. I still don't know which one of my beloved ones did it and what kind of ink it was.

 

I am premeditating murder of the spot now. Just out of curiosity, if it's Noodler's - would cutting it out with scissors be the only way to get rid of it?

 

Try multiple treatments of Amodex, following the instructions that come with the Amodex. You should be able to at

least fade the spot. It depends on the ink. I had turquoise ink leak into the pocket of a WHITE denim (cotton,

with cellulose) jacket. Amodex followed by laundering did remove enough of the spot to make the jacket

presentable on the outside. There may have been a faint shadow inside the pocket, but it wasn't visible from

the outside. You must be persistent and keep applying and re-applying.

 

There is another product called Kiss-Off (stick of white cleaner) that you can get from art supply outlets. I've

had good results with it, too. Both of these will require multiple applications.

 

I'd avoid Ink Nix on fabric, myself, because it feels to me like it has small particles of an abrasive in it,

which would help scrub ink out of the ridges on your fingers, but is likely to damage fabrics.

 

My other mileage is that it REALLY depends on the ink. MB Violett is made up of a fluorescent magenta and

black. The flourescent magenta is removed after multiple Amodex treatments, but a grey shadow can remain.

 

Best of luck.

[kiavonne]

anyone besides me absent mindedly forget that a Preppy eyedropper pen has a cap that pulls off, not screws off? oops. :embarrassed_smile:

[Viseguy]

I tend to assume that a disposable-looking pen like the Preppy is a pull-off, so it hasn't been an issue for me. I do find, though, that if I use a pull-off for a few days, I start trying to pull off my screw-ons, until I get my head screwed on straight -- if you catch my drift. :blink:

[Goodwhiskers]

Nothing will remove a "bulletproof" Noodler's stain from cellulose fabrics such as cotton, linen, rayon, ramie, hemp, kenaf or jute, unless cutting out the stained area counts as removal.

 

Well, that's what I thought, too, until a friend of mine removed a fat Hunter Green stain from her creamy white pair of linen trousers with 'bile soap' (- I'm not entirely sure about this translation, "Gallseife", a common stain remover here?) and no problem at all. She didn't even get a chance to do anything to the stain right away but removed it days later when it had already dried (no feathering, though, as usual with Noodler's ).

So I think there's hope for the OP. Good luck, Robert!

:hmm1: (reminding oneself myself: facts before theory, facts before theory) Would Gallseife help a person win the Noodler's prize (up to $5000 USD now?), or would Gallseifewaßer still leave a trace of "alarm" dyes and let the prize money keep accumulating? Mr. Tardif, have you tried this one?

Edited February 13, 2008 by Goodwhiskers

[Robert Hughes]

Good news! I got my jacket back from the dry cleaners, and the Noodler's Black stain is - gone! Without a trace. Let's hear it for wool suits and dry cleaning services.