Ink 0 - Hairspray 1

This morning, while marking up the grocery list from Word, Joe's pen stopped working. He had put a refill in about a week ago. How long it had been sitting around before use is any one's guess.

Joe made a comment about his new refill already being old. I looked over at him, long enough, to see he had his Zippo out. I've seen others do this before but I've not paid much attention to where the fire goes.

The next thing I heard was "Oh s*&$". I looked over at Joe and he sported a purple thumb, index finger, and blotches on the palm of his left hand. He got up and went to the sink to wash the ink off with Lava. It was not taking the ink off his hand.

Many years ago I learned that hairspray would take ink out of fabric before washing. Saturate the ink stain on fabric, let it sit for a minute or two - the time it takes to load the washer with clothing and laundry soap - then throw the item in the wash. Ink comes right out of fabrics.

I went to the bathroom and came back with a bottle of hairspray and handed it to Joe. With major skepticism in his voice he tried it. He sprayed the hairspray on his fingers and palm where the ink stains were and rubbed it around. I had him dry his hands off first from the washing up with Lava. His response was "Momma strikes again". Compliment to be sure.

There was ink on the table top. Gone now with the hairspray. There was a good sized blob of ink on the linoleum floor. Mostly gone with the hairspray. It is a faded spot and not very noticeable unless you know what you are looking for.

So, if you have an ink stain on fabric or your skin, go after it with the hairspray.

Joe says there is solvent in the hairspray and that is what makes it work. Who knew (I didn't), perfectly coiffed hair is held with solvent.