Got a bad grade in math and want to erase it from your copy? Or maybe there are notes written in the margins of one of your old books and you want to get rid of them? Or are you an artist who often uses ink and markers and you want to correct a mistake made on one of your works? If you use the right technique as well as the right products, erasing a lot of the ink will be possible, although it will be difficult.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: Erase ink using products you find at home
Step 1. Use brake fluid
Take an eyedropper and drop a drop of liquid at the exact location then rub gently with a small piece of cotton.
Step 2. Use acetone
You'll find it in most nail polish removers. You can use it to erase ink from paper. Apply a little on a cotton ball that you will rub on the ink.
- This method works best on ballpoint pen ink.
- Blue ink is easier to erase than black ink.
Step 3. Attempt to erase your ink with isopropyl alcohol
You can put it on any paper you want to process. If it doesn't have a lot of ink, a cotton ball will suffice, but if there is a lot, soak your sheet in a container filled with isopropyl alcohol for about 5 minutes.
- This method works with any brand of isopropyl alcohol, but avoid using those that contain tinctures or are scented.
- Be sure to cover the parts of your paper that should be left untouched.
Step 4. Put lemon juice on your ink stain
Pour a small amount into a 20 cl jar. Dip a cotton ball in it, then gently run it over the ink you want to remove.
- The acidity of the lemon will make the ink disappear, but it will also dissolve the paper. If you are applying it to thin paper, be very careful.
- Heavier weight paper will handle this method better than lighter weight paper.
Step 5. Form a thin paste using water and baking soda
You will get best results if you mix them in a small glass bowl. Take a cotton ball, run it through your baking soda paste, then pat your ink stain. Rub gently.
- If you have an old toothbrush, it will be useful for transferring the paste from the bowl to your leaf and rubbing it on your stain. If the bristles of your brush are more or less intact and they are not too frayed, it will be even more useful.
- It is not necessary to rinse to remove the bicarbonate: it will naturally peel off the paper when the water has evaporated.
Method 2 of 3: Use friction to erase ink
Step 1. Use a razor blade
This method works well with printed ink and eliminates a few letters. Hold the razor blade vertically and rub the paper gently. Don't press too hard or you'll cut the paper! If you are a child, have an adult do this for you, razor blades are very dangerous.
Step 2. Use an eraser
It will be easy to erase ink with an eraser if the ink is erasable. Usually, it is not black ink. It is rather blue and the packaging should indicate that it is erasable. Often, this ink is available as a felt with one end that has ink and the other that has an eraser.
- If you are unsure if your ink is erasable, use an eraser to be fixed.
- It is not recommended to use abrasive gums on ink in pens. These erasers are designed for pencils and graphite leads.
- Be careful if you attempt to erase ink with a white eraser. It might work, but this type of eraser is very rough and can tear paper easily.
Step 3. Go for sandpaper
Use sandpaper and an abrasive pad. If to erase ink with sandpaper, you feel that the handling becomes more delicate and that your abrasive pad (or your fingers) do not allow you to be precise enough, cut out a small piece of sandpaper that you will stick to the end of a pencil. Make small sideways movements to rub your paper.
- When rubbing the sandpaper over the area to be erased, do not press too hard.
- Regularly remove any ink, paper or dust residue by gently blowing on the sheet. Thus, you will better see the progress of your task.
Step 4. Try using a fine grit sanding disc
This is a tool with an abrasive surface similar to sandpaper. This will allow you to process your paper more evenly. Instead, choose a disc that has a head with a slightly round stone.
- This type of tool works great on books with stained edges.
- It may be too aggressive for paper, unless it is sturdy.
Method 3 of 3: Cover ink blots
Step 1. Apply correction fluid to it
This type of product does not erase ink, but does cover it well. In France, the most popular brands are “Tipp-Ex” or “Pentex”. This is a fairly thick and opaque liquid, traditionally white, and is used to cover ink marks or ink mistakes on paper. Usually, you use an applicator with a small sponge or brush at the end.
- This liquid often dries up and can crumble or clump, so it needs to be the right consistency before you apply it.
- Once you apply it, it will be damp. So you will not have to touch it and make it come into contact with anything else.
Step 2. Go for correction tape
If the ink you want to erase is in the form of vertical or horizontal stripes, covering them with correction tape is probably your best option. One side of this type of tape mimics the look of paper and the other sticks to it. It is usually white, but if your paper is colored, you will certainly find correction tape designed to match its color.
- Correction tape is detectable if you take the trouble to look at the paper closely.
- However, if you photocopy or scan a sheet that you have corrected tape on, the person reading the copy or capture is unlikely to detect it.
Step 3. Choose to cover ink stains with paper
Sometimes the easiest solution to covering ink stains or changing part of a drawing made in ink is to use a piece of paper. Obtain the same paper as the one you want to change, cut out a section large enough to cover your mistake, and glue that piece of paper over that mistake. Then, rewrite or start over your drawing on the part that you have restored.
- Make sure that the edges of the piece of paper used are perfectly glued to your original sheet. If it's bent or curled up, it won't.
- It will be very easy to detect the correction you have made if you take the trouble to observe your sheet carefully.
- However, it will be less detectable if you scan or photocopy your original.
Step 4. Camouflage the ink
If you've spilled ink or made a mistake using a felt tip pen, you'll want to get rid of it quickly. If you have tried the methods suggested above and none have worked, try to cover up your mistake by modifying your work. To do this, add things like colors or a background.
- If you apply an opaque color to your error, you may be able to hide it.
- If you have gone beyond your original designs, add a few decorative elements to it. When done right, it can feel like this is exactly what the designer wanted to do from the start!
Step 5. Decal your page and start over
Obviously, you won't erase anything, but the result will be the same. If you are unable to erase your mistakes using the previous methods, take a blank page, transfer your previous work, leaving out the part you want to change. Make your correction on your new page.
- This solution takes a lot of work, but if what you want to change isn't a felt or ink drawing, this is probably your best solution.
- Correcting your sheet this way will give you the impression that there has never been a mistake!
Advice
- If you are concerned that the ink will be erased from your checks, use gel ink instead. With this type of ink, the methods listed above rarely work.
- Protect any parts you don't want to be erased when trying to eliminate your mistakes. Cover your paper or use masking tape to avoid accidentally erasing them.
Warnings
- Keep in mind that the suggested methods can damage the pages of a book if it is on this medium that the stains you want to erase are present. Test your method on an inconspicuous corner of your book before any more complete application.
- Remember that erasing information from a check is illegal.