# Stain removal help... family harmony depends on it! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 29, 2005, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stain-removal-help-family-harmony-depends-on-it/306003 "2005-05-29T18:30:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stain-removal-help-family-harmony-depends-on-it/306003/1 "2005-05-29T18:30:21Z")
My budding Picasso decided to use his grandmother’s ballpoint pen to decorate the artificial-leather seats on two of her kitchen chairs. Needless to say, Picasso’s grandmother is not thrilled about this, and wants to remove the ink. We’ve tried Windex and that Magic Eraser thing, but with no results. Anyone know how to remove ballpoint ink from artificial leather? ANY help will be appreciated. Robin ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stain-removal-help-family-harmony-depends-on-it/306003/2 "2005-05-29T18:37:49Z")
Try Goof-Off or another similar product-I think it’s called Oops!. Buy at any paint store-KMart may have it-you might find it at Walgreens. Good luck (Don’t let Momma kill Aaron). 😉 ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stain-removal-help-family-harmony-depends-on-it/306003/3 "2005-05-29T19:37:33Z")
Cheap hair spray. Really. Get a pump (non-aerosol) bottle of something like White Rain. Saturate a cotton ball or the like, rub on ink marks. This works best the sooner you do it. Repeat with new balls of cotton when the cotton ball is getting significantly discolored with the ink it picks up. When you’ve gotten all the ink, use a sponge with water & a bit of soap to wash the entire seat – gets rid of hairspray residue and evens out the ‘but now there are clean spots’ problem. Good luck! ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stain-removal-help-family-harmony-depends-on-it/306003/4 "2005-05-29T21:15:26Z")
Petroleum jelly with a alcohol dampened cloth was what we used to remove from naugahyde. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stain-removal-help-family-harmony-depends-on-it/306003/5 "2005-05-29T21:27:21Z")
I used Spray & Wash stain remover stick to get ink stains off a white vinyl purse. The spray liquid is not nearly as good as the stick for this kind of thing. I’ve used it on shoes, too. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stain-removal-help-family-harmony-depends-on-it/306003/6 "2005-05-29T23:17:42Z")
Picasso’s grandmother enjoys his masterpieces. Truly she does. She just likes her kitchen chairs the way they were, and would prefer that he contain his creativity to the construction and sketch paper she gladly provides as an outlet. We tried some isopropyl alcohol and that took some of it off. Robin ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stain-removal-help-family-harmony-depends-on-it/306003/7 "2005-05-29T23:33:19Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > Cheap hair spray. Really. This is also great for removing ink from light-colored hair. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2005, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stain-removal-help-family-harmony-depends-on-it/306003/8 "2005-05-30T07:13:14Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#): > > Try Goof-Off or another similar product-I think it’s called Oops!. Buy at any paint store-KMart may have it-you might find it at Walgreens. Good luck (Don’t let Momma kill Aaron). 😉 Ackk! don’t use Goof Off! It will melt the plastic! Better ink than a hole! I know this how? Yes, I did melt a dimple in my desk chair rolly carpet shield (how’s that for a name?) and made a hole in a blanket bag. ( I never learn :rolleyes: ) I agree with hair spray or isopropol alcohol. Last resort try nail polish remover, but test it on a hidden part of the material, to make sure it won’t melt it too. That said, I clean any sticky spot with peanut butter. I don’t know how it would work on ink but it takes off any kind of adhesive, gum, glue. I’ve tried it on a variety of spots and its worked everytime! ---
**Author:** ![MissGypsy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8491ac/32.png) [@MissGypsy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissGypsy)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stain-removal-help-family-harmony-depends-on-it/306003/9 "2005-05-31T18:35:54Z")
My three-year-old just decorated himself and his little brother with black, ball-point pen. I found that a baby wipe cleaned both of them up nicely in about 30 seconds. Might be worth a try.