Last saturday I had a party at my house and my friend was playing my martin with ink on the inside of his arm. Now the corner of my top is stained blue! Is there any way to remove this? I've tried water, soapy water, lighter fluid, nothing is dissolving it.
I did cover the inside of his gibson in blood one night so I guess we are even haha.
"And above all, respond to all questions regarding a given song's tonal orientation in the following manner: Hell, it don't matter just kick it off!"
-Chris Thile
Are you sure he's not a blue-blood?
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
I'd call Martin to ask because most things that remove inkj probably aren't good for the finish :cry:
#4491....
if he had a nickel for everytime I bled on his guitar...he would have 2 nickels.
"And above all, respond to all questions regarding a given song's tonal orientation in the following manner: Hell, it don't matter just kick it off!"
-Chris Thile
if he had a nickel for everytime I bled on his guitar...he would have 2 nickels.
Then you could look at him and say: "Frankly, my dear... I don't give a dime."
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
Ricochet wrote: Then you could look at him and say: "Frankly, my dear... I don't give a dime."
...Slow day at Guitarnoise...
-=- Steve
"If the moon were made of ribs, would you eat it?"
I've done a quick search on it, and quite a few people swear by using a slurry of baking soda in water to remove the ink.
The site can be found here: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf513765.tip.html .
If done gently the baking soda shouldn't affect the finish, although one should only be careful for any abrasion (sp?) damage from the particles in the slurry.
Let us know if you found it to work or another method, as I see this happening to me sometime in the future :shock:
Edit: the process of using baking soda isn't only to make an abrasive paste, its to make a basic enough solution to bleach some common inks used in ballpoints, if those are the ones on your ink (crystal violet for one) they will bleach in a basic solution without scrubbing also. If the ink in question was a refillable fountain pen, don't even try organic solvents as it is water soluble.
Well, you've already used lighter fluid, I would think that would have been a harsh enough chemical to craze the finish a bit. I don't think I would go the abrasive route here. There are effective enough chemicals out there that will remove the ink with out doing major scrubbing on the finish. We used to use chemicals in wood shop class, but that was a long time ago, & unfortunately I can't recall what they were.
I know acetone or lacquer thinner would remove the ink, no problem. I would also think WD-40 would do it. However, I suggest you call a couple woodworking guys in your area to see what they would think about it. maybe even a tech at a local music shop would have some ideas. I did find this in a search;
"If the ink has stained the finish then it may have to be sanded and rebuffed. If the instrument is not Martin, Gibson or most USA brands then you can try to use Alcohol and a cotton swab then dry cloth. Definitely try in a small area first to make sure the finish is not real lacquer! The Alcohol is usually the best to remove the ink from a permanent marker"
Before trying any of the methods I suggested, please do some more research. Maybe even call Martin for some assistance. Here is their contact info.
http://www.mguitar.com/contact/
Good Luck! :)
