How to Remove Ink Stains from Wood

Whether you are working on restoring old furniture, or.. perhaps fixing up your current furniture situation, chances are.. if you have kids, at some point you have dealt with ink stains on wood.

As much as I keep an eye on my kids, we have had situations where I have been giving the baby a bath, and our 3 year old has (in that short time) either reached for the pens on the counter, or picked up the pens from her siblings backpacks on the floor. 

Or managed to find a pen stuffed down couch cushions.

Her ability to find a pen is incredible – in times where I need to sign homework in the morning and I am desperately rummaging through drawers and my purse to find ANYTHING to write with, in just sheer seconds, she can produce a pen out of thin air. 

I truly with I had that skill ;)

Not only do I envy her ability to find pens rather fast when everyone else is so desperate to locate one, I also admire her for her ability to draw – she’s proud. 

• Dawn Dish Soap (blue)
• Tea Tree Essential Oil
• Lemon Essential Oil
• Baking Soda
• Vinegar
• Rubbing Alcohol
• Thieves Cleaner
• Mayonnaise

Removing stains isn’t really too difficult, but it does require quite a it of patience. The best way to get stains out of wood is to blot the excess ink with a paper towel or moist rag.   Then spray the affected area with Thieves Cleaner and ru the ink stain with a damp rag or, magic eraser to remove as much ink as you can.

Next, mix the baking soda and water until it makes a thick paste – for the paste to work effectively, let it sit for up to 15 minutes before rinsing off. The paste needs time to set on the stain to do any type of treatment.  After the allocated time, wipe off and and apply lemon essential oil to work on the stain with magic eraser.

If the stain is deep, or has been sitting for a longer period of time, throw mayonnaise on the stain and allow the mayo to work overnight while you sleep.  

Mayonnaise also works for water stains (after leaving a cup on the surface) – the mayonnaise will need to be vegetable-oil based, and allowing it to sit will give the vegetable oil time to seep through the surface of the wood and replace the white spot. Mayo will not fix a darker color ring (from discoloration).