Help with an Ink Spillage

[WannabeNigella]

DH spilt black printer ink on my cream carpet. (I have filed for divorce).

I scraped most of it off and have since spent days (literally) scrubbing it with Vanish Superfoam and Carpet Power and also tried Nail Varnish Remover, and we even hired the RugDoctor! It is now a patch slightly smaller than the palm of my hand, but Magenta!! Can anyone help me with a top tip on getting it out? I am guessing not but Mumsnet was my last resort.

We have the house up for sale so I really don't want to buy a new carpet and our insurance excess is too high to justify claiming but I really don't want any potential viewers to see it. Have even considered dabbing cream paint to at least hide it but know this won't really work.

Help!

A nice rug?

It's about 4 inches in from skirting board and right by door opening so a rug won't work unfortunately, which also means when you open the door it is slap bang in your eye line. I could seriously kill him!

What is carpet made of? Wool? Polypropalene? a mixture?

Think it's 80 or 90% wool.

OK, I think that is harder than if it was 10% synthetic.

You could try
Hand sanitiser - dab and blot
WD 40 - dab and blot
surgical spirit (from chemist) - dab and blot

What I would do is select one of the above and test it first on an inconspicuous area of carpet ( or ideally a spare piece) to check it doesn't take the colour out. If OK, put a small amount onto a piece of kitchen paper and dab carefully at edge of stain. Then blot with clean kitchen paper. If it is removing stain, continue with chosen product, if not, select another to try!

If none of the above work, you could try mixing up a solution of colour run remover ( but do test for colourfastness first) and dabbing and blotting with this.

Final solution would be a very weak solution of Milton sterilising fluid, but this is likely to remove colour of carpet so, do test first. It may be that a slightly paler area is less obvious than a magenta one! Again dab and blot rather than scrub!

Oh educatingarti you are an absolute star! I will attempt this tomorrow and report back.

Thank you!!!

OK, I hope you get it sorted!

Looking into a household manual I have, it says chlorine bleaches should not be used on wool as they can damage the fibres, so that would rule out the Milton solution. (unless of course you aren't that bothered/are desperate, in which case do test on a spare piece of carpet first!)

Have you tried emailing the printer ink manufacturer also? My friend contacted manufacturers when her dd and 2 playmates spread sudocreme over the bedroom carpet and they were very helpful!

Quick update. Tried all of the above and the Milton has done a great job of getting rid of the pink, although it has changed the carpet to a yellowed cream but I can live with that. The only thing I need to have another go at is the dark mark that is around the stain that I think is from the original black ink spill which is more noticeable now the magenta is almost gone.

Thanks again for all your help.