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If you've ever been elected as the lucky individual to change the toner in the Brother copier at work (usually on the day you when you decided to wear that crisp white shirt and freshly dry-cleaned khaki's), you know that unless you're wearing a hazmat suit, you'll probably end up with some toner-change induced battle stains. Usually, this would mean throwing out the item and going shopping, with a chip on your shoulder all because of the stupid copy machine and its Brother Toner needs.
But next time you find yourself in that boat, just refer to the handy guide here to help you treat the stain and salvage your stained item of clothing.
Brother toner is so hard to get out of clothes because of the special powder it's made of, that contains a highly concentrated amount of pigments and dyes. Toner melts when heated, thus causing it bond firmly to paper in the printing process. When toner comes in contact with clothing it doesn't form an indelible bond right away, you have a window to treat it and salvage your item of affected clothing.
Here are 5 steps to treat Brother Toner stains in clothing yourself:
1) Remove the article of clothing as soon as possible and shake it out. The sooner you attend to the stain, less time the stain has to settle into the fibers of the item. Shake it to get as much loose toner out as possible.
2) Use a Vacuum with an attachment to vacuum out loose particles out of the clothing. The more Brother toner you can get out without water, the less likely the stain will be to set.
3) Fill the sink basin will cold water and immerse the item. Work up the item to try to get more toner out. Drain the sink and run more cold water over the item, trying again to get more Brother toner out.
4) Wash the item in a washing machine on the cold water setting with mild detergent only.
5) Air-dry the article in the shade or indoors. You're air drying primarily because if there's any toner left, the heat from the dryer will set the stain. This will make it much harder or down-right impossible to remove.
More Tips and Warnings:
Avoid touching the toner with your hands when removing the stained article of clothing. This prevents toner particles from accidentally being spread.
If you get Brother toner on your clothing, shake out the article outdoors. This avoids the Brother Toner particles landing on other easily stained items like carpet, furniture upholstery, and other items of clothing.
DO NOT use warm or hot water when washing the item, as it will set the stain.
If the item is dry-clean only, inform your cleaners that toner was spilled before they dry-clean it. They may also need to know what kind of toner was spilled on it to ensure proper treatment based on the makeup of the toner.