How to clean up printer ink spills & stains

One of the risks of changing ink cartridges is that you’ll spill some ink and stain either yourself, your clothes or your furniture. This page will suggest some methods for removing ink from a variety of surfaces.

Before we get started, our best advice is prevention instead of cure. Make sure to open any new cartridges over a surface covered with a cloth or towel to ensure no ink spills.

I've got ink on my hands

1. The first step is to do what you’re probably inclined to do anyway, use warm soapy water to wash off most of the ink from your hands
2. If you use some soap containing pumice to scrub your hands you’ll clear much of the ink quickly;
3. Fill a bowl with a weak mixture of bleach and water (at least 10 parts water to 1 part bleach) and wash your hands in it. Repeat this as many times as you like until you’re satisfied with how your hands look. Remember to wash any bleach off your hands afterwards.

I have ink on my clothes

1. The most important step here is the first one: Do not try to rub the stain, doing so will only spread it and make cleaning harder
2. Use a paper towel or cloth to dab at the stain removing as much ink as possible. Place a second piece under or between the layers of your garment to avoid bleeding
3. Allow the stain to dry, applying hairspray at this point will help the process along
4. Once it’s dry use a stain removal product to remove the worst of the mark
5. If this fails to remove all of the stain wash your garment on the highest temperature possible to stand the best odd of shifting the ink
6. Finally, if this has still not cleaned your clothes use some detergent and water along with a toothbrush and gently clean the area.

I have ink on my carpet

1. First off use a tooth brush and some cleaning agent or detergent mixed with water to rub the stain
2. Dab the area with a cloth or paper towel to absorb the ink
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 until they stop showing improvement
4. if you’ve tried this a few times and the ink still isn’t shifting up the ante a little to switching to mixture of bleach and water. Follow the same steps and this should clean your stain.