Inky Hands: Private Reserve Ink Zero, Luxury Professional Hand Ink Remover

The Tuesday confessional is now open and I hope y’all will gather round and listen. I was the kid who never wanted to play in the dirt, or get in the sandbox, or finger paint because I didn’t like to get dirty. While I’ve relaxed a bit over the years, I still don’t love it. So getting ink stained hands isn’t my favorite past time, but it does happen quite a bit these days. Ana truly loves me – when she came home from the San Francisco Pen Show she brought a jar of Private Reserve Ink Zero (4 oz for $23) for me to try.

A blue jar with a silver cap reads Private Ink Reserve Zero Luxury Professional Ink Remover

As today was pen cleaning day, I decided to give it a whirl. First I needed to clean out two pens, both of which had pink inks. I find pink/red inks don’t stain as much as some of the other colors, so I decided to test an ink that I knew would give us a graphic demonstration. We all have that bottle of ink. You know the one – the one that spilled once and no matter how much you’ve cleaned the bottle, it still stains your hands every time you open it. The ink that is a GORGEOUS color that you can’t get enough of, but also can’t stop wearing. For me, that ink is Papier Plume Ivy Green.

A white hand holds two fountain pens (one coral pink, one clear and white with rose gold accents) and a jar of green ink over a sink.

A hand holds a pen under water, with a bit of bright pink ink flowing from the nib.

Since we were going for obvious, I just went ahead and dunked my fingers in the ink. Why not go for broke eh? I let the ink sit for a minute or two on my fingers before I couldn’t stand it and had to clean it off.

An open hand where the first three fingers are covered in a rich grassy green ink.

First up, I did a quick was with regular handsoap and warm water.

An open hand, with fairly obviously green ink stained fingers.

That took the stain to a dull roar, but then I gave the Zero a try. Zero is a white-ish formula made with a variety of alcohols and other ingredients. There is a full list on the package, and it touts itself as a “luxury professional hand ink remover with 100% natural silica microspheres.” I don’t know what that is. What I do know is that it’s gritty, like an exfoliant or a sugar scrub.

A blue jar filled with white hand cream.

The instructions say to apply a bit of it to the ink stains on dry hands and rub gently. Then add just a bit of water and keep scrubbing. Rinse if necessary, and repeat. (I only had one go at it this time). There is a subtle smell – it doesn’t seem like an added fragrance, but more likely the ingredients themselves. It is mild, smells fresh, and fades fairly quickly after a rinse.

Green stained ink fingers are covered in a white gritty ink stain remover.

The results are pretty darn good. I can still see a faint hint of the ink, but I’m pretty sure that will be gone by the time I do dishes tonight. The package does note that the formula may work slightly different depending on the exact ink formulation.

Three fingers, previously ink stained, are now all clean. There is a very faint hint of green on one finger.

Overall, I’m pretty pleased with Private Reserve Ink Zero. It’s not inexpensive, so I’d probably save it for those really troublesome ink stains – the ones in deep colors that refuse to let up. Many inks can be removed fairly well with just water and soap alone, so I’d be inclined to try that first. But for someone who doesn’t love ink-stained hands, keeping a jar of this on hand is a great idea!

DISCLAIMER: Thanks to Yafa Brands for providing the Private Reserve Ink Zero free of charge for the purposes of this review. Please see the About page for more details.