I've used hairspray with good success before :)

If the clothes were in the dryer, the odds of getting the ink out of probably about zero. Ink is near impossible to get out precisely be of the fact that it's ink.

Same with the dryer. But in the dryer, I'd try milk and vinegar. Obviously can also try them on the clothes. Then wash everything.

I would try a variety of solvents and see if any worked - isopropyl alcohol, fingernail polish, mineral spirits. Pour some on a cloth, rub the area and see if any of the mark comes off on the cotton. If one of them works, use that one.

Soak in a bottle of hand sanitizer and milk mix. Thick and gooey on all the ink spots...probably all over. I also added a bit of dr Bronners soap for good measure. Probably the sanitizer was the 'worker' as it has alcohol but the thickener keeps it gooey and concentrated on the spots/areas. I soaked all day and forgot about it. Not sure how long is needed. Did not experiment a la myth busters...

Not sure about the dryer itself. I would first try bar keepers paste and let it sit a bit, then rub with a magic eraser?...

Alcohol will remove the ink from the dryer. I soaked a brand new pair of khaki shorts covered with ink in oxyclean for several days. Every bit of the ink came out.

I just googled it and there is lots of info....here is a youtube video using nail polish remover in dryer...I'm sure there are lots of hints on removing from clothes as well.

Here is a link that might be useful: Youtube removing ink from dyer

Not sure, but I think I have used 'GooGone' or 'Goof Off' successfully on gunk in the dryer, including some ink that 'escaped'.

This post was edited by outsideplaying on Tue, May 20, 14 at 13:55

I wet some old towels in a strong bleach/water mix (probably 4 cups of bleach in a small mop bucket), wrung them out a just a bit, and put the fairly wet towels in the inked dryer for 60+ minutes. This removed about 90% of the ink. I ran the towels through a regular wash and dry cycle and that took care of the rest.

Good luck! My dryer was only 3 months old when DH 'helpfully' washed some of his work clothes, including a blue ink pen :( but the wet bleach soaked towels worked better for me than alcohol, magic eraser, etc.

Try 100% Acetone nail polish remover. Also try Barkeepers Friend.

Acetone is highly flammable, but evaporates quickly. Use adequate ventilation and turn off pilot lights.

Thank you all so much! Passed all of these suggestions on to her. Hopefully she will have some success!

The alcohol is why hair spray works on many (but not all) inks. But it evaporates very quickly, so it can be hard to get enough to remove rather than spread the ink. The hand sanitizer is the same principle -- never tried it and not sure if I would have thought of it, but great idea to keep in mind for the future.

I would experiment with different solvents in the dryer to see what works on the ink before trying the clothing since you are more likely to do damage on the fabric and dyes in the clothing than a metal drum -- but do be careful to avoid any rubber or plastic parts as much as possible -- just in case. If some of them have ink, work on them after knowing what works and tread lightly. Same with the fabric. The dryer drum isn't as porous as the fabric, so the fabric could be more difficult to remove the ink without damage.

Do carefully clean the dryer and let any solvent completely evaporate or be washed off before running the dryer. GooGone, Acetone and alcohol are all flammable.

Mine was a red crayon in a load of whites. Got it out of everything but the white socks. The knitted texture of socks makes them so much harder to get everything out.