The ingredient in hair spray that works on ink stains is alcohol.

You can try putting straight up rubbing alcohol on it and keep trying to soak it up into a (no color) paper towel or (no color) cloth towel.

I've seen Oxi-Clean advertised and they say that it can fade that kind of stain (right before you eyes even...LOL, I don't know how true that is).

You can also try white distilled vinegar rubbing it in with a cotton ball or cotton cloth.

Thanks, George... So it's the alcohol... I remember from the old waitressing days, getting the ink out of aprons... yes we wore aprons:) using spray hairspray... maybe they make hairspray differently now because it did nothing!

I will try the oxyclean, but this feels like its not water soluble... may need the alcohol.

i'll let you know... thanks.

Well, alcohol didn't budge the stain. Don't have Oxyclean so tried some Tide with bleach, but not much help. i doubt very much that vinegar will do anything. I'm washing it in the washer now but may stop it to try a tiny bit of nail polish remover before I finish washing. It's gel ink, which seems like dried nail polish... might work

Do you have any glycerin? You could try that.

I have used isopropyl alcohol (aka rubbing alcohol) to remove ball-point pen ink stains. I have been able to remove such stains even after being washed previously and dried in a dryer. As for the gel ink - you might want to try acetone/nail-polish remover as well as the alcohol.

Good luck with this.

Just an FYI.. I did try rubbing alcohol and it did nothing. I then tried the nail polish remover and that didn't do anything either. The stain was still wet when I first noticed it which was key. Most of the ink came out when I ran the spot under cold water at the sink. Scrubbing with detergent may have lifted a little bit more, but once the stain dried, there wasn't anything else that worked. It's not too bad and on the back of the sofa, so a nice throw over it will have to do. Thanks all.

I have used Amodex Ink and Stain Remover to successfully remove fountain pen ink from clothing. I'm not sure if it can remove gel ink but it might be worth a try.

Gel ink is very tough to remove, I have had limited success with Oxy but nothing else seems to budge it. I use gel ink pens at work and have a bad habit of leaning my forearms on top of them.

I have washable furniture in white too. Mine are the IKEA Ektorp. Everyone thinks I am crazy to have white furniture with three kids and two dogs but it is so easy to wash the covers when they get smudged or dingy. I've had leather and microfiber and I find the slipcovers much easier to care for.

Tara, you'll find most in the laundry room, here, know and understand that its not very difficult to keep whites White. Its just a matter of the correct detergent, water temperature, and amount of time in the wash. I lurk on a few other Houzz catagories and could not believe the people that mention their white towels or white bed sheets are dingy and they can't keep them white..most of these people have stunning homes, and looks as if you could eat off their floors, yet many complain of yellowed sheets which of course means build up of body oils which means dirty stinky sheets...it just really drives me nuts that everything about their homes is absolute perfection, yet they sleep with dirty bedding and don't even realize it. I just ddon't understand why some people can't keep whites...white. I don't have slip covers but if I did I'd love white.

I love them too, and I know that they are clean, unlike a darker colour that would hide dirt. I am a firm believer in hot water, a good detergent and Oxy.

Milk worked for me when one of my shepherds decided to chew a pen. Hair spray usually works for me too, but it didn't this past time.