This is part 1 of a 2 part article that looks at the how to remove drywipe ink from clothing/ fabrics. This article is looking at indirect application of ink transferring the dry marks onto clothing. Article 2 will be looking at the direct application of ink on to clothing where you have the pen marking the fabric directly.
How and when is this an issue?
There are many ways in which you may end up with drywipe ink on clothing/ fabrics. The most common are that you will be using a whiteboard, and accidentally brush your sleeve across the ink, or when you are holding mini-whiteboard and transfer the ink onto your top, or even just brushing past a wall-mounted whiteboard in the classroom or office, it’s easily done and not always avoidable.
So what can we do?
Indirect drywipe ink onto clothing/ fabrics is by far the best of the 2 options when it comes to cleaning, this is due to the way in which drywipe ink works, check out our post on this subject.
If you have been using show-me drywipe markers, you do not need to worry when this happens, not because it’s not a concern to you but because the ink will almost always come out in the wash, even on a normal cycle.
Nothing special is required, no increases in temperature, no additional detergents or pre-rinse and scrubs.
This is because once the ink is dry on the whiteboard surface, less than 15seconds on average, the alcohol has evaporated and left behind the pigment powder, and for the most part this is just ‘dust’ and easily swept away using a drywipe eraser and for clothing this isnt that much different.
What is our guarantee?
With so many factors in play we cannot guarantee that everytime and for every combination of ink to material combination that the ink WILL come out in the wash, but we have tested this many times on the 3 most common clothing items (polo shirt, white shirt and trousers/ skirt) seen in schools/ offices and have seen the same results. We even tested all 10 colours in the same way to ensure that the specific pigments used did give the same results.
What if the ink does not come out in the wash?
If you have used Show-me drywipe markers, and tried a normal wash then this normally means that the ink was slightly wet, or it’s a combination of factors that we haven’t tested for. If this is the case check out the guidance on the second article on direct application of drywipe ink on clothing to see if there is a solution for you.
If you have any concerns or to clarify points made, get in touch with our customer care team who will be able to assist.
