Cleaning pen marks

[lj993]

Does anyone have a recommendation for cleaning blue ballpoint pen ink from light tan leather seats? I tried Adams interior cleaner and simple green. The ink mark is lighter but is still probably 50% there. Thanks.

[jamesboyy]

Leather masters ink lifter should do the trick there's even a leather master kit with it included though I'll try the APC and few more times with a old tooth brush try to get a nice foam lather though.., good luck

[Willy Wang]

I've seen Larry from Ammo NYC get it completely out with steam. Of course you'd have to have a steamer

[Priyaka]

Leather masters ink lifter should do the trick

^^^Try this.

Leather Master Car Interior Ink Away, ink remover, leather seat ink remover

Leather Master Car Leather Protection & Cleaner Kit, Leather Master Ink Away Ink Remover, ink lifter, leather cleaner, leather protection

Do not use on nubuck or suede.

[conman1395]

Don't use Simple Green... I hope you at least diluted it 10:1, but don't ever use Simple Green for anything but maybe tires.

For over the counter stuff, I'd try Mother's leather cleaner. Get the stuff in the red bottle, not the foaming, higher end stuff. It's thicker and will sit to allow it to dwell. Use a brush to lightly agitate between the grain. Go in in up and down, side to side, and circular motion to make sure you get through all of it.

If that doesn't work try 1Z Einszett Deep Plastic Cleaner. Same technique without letting it dwell.

Other than that, I'd see if it just goes away. My friend sat in my car (tan leather seats) with a pen in his back pocket and after a few regular interior cleanings it went away. I don't know what type of pen it was and I don't know if the oil based ballpoint pen ink is different than gel or whatever is used in the Uniball pens, but I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Please don't just try cleaning ut over and over and over again. The last thing you want to do is cause premature wearing for a little pen mark (if that's all it is of course).

[judyb]

Removing ink is a process
The longer the ink is on the leather the deeper it will go into the finish and the harder it will be to remove (also the reason that after time it can disappear as it keeps moving into the finish over time)
Most regular leather cleaners will not remove ink unless the leather has been protected with a good quality leather protector

First step is a quality ink remover specifically made for leather
This can be used gently a couple of times to remove as much as possible (the quicker you get to it the more likely it is to get it out completely)
The next step would be an Alcohol Cleaner again used gently on a cotton bud

If these steps don't work stronger solvents would be needed and this would then need the finish to be replaced
Hope this helps
Judyb