how to remove toner stains out of clothes
TRANSCRIPT
How to remove toner stains out of clothes or off the carpet
Whether you’re doing a routine cleaning, replacing the toner cartridge or fixing clogs on your laser printer/copier, you have to be careful not to let toner stains get on your clothes or into the carpet in the process.
In the event this does happen, follow the steps below to get you out of the—quite literally—mess.
Just to give you a background of how a laser toner works: toner is ink in dried form made into very fine powder. When this powder gets into contact with a laser printer or copier, the heat burns the characters into the paper. Now why is this important? Knowing the stuff a laser toner is made of and how it adheres to paper (and to your clothes and carpet) lets you know what you can do to avoid spreading the stain and getting it off the surface it’s not intended to be on.
The toner’s extremely fine nature makes it quickly stick to fabric, upholstery and carpet and get cosy in there unless you do something about it. As with ink stains, it is important to take it off as soon as it got there. And you already know that heat embeds the powder into your designer blouse or delicate Persian, so stay away from direct heat while cleaning, and always use cold water.
CLOTHES
First, loosen as much of the powder from the fabric as you can. You have to take care not to grind it in, so using a toothbrush is ideal. If there’s a lot of powder, you can speed up the process by using a hand vacuum.
Pretreat the stain with soapy detergent water. Break it up by tamping it with a stiff brush or a thick spoon. Tamping means to strike a heavy material against the stain, making it easier to take off.
Machine wash or hand wash the piece immediately in cold water and mild laundry detergent.
Important: before you begin, check instructions on the clothing label for specific products and/or washing procedures that you should do or avoid. If the garment is non-washable, don’t risk a damaged fabric and let a professional handle it.
CARPET
Remove any loose powder around the stain using a hand vacuum. Take care not to spread the powder as this can result the stain to be ground into the carpet.
Just hold the vacuum directly where the loose powder is so it draws the powder straight out of the carpet.
To take care of the stain that has coloured the carpet, mix dishwashing detergent with cold water. Use a sponge to lightly rub the area with the solution followed by cold water.
Allow the carpet to dry, then see if traces of the stain still appear. Should there be any left, repeat the process. If after re-cleaning the stain still persists, call in a professional to avoid damage to the fibre.
