How to Remove Ink from a Leather Sofa and Rug

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Hey y’all…as you may have guessed by our post title, something unexpected happened at Jenn’s house. Let’s start at the beginning.

This past Saturday we were diligently working in Jenn’s backyard. We were busy painting a pair of bookcases for the master bedroom closet makeover as well as a couple of other pieces. We were trying to work quickly to beat the threat of rain. Once we were finished we decided to go into the house for a bit of lunch.

We were immediately greeted by this cutie…

Notice anything? No – these are not blue booties. Plus, look at her collar and mouth.

With dread we walked further into the house and immediately saw this in the living room…

…and this. At least the cap to the pen is intact 🙂

This is a brand new 9’x12′ rug.

Needless to say, we both audibly gasped when we saw the leather sofa. The ink was already dry.

I mean – who knew there could be this much ink in one pen?!

We don’t know where she found the pen but it didn’t matter, as the damage was already done. We managed to squelch our rising panic and we sprang into action. We started an internet search for cleaning methods. Most suggestions were very lengthy and complicated. Others offered solutions but we didn’t have the cleaning products that they recommended.

We tried wiping the leather sofa with a dry paper towel and nothing came up. We next tried a damp paper towel…nothing. Jenn’s “worried face” became more pronounced.

Jenn disappeared into the kitchen and brought out her favorite surface cleaner – Method All Purpose Surface Cleaner.

After a generous spritz, the dried ink wiped right up with paper towels! We couldn’t believe it! Leather sofa saved!!

The Method cleaner also cleaned up the ink from the hardwood flooring!

The rug was a different story. We blotted the rug with lots of dry paper towels until there was barely any visible ink. Unfortunately, the Method cleaner did not work on the rug. Jenn had one other liquid cleaner that we were willing to try…Windex. Do you remember the dad in the movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”? He loved Windex and used it for a plethora of things. “Put some Windex on it” was his answer for everything from poison ivy to wart removal. We determined that we didn’t have anything to lose so we gave it a try.

We sprayed the Windex generously and let it sit on the ink stain for a few minutes. With clean paper towels we began scrubbing and blotting. We were so surprised that it worked!

The ink stains were completely removed and cleaned! And Sadie reclaimed her favorite lounging spot on the freshly cleaned rug. Can you believe that this entire area of the rug was previously covered in ink?

We think that it is important to note that Sadie was recently adopted from a local shelter. She was rescued from an extreme hoarding situation and is very happy in her new home. She suffers from slight anxiety and likes to calm herself by chewing on things such as pillows, shoes and apparently ink pens 🙂 She gets more and more comfortable each day and she is the sweetest and most gentle dog. Even though we were tempted, for just a nano second to rename her “Indigo”. 🙂 She is a bright spot in our lives and we love her very much!

Until tomorrow…

XO~Vicki and Jenn

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