How to get printer ink off your hands...

Getting ink off fingers - choose your weapon!

Running a business like PhotoFairytales, this is a regular occurrence for me - I rarely manage to change an ink cartridge on my printer without managing to get a few smudges on my hands. Drives me mad!

This morning I had a complete disaster when a black cartridge decided to flood ink all over me, coating my finger tips and palms. So this is what I tried to get it off:

• Straight away I reached for the nail varnish remover - took off a bit, but not very much.
• Next I sent my OH into the garage to fetch his Swarfega (I love the smell of this stuff!) - and that, coupled with an awful lot of scrubbing took off another layer or two.
• But I still had ink ingrained into the grooves of my skin, so after some quick googling, I found a tip that mentioned hairspray. I sprayed some over my fingertips, waited for about 10-15 seconds, then scrubbed it off with some soapy water and the nail brush again. By this time the skin of my poor hands were starting to rebel from all the hard scrubbing!

I’ve still got some ink imbedded in the grooves of my fingertips, but the ink on my palms has by now pretty much gone. I would say that I’ve managed to get 95% of the ink out of my skin - certainly enough to be ‘passable’! (Although I think if I worked in an environment where my hands had to look completely spotless they wouldn’t pass.)

The only other thing left to try is a bleach solution (roughly 1 part bleach to 10 parts water). But my hands are suffering from all the scrubbing as it is so I’m not going to bother this time - but I’m sure it would be the ‘big guns’ if I did need them to be totally flawless. (I’ve also heard that window cleaner is worth a try, and also those ‘magic eraser’ sponges, but I have a feeling bleach would be the best final resort.)

So I shall give my poor hands a rest and give them a treat with some of my Body Shop Hemp Hand Protector (seriously, this is the best handcream I have ever, EVER, tried). My hands are so prone to dryness and if I don’t look after them (or have a day when they’re in and out of water), they get sore and cracked - but this hemp handcream is great at restoring them. I can’t praise it highly enough, so if you’re looking for a really heavy-duty handcream I’d definitely recommend it. Bloomin’ marvellous (bit pricey, but lasts for ages)!

Have you found something miraculous for getting printer ink out of your fingers? If you've got any other tips do leave a comment and let me know!

Sarah :)

4th April 2015: Update - new tip! 

After having to discombobulate (yes, I'm pretty sure that's a real word...) my daughter's desk over the weekend we discovered her printer had been quietly leaking blue ink, forming a massive pool of the stuff under itself. Glorious! So, after cleaning up the hateful mess I was once again faced with inky fingers. This time though, I reached for the toothpaste - and have to share this fabulous tip because it does work really well (and smells an awful lot nicer than bleach, etc).

I used whitening toothpaste (not sure if standard toothpaste will do the trick): rubbed it over the inky bits, left it to work for about a minute, then scrubbed with the nail brush. It cleaned off nearly all of it - I just have a little bit left in the cuticles of my nails, but then again, I was COVERED in the stuff, so I think that's pretty good going! So, whitening toothpaste is going to be my secret weapon for cleaning printer ink off my hands from now on.

Mmmm... minty fresh! ;)

Sarah x

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