catastrophic ink spillage in the Prius

This morning I noticed that a blue ink marker had emptied its contents all over the inside of my backpack, which normally sits in the backseat during my commute to work. Because the ink had leaked entirely through the backpack, I wound up with some serious blue ink smudged on the backseat and front passenger seat (I have the gray interior on my silver '04).

Needless to say I was panicked as the vehicle is only 2 months old. As I park in a far lot about a 5 minute walk from my building, I do not have access to water or anything like that, so I returned quickly with a big pile of paper towels and some solvents from my lab - methanol and acetone. I had NOT previously treated my seats with any product, and there was no after-market dealer Scotch-guard or anything. I applied a very small amount of acetone to the paper towel, not to the seat, and gently rubbed on the underside of the backseat (a nice hidden place) The material was absolutely no worse of wear, so having proved color-fastness, I moved to the stain. Again, a small amount of acetone on the paper towel and a bit of circular rubbing on the ink and PRESTO! The ink came right off!!! Absolutely amazing! The fabric didn't even wet really. I just brushed it very smooth with my hand afterward and you could literally not tell where the ink had been. This worked on both the darker gray parts of the seat and the lighter/whiter parts of the fabric.

I know a lot of you will say something like how bad acetone is for the chemical they have treated the fabric with, but I tell you I can see NO difference between the areas I worked on and the rest of the seat. I will of course keep an eye on these ares in the future, but my immediate impression is that that fabric and its stain guard is a MIRACLE!! I was so relieved.

I cannot comment on whether the acetone was even necessary. It is entirely possible that the stain-guard is so good that just water and a towel would have taken up the ink. I don't know, but it is possible. As I said I didn't have access to soapy water or a cleaner. It may have worked just as well.

At any rate, these seats are amazing. What a joy to own this car!

 

I wish I had known about the ethyl alcohol earlier. That would have alleviated a lot of my fears about using the acetone and it would have been my preferred choice (being a bit "milder" than acetone). But thank you all the same, next time I will know just how to react and get it clean! Also, the tip about not letting it dry is excellent advice and was just what I was thinking as well. i didn't want to wait until the end of the work day and let it set in.

I am sure the Canadian seats are the same Alcantara as is used in the US. I couldn't be happier.