My husband has a really cool vintage Dr. Marten’s jacket. The whole thing is covered with all kinds of stains, now mostly gone, from hubby’s party days in his youth. There is one truly bad ink stain, right above the bottom pocket. My son loves the jacket and it will be perfect for the cooler fall days coming.
I’ve been to the dry cleaners who have given me a sad shake of the head.
So far I’ve tried:
Oxyclean mega stain remover
Orange Zep
Rubbing alcohol
Hydrogen peroxide (best result so far)
Soap and water
Grandma’s secret stain remover
Tide stain pen
Flitz (hardcore paste solvent)
Krud Kutter
Goof Off
The jacket is unwearable with the stain, unfortunately, so I might as well go all out. This is a last ditch attempt to make it wearable again. I’m actually going to dye it dark brown too, which will hide the fainter stains (it’s currently camel colored, similar to the one linked above.)
So, I’m looking for your top tips for VERY old ink stains please.
I’ll offer this idea up - but no guarantees!!! My used WD-40 on a hard stain a couple of times - it did the job!!
Google shows this:
" If the stains are set in or have been present for a while, try this solution for a deep-clean. Spray WD-40 on the stain and behind the fabric as well.Wait approximately five minutes for WD-40 to break down the oil in ink . Do your laundry, as usual; the stain should come off."
I hope you are able to get the stain out. If not… perhaps you could somehow do stitching on top of the stain with thread color same (or or contrasting?). I’m envisioning something like the small darning stitches my grandmother used when mending socks.
I’ve always had the best luck with oxiclean for ink but have never tried I on one that well set. Can you sew a cool patch over the stain and maybe a few others so it’s looks intentional?
Just remembered that years ago I had fantastic luck with Simple Green. A permanent marker had made it’s way into the wash, and many of my husband’s white shirts got “polka dotted”. And it went through dryer before I noticed. Was thrilled that Simple Green did the trick.
Have you tried whole milk? I got some ink stains out of a white shirt with whole milk.
If the jacket is a light color, take some regular table salt. Moisten the stain and rub the salt in circles on the stain. I would check this inside the jacket someplace to see if it discolors the fabric.
So, I got denatured alcohol, tried that. Then I put on salt, and it’s currently soaking in a bucket of milk overnight. Let’s see what happens.
I will try Simply Green. @abasket , tired WD40, no luck.
Then comes dye. Dark Brown Rit. If that doesn’t work, then I will literally try Black, because if I can’t find a way to hide it, it’s usefulness will be as dustcloths.
Patches and stuff will definitely not look cool on this jacket. My son would also never be seen dead in anything like that, haha. It’s a perfect jacket for a business casual environment in the fall, which is why my son likes it. Plus the fact that dad wore it to many a great gig. (Looking at you, Radiohead, Brixton Academy, 1995!)
With the salt…it’s key that you rub the stain out with the salt…it’s not salt water that does the trick. It works more like sandpaper…you rub the stain out. So…when this is done soaking in the milk….wring it put, and put salt on the spot and rub it. See if that works (Hoping the milk works)
When you tried the alcohol, did you apply it from the reverse side, with the stained side against an absorbent dry paper towel on top of a thick towel? I can almost always get ink out that way. You have to frequently move to a dry area of the paper towel/towel and keep applying more alcohol to the reverse side of the stain and applying pressure to the alcohol side.
It’s hard to do that because the jacket has a pretty thick lining. I did keep blotting with a white cloth when I tried the hydrogen peroxide, which definitely worked better than the alcohol.
I’ve long heard of a product called Amodex for ink stains, although I haven’t used it myself. I wish you luck, but I’ve found that the more products used, the more the stain tends to get set in.
