For ballpoint pen ink on cotton and blends: Put a dry towel underneath and dab with rubbing alcohol. Follow the steps below and most of these come out without a trip to the cleaner.
Ballpoint ink is an oil-based dye: it resists water and dissolves in alcohol. Rubbing alcohol is therefore the tool, and the technique is dabbing, never rubbing โ rubbing simply spreads the dissolved ink. A towel underneath gives the ink somewhere to go, pulling it out of the garment rather than through it.
Method by fabric
Cotton and blends
What you need
- Rubbing alcohol, 70% or higher
- Dry towel
- Cotton swab
Steps
- 1Lay several layers of dry towel under the stain.
- 2Dab with an alcohol-soaked swab, working from the outside in.
- 3Move the towel often so a clean section is always underneath.
- 4When the ink fades, apply detergent and rinse cold.
- 5Wash, confirm it is gone, then dry.
Never do this
- Rubbing โ the dissolved ink spreads outward
- Working without a towel underneath โ the ink transfers to the back of the garment
- Machine washing before it is out โ the ink transfers to everything else