INK ON PINK

or
THE ADVENTURE BEGINS ...

Warning: always, always, ALWAYS check pockets -
especially when you are sure they are empty!

Be paranoid - go ahead! you have my permission.

We had a nice trip to visit family last week.
I wore my pink pajamas.
We did not sing ('Comin' Around the Mountain')
and I don't care that now they have nasty ink spots -
 on pj's who cares?

It is my green shirt I am sad about (see a glimpse of it here)
 and some other things ...

We got home late enough to use our front room as a dump until this morning. Then I began the laundry. I sorted, emptied and gathered from home and sorted - old and new - we bought several 'new to you' shirts for my husband. Like new condition at Value Village usually is $5 - $10 for a name brand shirt that in stores usually  prices between $25 and $60. His sandpaper, neck whiskers destroy collars in a few months and VV is an excellent budget solution.

The first batch buzzed. It was mostly the lighter colored dress shirts David wears to work every day. As I started to transfer the load to the dryer I spied ink on my light green pinwhale cord shirt with the appliquéd leaves. Of course it is a favorite of mine. It is one of those 'throw it over a T and jeans' and be ready to party shirts. I dig it out of the back netherlands near the first frost of the year and don't tuck it away until Thanksgiving is over, done and dead.  (And yes, I did buy 2 back when - a burgundy one and this green one).

 GGAAAHHhhhh!!!! A PEN!

What else might the ink be on? (The pj's soon showed up.)

The culprit was discovered on top of the next item down and promptly lynched - execution style, directly to the nearest garbage. At least it had the decency to only leak!

Then I found the ancient but warm neutral sweater -

 a victim that will simply join the pen.

And last, but not least, a shirt. Not just any shirt. The one I like! You ladies know - the one he could care less about but you try to coax him to wear ...

As I finished emptying the washer guess what I found - go ahead - try ...

I was so surprised!

Another PEN?!?!?! you've got to be kidding me.
Two for one! 'If that don't beat all'. How can that even happen?

Please send you personal favorite tricks and tips for ink removal.
Since I have an abundance of ink stains right now I will experiment to find out what actually works and let you know.

My first line of defense is always plain water and common sense.  The ink was so thick I could scrape and rinse some of it off with plain room temp water.

Next I applied some detergent and rubbed a bit under running water - almost no ink came out.

I have tried alcohol, see green shirt - it caused it to spread and get a halo even though I had padded the back and was blotting, that I finally managed to get out. Maybe I just need to keep 'dabbing' but I think that shirt will just acquire a couple more appliqués - I will have to decide if it is worth the effort - it is not new.

Does hairspray work any better? Isn't it just alcohol?

I will keep you posted - after I calm down.
After I try a few things ...