Lil’ Duck and his friends have found the Sharpie permanent markers on occasion and boy can those make a mess! Thankfully, it can be removed, although I still need to work on the carpet. With this list, be careful as to the surface, as some of these things will ruin certain surfaces. I’d suggest spot-testing and using common sense (i.e. not putting bleach on carpet, not using chemicals on skin, etc. 
). Now if only I could get red koolaid out of carpet…
- Mr. Clean Magic Eraser
(also works for crayons, but don’t use it on skin, of course)
- WD-40
- Anti-bacterial hand gel
- Hairspray
- Cooking spray
- Nail polish remover
- Bleach (depending on the surface)
- Goof Off
*Updated to add other suggestions….
Eagles Wings suggested acetone for taking sharpies right off of plastic or hard surfaces (keep away from children, of course).
Renee said that rubbing alcohol will also remove permanent markers from smooth surfaces.
Mz Jay had an incident where:
My daughter got her hands on a thick black permanent marker(sharpie) she drew on paper but quite alot of it got on the kitchen table that has a wood finish on top. I used toothpaste and a toothbrush and it removed all the marker on the table! I let the toothpaste sit on all the marks for about 5 minutes and got an old toothbrush and scrubbed away! My table does not have any marker left on it, and the best part is that the toothpaste did not ruin my wood table or the finish thats on it. I would suggest using the white toothpaste rather than the gel types that are on the market.
Works for me Wednesday sounds great! thanks so much for the tips and I am off to find some more!
THANKS FOR THE TIP! I am soooo sure I will be needing it sooner then later! Now red koolaid, if I find out something I will let yah know!!!
In this house, nothing can escape the wrath of the Magic Eraser! That product was a godsend to my human pet who manages to get something semi-permanent onto something else every single day.
Never heard of goof-off. Hmm
I have some red crayon stains or SOMETHING on my sons carpet. Little streaks… The carpet shampooer didn’t get it out. I have no idea what it is but wish I could get it up.
good to know- we’ve got a fetish for sharpies around here. ya know, they make invisible (clear) kool aid now. it’s about time!
Thanks for all those great suggestions…
anything for pee pee in carpet??? we had a mess at our house this morning…still nothing as big as yours the other day….
Hey also Acetone will take sharpies right off of plastic or hard surfaces. I used to use that when I worked in a photo lab for taking sharpies off of negatives….
Blessings
EaglesWings
Will any of these take Sharpee off the skin of a 13-y/o pretending she has a tatoo?
We are in a lease house–moving out in one month. Little Darlin’ has never written on the walls–I thought my teaching was SOOOO good–until two days ago. He got one of the markers we’re using for marking boxes and practiced making 4′s on the nice white wall in the big boys room. I’m happy to report he’s still alive after the incident. :0)
Carol–you’re a kick!
I have been wondering about the Mr Clean Eraser….thanks!
Cooking spray! Who would have thought?! Thanks for the great tip!