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A Target bag was left on my counter and the ink from the bag transferred on to it. My counter tops are painted laminate sealed with Polycrylic. How do I get the ink off without completely destroying the counter?

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    Do you have any idea what contributed to/enabled the transfer? Things such as a liquid that was left on the counter, heat (perhaps the sun shone through a window onto that spot), pressure (the bag sat with items inside it), etc? It might be possible to use the same mechanism to transfer the ink back off the counter. Also, keep the bag around. If it becomes necessary to find a solvent that dissolves the ink, tests could be done on the bag.
    – Greg Hill
    Feb 13, 2022 at 4:29
  • Did the bag happen to have rubbing or drinking alcohol on its exterior?
    – End Anti-Semitic Hate
    Feb 13, 2022 at 5:02
  • Related.
    – FreeMan
    Feb 13, 2022 at 20:25

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Printing can easily lift off under dry conditions, much like laser print stuff from paper onto plastic. Use isopropyl alcohol, but carefully. Have 2 cloths handy plus a dry towel. One cloth is wet with water to deactivate excess alcohol. The other is used to apply the alcohol and wipe away the ink. Pour some alcohol onto the wiping rag and wipe lightly and quickly to remove some of the ink. Then immediately wipe with the wet cloth to dilute and deactivate the surface alcohol. After the water wash, use the towel to dry the countertop. You are trying to remove the ink with the alcohol without harming the Polyarylic surface. Repeat as needed. If you want, you could use a 70 percent alcohol.

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    laser printer "ink" isn't ink, it's toner, which is a fused polymer coating on a iron substrate. It shouldn't bleed like inkjet or mimeograph transfers, tending to stick together, which is why it's good for making glossy paper toner-transfer PCBs at home.
    – dandavis
    Feb 13, 2022 at 20:40
  • How much alcohol are you putting on that it needs to be neutralized with water then wiped dry? Alcohol evaporates so quickly that I've never had more than the slightest sheen for a brief moment after wiping something down with an alcohol soaked rag.
    – FreeMan
    Feb 14, 2022 at 14:44

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