# Hairspray helps get ink stains out? How? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 26, 2017, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairspray-helps-get-ink-stains-out-how/778194 "2017-01-26T01:02:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2017, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairspray-helps-get-ink-stains-out-how/778194/21 "2017-01-27T16:15:38Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > … > FWIW: Here’s a link to the classic Cornell stain removal guide. Linky no workee. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2017, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairspray-helps-get-ink-stains-out-how/778194/22 "2017-01-27T16:20:00Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > You can get some liquid propellant out of an aerosol can. The best example is “canned air” where it’s all propellant… Yup, that’s why we don’t use canned air in our lab to clean our irreplaceable\* optics. \*Not literally, but a 2-year lead time for manufacturing counts as “irreplaceable” for all intents and purposes. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2017, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairspray-helps-get-ink-stains-out-how/778194/23 "2017-01-27T17:02:31Z")
Hair spray used to be popular as a quick fixative for cytologic smears (i.e. Paps). [Aqua Net](http://www.histosearch.com/histonet/Jul02A/sprayfixative.html) was popular for this purpose. So if you ever have an emergency where you need to preserve cells in a hurry, grab that can of hair spray. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2017, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairspray-helps-get-ink-stains-out-how/778194/24 "2017-01-27T17:16:58Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Hair spray used to be popular as a quick fixative for cytologic smears (i.e. Paps). [Aqua Net](http://www.histosearch.com/histonet/Jul02A/sprayfixative.html) was popular for this purpose. > > So if you ever have an emergency where you need to preserve cells in a hurry, grab that can of hair spray. My gf has a can of hairspray in her bathroom that I never saw her use. When I asked, she told me it was for spiders/centipedes. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2017, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairspray-helps-get-ink-stains-out-how/778194/25 "2017-01-27T17:29:33Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Linky no workee. Sorry. Try [this](http://www.human.cornell.edu/fsad/outreach/upload/removingstains.pdf). (Hmms, there’s extra characters at the end when I hover, but they aren’t visible when I c&p’ed into the hyperlink form. Had to backspace from the end to the “f” to get rid of them.) ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2017, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairspray-helps-get-ink-stains-out-how/778194/26 "2017-01-27T21:38:21Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > My gf has a can of hairspray in her bathroom that I never saw her use. When I asked, she told me it was for spiders/centipedes. Following the ban on CFC’s, hairspray has gone back to highly flammable high volatility hydrocarbon, that were dropped because they were so dangerous 🙂 Good for igniting and burning insects 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairspray-helps-get-ink-stains-out-how/778194.md?page=1)