Removing ink

[barriefield-brian]

Picked up a nice WW2 Canadian pair of binoculars but someone wrote their name in the case with ballpoint pen. Anyone had any luck removing this ink. Thinking about dabbing bleach on it with a Q-tip but may try it on a less expensive piece to see what might work. Thx Brian

[jim a]

Brian... wouldn't advise using bleach on any type of fabric or material.... I've just got this feeling that it'll turn out bad....

[Phillip Herring]

Brian,

Maybe try isopropyl alcohol on a Q-Tip.

Phil

[Bill A]

Jim is right. Stay away from bleach. Phil is right, try isopropyl alcohol.
Here is a link to some suggested methods. Note: Always try on an test piece or on a area out of sight.
http://chemistry.about.com/od/cleani.../removeink.htm

[jubilationtcornpone]

Brian,

You might try fingernail polish remover. Bill is right about doing a test on an area out of sight.

Don

[David Tremain]

Removing ballpoint ink can be very difficult, and sometimes impossible. Believe me, as a former paper conservator (now retired) I have tried to remove ballpoint inks and felt marker ink from many a document or book, although not from cloth. However, since paper and (most) textiles are cellulosic, the same solvents usually work. The problem is that there are so many formulations for ballpoint inks and unless you know which type it is (hard to tell without having the actual pen in front of you) you can be fumbling in the dark trying to remove the ink. It's a question of finding a solvent that will dissolve the binder holding the ink together. Most of these solvent tend to be very toxic.

If you must remove it, rubbing alcohol (isopropyl alcohol) is the least obnoxious and should be tried first. You can also try acetone (or nail polish remover; some removers now don't actually contain much acetone, so it's best to check the label, or buy the real McCoy); perchlorethylene, used by the dry cleaning industry, might also work. You can get aerosol stain removers, such as K2R in the UK (not sure about elsewhere) which contain "perc" and a powder, usually Fuller's Earth, which can be sprayed on.

There's a whole raft of more toxic solvents that might do the trick, but unless you know what you're doing and have proper ventilation and PPE (personal protective equipment i.e respirator) you can give yourself a lot of grief. Without a proper respirator you can (a) end up choking yourself or a splitting headache, not to mention affecting your liver (and other organs); (b) causing the ink to run everywhere if the solvent works and don't blot it off. I wouldn't recommend hairspray, as mentioned in the article. Hairsprays usually contain some sort of gum or fixative which can end up fixing rather than dissolving the ink. Whatever you use, always test a small discrete area and use something like a Q-Tip.

I'm not going to list any of the other solvents because they can be hard to get unless you go through a supplier such as BDH (British Drug Houses) or some such.

I would be inclined to leave it alone, or consulting a conservator (restorer) if you really think you can't live with it the way it is.

[barriefield-brian]

Thanks for the suggestions. The rubbing alcohol lightened up the ink a lot but started to lighten the fabric as well so will leave well enough alone. Cheers Brian