- 1). Assess the damage before you do anything else. You don't want to do anything that will make the problem worse, so simply take a couple minutes to figure out how much ink is on the hardcover book and what kind of ink it is. Different kinds of ink have different chemistry, so different solvents will remove them.
- 2). Wipe the ink off with a paper towel if the spill is a brand new one. If the paper is clay-based and the ink moist enough, you may even be able to wipe away all of the ink with this one step. If the paper towel doesn't work, and the ink is still moist, try dabbing it away with a cotton swab, applying firm pressure and making small moves.
- 3). Apply a few drops of rubbing alcohol to a cotton swab. (The higher the alcohol content, the better, as the alcohol is diluted with water.) Try wiping the ink away after the alcohol has sunk into the stain. According to a poster at Physics Forums, you need to find a solvent that will affect the ink or its base on the chemical level.
- 4). Attempt different solvents on the hardcover. Acetate, the chemical usually found in nail polish remover, is a good chemical to try. Tom's Hardware advises you to try bleach to dissolve and liquefy the ink, but warns that bleach may also discolor the surrounding paper.
- 5). Trim the ink away. This is a good last resort if the ink is confined to the very ends of the pages. Simply use a file to smooth the ink away or you can even use sandpaper to remove the ink. No matter the method you use, alert any future buyers of what you have done if the book is rare or otherwise valuable.
- 6). Bring the book to a professional conservator for expert attention. According to Period Fine Bindings, conservators will know how best to remove ink from the specific kind of paper and hardcover binding in question. (This is also a good idea if you want to protect the value of the book.)
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