How to get ink out of rayon

03 Before you start

• Use white cloths or paper towels only: coloured ones can transfer their own dye into rayon.
• If the label says dry clean only, do not use this home washing method: take it to a professional. For washable delicates, use a product specifically labelled for the fabric.
• Pretest every permitted treatment on an inconspicuous area, including trims, and let it dry. Stop for colour transfer, lightening, rings, stiffness or distortion. A successful spot test does not guarantee the whole item is safe.

05 Dried, set, or back again?

• For a dried stain, use only a detergent specifically labelled for this fabric, at its stated dilution and contact time, and only if the care label permits washing. Do not substitute ordinary enzyme detergent on wool or silk. If it persists, consult a professional rather than increasing the strength or soaking time.
• Old oil has partly oxidised and gone sticky; apply the degreasing step two or three times, and give powder an overnight stay where it is used.
• A dried dye or tannin stain may persist. Stop if any colour transfers, the texture changes or a ring appears; do not repeatedly bleach or scrub a stubborn mark.

Oil is often invisible on damp fabric and shows again once dry. Check in daylight after air-drying and repeat the degreasing step before any heat.

Tannin and dye shadows can darken as they oxidise in air. If a faint mark is still there when dry, repeat the colour-lifting step rather than scrubbing.

06 What ink is made of

• Dye
• Oil and fat
• Polymer

Ink carries dye that soaks into fibres rather than sitting on them. Depending on the dye, alcohol dissolves it, oxygen bleach breaks it down, or sunlight fades it, and speed matters more than strength.

The oily part of ink will not dissolve in water at all. It needs a surfactant such as dish soap, or a solvent, to break it up, and a dry powder can draw fresh oil out before you start.

Ink is a polymer: long molecules that set into a film or a sticky mass. Each one needs either its own solvent or a change of state, freezing or softening, rather than scrubbing.

• Ballpoint ink is dye dissolved in an oily, glycol-based paste. Water barely touches it; alcohol, which dissolves both, lifts it.
• The old hairspray trick worked because hairspray used to be mostly alcohol. Today's formulas add resins and oils that can leave a second stain.
• Put a paper towel under the stain and dab from above: the ink transfers into the towel instead of spreading sideways.

07 The material: rayon and viscose

Rayon can be wetted, but gently: dab, swish and press, never wring or scrub.

No rubbing at all; every step is a press-and-lift.

Soak only if the care label permits it and only for the product-labelled contact time; support the item when lifting it and avoid wringing.

Water stays at or below 30 °C (86 °F) the whole way through.

• Rayon is regenerated cellulose, not protein. Wet strength varies by fibre type and treatment; conventional viscose can weaken when wet, so avoid wringing and follow the care label.
• Some viscose fabrics shrink or distort during washing and drying. Modified rayon fibres such as modal and lyocell can behave differently.

The rayon and viscose file rates every common cleaner for it.

08 Next time

Check shirt pockets for pens before every wash: one leaking pen can mark a whole load.

09 Questions