Hi everyone,

I got some ink marks on my cream color line piece just above my glove compartment.

Any suggestions on how to remove ink from those pieces? I'm not sure if they are vinyl or not, and what the best cleaner to use is. I hope leaving them isn't making it worse. I am afraid to use anything on it before I know what is safe and (hopefully) effective.

Thanks!

 

Is it pen ink? The area with the mark is painted, if I am picturing it correctly. It matches your exterior, right? If so, do not use anything that would scratch or mar paint. I'm thinking a simple green type of solvent maybe, or if not that, then a claybar should do it.

Ken

 

Thanks for the input, Ken. Yes, it was an ink pen.

Actually, it is the piece just above the glove box door and below the dash. Sorry, I don't know what the actual name for that piece is. It looks just like a textured vinyl.

Maybe a pic would help...the red arrows are my editing to show where the ink marks are. No, some crazy person did not draw 3 red arrows in my car.



Not sure what the best way to post that pic is.

 

Call Detailers Paradise at (800) 405-9970 they can help you out with what can clean that part of your car the best.

They are also NAM members so tell them you heard this on NAM

They also have a link in the vendor directory. https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/forums/vendor.php

and their web site is http://www.detailersparadise.com/_sy...qryDefault.asp

 

It's ink from an ink pen.

Standard rubbing alcohol from your bathroom cabinet should do the trick. It is about the only thing that will dissolve ink. This will work on every ink from bic pen to sharpie. It should also do this without damaging the finish. You don't need to rub hard. Just soak a cotton ball, and swipe it over until the ink dissolves. Rinse with a cold water soaked cotton ball afterwards.

No biggie :-)

If that surface is painted though... test this in an unseen area first! Alcohol and painted surfaces do not mix.

 

If you want to try something else, get yourself some stuff called "Hotshot". (you can get it almost anywhere.. it's in a blue/orange spray can)

We use it at the bodyshop all the time for special stains. The cool thing about it is you don't have to rub. It will usually dissolve the stain without rubbing.

I recently used it to remove a red wine stain out of white carpet. I had to spray it 2-3 times but never once did I have to rub the carpet and smear it.

It's wierd to literally watch it dissolve by itself.

I've never used it on a hard surface, always a cloth or carpeted area so you may want to read the label first.

HTH's,

Mark

 

Ink!!! Sorry to hear that this happened to you. I know I would freak out too if this happened to me. We were going to get the cream color line as well, but decided against it, simply because of maintenance. Our MA told us that the cream color line gets dirty very easily and takes a lot of maintenance, so we stayed with the dark gray color line instead.

The rubbing alcohol suggestion and hot shot sound like it may do the trick. Good luck!

 

From past experience with ink stains, rubbing alcohol doesn't do much. Try spraying perfume or cologne... that seems to work best for me.

 

Or hairspray! Non-aerosol hairspray will do the same thing without the smell from perfume, but it's sticky to clean up.

 

I appreciate everyone's suggestions! I am seriously regretting the cream color line. While it looks beautiful with my hot chocolate leather and its cream piping, I did not realize it would be such a problem for stains. The ink stain on this spot was a freak accident -- my hubby was endorsing a check in the car, and went to put some papers in the 'secret compartment', apparently while still holding the pen. I think the cream armrests on the 2 doors are gonna be a huge pain to keep clean!

Anyone have an idea how much replacing those pieces would cost? I am afraid to ask my MA.

What do other people use to keep these pieces clean? Does 303 Aerospace have a good cleaner for this?

Here's what I've tried so far:

-Rubbing alcohol ~ No

-Hair spray ~ Nope

-WD-40 ~ Nuh-uh

-Mr. Clean Magic Eraser ~ No dice yet (going to try it again)

I am thinking if I can't get the ink stain out, to put a sticker on that piece (like one of the motoring badges in sticker form). But then the sticker would be there for good, and would ruin that piece for any future owner (not that I can imagine at this point selling this car to anyone).

 

Okay, if you can't get if fixed, I'll make an offer to you. If the prices are ridiculous to replace, I have an upholstery guy that I use at both of my bodyshops.

I've been in this business for 25 years and he is PHENOMONAL.

Point is, I can get them repaired inexpensively and I PROMISE they will look perfect.

You really need to check out some of that HOTSPOT I mentioned before. I think you'll be surprised.

At this point, it doesn't matter if the material becomes stained further because unless you are planning on living on with the present stains, you're going to have to do something.

Anyway, let me know if I can help you, I promise you won't regret it.

Mark

 

hair pray works great

 

I have one more thing that can be tried before you call in the pros, but Mark, you're such a nice guy for offering to help get this fixed and I had to say so.

Try windex followed by your magic eraser. I am scared to tell you to use windex because I am really not sure what it will do to the trim.

Good luck! I can't believe alcohol didn't work, I've used alcohol to remove ink stains from walls in my house without damage to the paint, or the finish on counters and wood table tops. I'm amazed that it didn't work for you...

 

If you decide this is a worst case and are going radical and the replacement costs are frightening...

SEM make a paint for vinyl or flex' plastic that works very very well.

The vinyl headliner in my 79 was a dirty mess but otherwise in good shape. I got the basic dirt off but it looked crappy...but I didn't want to rip it out. I ordered some SEM spraypaint from Eastwood.com and all I can say is WOW.

There's a special pre-treatment/cleaner, then you just spray away and two years later my headliner still looks great. And the good news is I used their 'buckskin' color and it very closely matches the cream colorline in my 07... or, you could decide to change to a darker color. This stuff is sticking to the vin' ... no problem-o.

It's not expensive and works well. To replace the parts ya got to take 'em off anyway, so for a few bucks you could try to paint 'em

http://search.eastwoodco.com/search?...re&w=sem&rk=10

p.s.1 - to those scared of the cream colorline .... I wasn't thrilled about this stuff when I bought my English Oak...but after a year is looks fine. I clean it with mild soap and water - damp rag - and so far so good...but no major hits tho..just the occasional dirty hand.

p.s.2 - on the otherhand I bought a tan leather sofa in Dec and within days 'someone' got a little blue pen ink on the arm. Not wanting to be too aggressive but wanting it gone I've tried several products - including several expensive leather cleaners and have decided the 1/4 long line will eventually blend in with the natural weather of the leather.....or maybe I should exercise the "we get out any stain" warranty I bought....

 

I've had the colorline disassembled before and it IS vinyl wrapped and glued to plastic.Oh and I use non-ammonia windex on a micro to wipe down my interior with no harm done.