How to Remove Ink From Textbooks

An accidental scribble on a textbook can make it blacklisted from the buy-back line at the bookstore at the end of the semester. Though ink is not erasable, there are methods available to completely remove ink from textbooks. Be careful, though, because the method described below will remove all ink from the page. Therefore, it is essential to be precise and remove only the scribble and not the valuable text.

Arrange clean, dry paper towels on a flat surface. Open the textbook to the page with the ink to be removed and place the textbook over the paper towels.

Dip a cotton swab in acetone. Acetone is the active ingredient in nail polish and paint removers. Pure acetone can be purchased at many drug stores and hardware stores.

Dab the ink mark that you want to remove with the cotton swab dipped in acetone. Discard the cotton swab after dabbing it on the ink mark once.

Repeat steps 2 and 3 until the ink has been removed from the textbook. Allow the textbook to dry and discard the cotton swabs and paper towels.