A few days ago, I chose to stop procrastinating and finally organize my desk. I decided not to wait until my toddler was napping…mistake number one. I started by sorting through three plastic bins that contain markers, scissors, and other stationery items. I realized that I still had quite a few markers that I really didn’t need in my desk anymore. Most of these were whiteboard markers, and we no longer have a whiteboard. I set these on the couch…mistake number two. Then, I turned away back to the desk…mistake number three. At this point it might make sense to remind you that my toddler was in the room. It also might make sense to let you know that the couch I mentioned is one I bought just four months ago. After 2 ½ years of living with a hand-me-down orange velour couch from the seventies, we had finally purchased a couch of our own. Anyway, back to the story….
After a minute or two of organizing at the desk, I turned back around to see my little boy, marker in hand, scribbling over one of my light beige couch cushions. When I got near him I realized that my intelligent little one did not grab one of the whiteboard markers. Instead, he was able to sort through the pile and find the one marker that could do the most damage—a laundry marking pen. This is a special marker made to write permanently on laundry. After I got over the panic, I put my little boy into timeout for a minute, mostly so I could calmly assess the situation.
I kept thinking that I would have to take the cushion to a professional cleaner or else contact the manufacturer of the couch to see if I could order one cushion cover. I thought, though, that there might be a cheaper way to solve my problem. Once my son and I had both calmed down, I checked the Internet to see if I could find tips on how to remove permanent marker. The one tip that I saw over and over again involved simply using hairspray and Q-tips. I decided, what the heck—it wouldn’t hurt to try it. More importantly, these were items I already had on hand, and I wouldn’t need to buy any special stain remover. And, fortunately we had bought a couch with a machine-washable cover.
So, here is the trick that saved me a bunch of money (and some sanity):
Hairspray can be used to remove a number of different inks, including pen ink and permanent marker. To remove ink, simply spray hairspray on the stain and let sit for a few seconds. The hairspray should lift the ink to the surface and you can rub it off with Q-tips. Launder the item as normal. You might want to check this technique on an area that is not visible first to test for color-fastness.
Note: After washing my cushion, it showed a mark where the hairspray was sprayed. I took this out just using a regular clothing stain remover and washing again.
This little trick with hairspray and Q-tips I now pass on to you, because you just never know when it might suddenly become a lifesaver.