How to get biro and ink out of clothes

Ballpoint ink comes out of most clothes with isopropyl alcohol: lay the stain face down on a pad of kitchen roll, dab the back with alcohol on a cotton wool pad until no more ink moves, then rinse and wash. Gel, rollerball and felt-tip inks are water-based and need cold water and a drop of washing-up liquid instead, so work out which pen it was before you start.

Ballpoint, gel or felt-tip: which ink is it?

Ballpoint ink is a thick, oil-based paste, which is why water smears it rather than lifting it. Most other pens write with water-based ink. The exception is permanent marker, which is alcohol-based and is treated the same way as ballpoint, though it may not come out completely.

Pen	Ink	What lifts it
Ballpoint (biro)	Oil-based paste	Isopropyl alcohol
Permanent marker	Alcohol-based	Isopropyl alcohol
Gel pen	Water-based gel	Cold water and washing-up liquid
Rollerball and fountain pen	Water-based	Cold water and washing-up liquid
Children’s felt-tips and highlighters	Water-based	Cold water and washing-up liquid

Tip: not sure which pen it was? Dab the edge of the mark with a cotton bud dipped in cold water. If colour comes off on the bud, treat the ink as water-based. If nothing moves, try alcohol next, after a patch test.

Ballpoint isn’t the only oily mark that water won’t shift. Food oil and grease need washing-up liquid and a warm wash instead, as in getting oil and grease out of clothes.

Ballpoint: isopropyl alcohol and a pad underneath

Isopropyl alcohol dissolves ballpoint ink, and the pad underneath gives the ink somewhere to go, so it leaves the fabric rather than spreading through it. Hardware shops and online sellers carry it, labelled isopropyl alcohol or IPA. It is flammable: open a window, keep it away from the hob, candles and cigarettes, and never mix it with bleach or any other product.

1. Check the care label and the fibre content first: some fabrics, listed at the end, need a gentler approach.
2. Patch test the alcohol on an inside seam: dab a little on, wait 10 minutes, then blot with a white cloth. If colour comes off or the fabric changes, stop.
3. Lay the stain face down on a thick pad of kitchen roll.
4. Dab the back of the stain with a cotton wool pad wetted with alcohol, working from the edge of the mark inwards. Dab, don’t rub.
5. As the ink comes through, move the fabric to a clean patch of kitchen roll and change the cotton wool. Keep going until no more ink moves.
6. Rinse under the cold tap, work in a little liquid detergent, then wash as the care label says.
7. Let it dry naturally, and check it before it goes near the tumble dryer or an iron.

Gel, rollerball and felt-tip: cold water and washing-up liquid

These inks are made with water, so water is what moves them, and the sooner you start the better.

1. Lay the stain face down on a pad of kitchen roll.
2. Dab the back with cold water and a drop of washing-up liquid on a white cloth or cotton wool, moving the fabric to clean kitchen roll as the colour comes through.
3. Rinse from the back under the cold tap until the water runs clear.
4. Work in a little liquid detergent, then wash as the care label says.
5. Check it before you dry it.

Gel ink can leave a shadow. If one is left after the wash, soak it in an oxygen-based stain remover as the pack directs, within the care label, which must allow bleach (an empty triangle, or one with two diagonal lines inside it), then wash again.

If none of that shifts a mark, a pen-and-ink stain remover is the next step. Dr. Beckmann’s Stain Devils Pen and Ink (£2.99 for 50ml from the maker in October 2026) is made for ballpoint, felt-tip and marker: dampen the stain thoroughly with it, leave it for 10 to 15 minutes, blot, then wash. The maker says to test it on a hidden spot first and not to use it on leather, suede, acetate or rayon. It is with the other stain removers in the Cupboard.

Dried and washed-in ink

Ink is easiest while it is fresh, but an old mark is still worth a try.

• Dried ballpoint can still dissolve in alcohol. Use the same method, and expect it to take longer.
• Washed but not tumble dried: let the garment dry naturally, then treat the mark as a fresh stain of its kind.
• Tumble dried or ironed: heat can set ink. Try the method once, and if a shadow stays, take it to a dry cleaner and tell them it is ink and which kind.
• A shadow of colour after all that: soak it in an oxygen-based stain remover, as above, if the care label allows. Never use chlorine bleach on coloured fabric, because it strips the fabric’s own colour first, and never mix bleach with alcohol, ammonia, vinegar or any other acid: together they give off toxic fumes.

A pen through the washing machine

A pen left in a school shirt pocket can mark a whole load, and the machine with it. Sort out the clothes first, then clean the machine before anything else goes in.

1. Take everything out, and keep all of it out of the tumble dryer. Check each item in daylight.
2. Find the pen and any pieces of it: in the drum, in the folds of the door seal and, if it broke up, in the filter, which your manual shows you how to open.
3. Treat each ink spot by type, as above, and wash the item again.
4. If whites or pale clothes have come out with an all-over blue or grey tinge, the ink has dissolved in the water and acted like a dye. Keep them wet and follow the steps for getting colour run out of clothes.
5. Wipe the ink off the drum and out of the folds of the door seal with kitchen roll, then with a cloth wrung out in warm water and washing-up liquid, without pulling the seal away from the drum. Check your manual before you use anything stronger on the seal.
6. Run an empty maintenance wash as the manual describes. AEG’s guide to cleaning the seal on its machines, for one, recommends an empty cotton programme at 90 to 95°C with a washing machine cleaner, and some machines have a cleaning programme of their own.
7. Put an old towel through a short wash and check it comes out clean before you wash anything you care about.

Fabrics to go gently with

Read the fibre content on the label before anything stronger than water goes on.

• Acetate, triacetate and modacrylic, used in linings, satin-look blouses and dresses, and faux fur: never use nail varnish remover on them. Acetone, the solvent in most removers, dissolves acetate and damages triacetate and modacrylic, and American Drycleaner’s advice to dry cleaners warns that it can burn a hole in acetate on contact, or leave it hard and brittle.
• Alcohol on synthetics: the University of Georgia’s extension guide to ink stains warns that alcohol can damage acetate, triacetate, acrylic and modacrylic, and says to dilute it with two parts water on acetate. Acrylic is common in knitwear, so check the label on jumpers and cardigans, try the cold water method first, and take anything you are unsure about to a dry cleaner.
• Silk, wool and dry-clean-only clothes: blot, then take them to a dry cleaner, saying it is ink and which kind of pen.
• Leather and suede: keep alcohol off jackets, bags and shoes, because it strips the finish and the colour. Use the maker’s leather cleaner, or take it to a specialist.
• Bright colours and prints: alcohol can loosen some dyes, so patch test on an inside seam and stop if colour comes off on the cotton wool.

For ink on carpets, sofas and walls, the Stain Finder’s ink entry has the steps for each surface, and the rest of our stain removal guides cover everything from coffee to candle wax.