There are a variety of situations that can cause you to curse your ruined manicure. Changing your printer's ink cartridge, an exploding ink pen or working with a permanent marker are just a few examples of ways you can find yourself with ink on your fingernails that you just cannot get off. Luckily, you can clean ink off of your fingernails using household products that you probably already have in your home.
Begin by washing your hands with soap and water. Any soap that you have around the house will do for this step. At this stage, you are trying to eliminate as much of the ink as possible before moving on to other solutions.
Wash your hands again using a bar of black soap. Black soap is made with ground pumice, which has exfoliating properties. Using black soap will help slough off the ink on your fingernails.
Rub toothpaste on your ink-stained fingernails. Leave it on for a minute or so, and then start scrubbing your fingernails with a fingernail brush. Toothpaste is also an abrasive cleaner that will act to exfoliate your fingernails.
Apply hair spray to your fingernails on the areas that are ink-stained and let it sit for about 10 seconds. Wash it away with soap and water.
Wash your hands with a solution that contains one part bleach to 10 parts water. If your hands feel dry afterward, use a moisturizing lotion.
Use a cotton swab to scrub your fingernails with nail polish remover.