8 ways to remove permanent marker stains
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.
Never use Magic Eraser on skin! It can cause severe chemical burns. Otherwise, these are great tips! Thanks!
2 year old, red permanant marker, and my off white couch…..HELP!!! I have no idea where to even begin…anyone?
All I have to say is OXY CLEAN!! Any stain any time, any where! You can get the spray..but the powder is much more versitile. My mother used it to take red wine out of my wedding dress!! Also off the white carpet..I now have 2 kids (third on the way:) And oxy clean has saved countless of cloths and house hold items!!
My 10 yr old and her friend decided they wanted to learn how to play the piano so they took a yellow dry erase marker to the keys and labeled away. Its a $5,000 piano and I really really would love to get it off the keys before my hubby sees it. HELP!
Permanent Marker will come off of your TV screen & other smooth surfaces with good ole Coca Cola (not Pepsi)……..fast & cheap!
how do u you remove sharpie from the bottom of a desk at school….i was stupid and wrote my enishals.Teacher told me to figure it out or i get i 5 point infraction….=(
THANKS FOR THE INFO!! I bought a ornament for my in-laws and left the permanent marker for personalizing on the table (for like one second! I swear)..THEN My three year old decided to draw happy faces and her name on Rudolf’s eyes..Nice touch- but not exactly where I wanted to personalize the ornament..
SO the hairspray worked wonders and now my daughter was able to draw a happy face on the card…THANKS A MILLION!
How about black permanent marker on a Faux leather tan chair.. I could sure use some help with this one. WD 40 faded the marker but did not take it out. I tell yah DO NOT leave a 2 year old out of your sight for even a second!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Please help anyone!!!!!!!
We also tried alcohol, and hair spray but to no avail.
A couple of weeks ago, we allowed our 10 year old daughter to have a ‘friend’ spend the night. I normally keep my Sharpies under lock and key, but the friend managed to find one of the large ones. By the time she left, we had new (black ink) faces on three 20″ stuffed animals (a Pooh and 2 Care Bears), the bookcase, a chair, and several other items. I was able to get the permanent black marker out of everything EXCEPT the stuffed animals. Does anyone have a clue how to get the permanet ink out? Or are these animals doomed to become dog toys? PLEASE – I need help.
Use the cheapest white toothpaste you can buy, it takes a lot of toothpaste to get the permanent marker off of white painted furniture, but it really does work. Apply and wipe off, continue until the stain is gone, remember to always use a clean part of the cloth each time you apply and wipe off the toothpaste.
Please help us….my daughters Wedding Dress has a marker stain on the front and was wondering how to remove it…$795.00 down the drain if we can’t….thanks
How do you remove permannt marker from concrete walls as i need it off as soon as possible thanks if my mums see’s the garage walls she wont let me in the house again…really
My son’s red felt-tip marker had left several spots on his comforter. He had washed and dried it before I tried using Spot Shot Carpet Stain remover. The Spot Shot removed all the marker stains when I applied it then washed the comforter again. Note – the stains did not disappear until after I had laundered it. Worked like a charm!
Blue marker on the little thin plastic strip that goes completely around the outside edge of the tile of one those white tile and wood kitchen tables -
Bought the kitchen set second-hand and the 18-month-old decorated the table the night before we could get there to pick it up.
Tried hairspray, acetone, googone, alcohol, peroxide, toothpaste, Gojo,
and covering it with whiteout. Nothing worked. Any ideas ? Thanx 4 the help ! l
thank you so much. my son got ahold of a sharpie and went crazy on the coffee table, the walls, the floor, the furniture, everywhere. i got everything off except for the seats of my chairs which are microfiber. but hairspray and mr clean majic erasers worked wonders thanks to you you can barely see a mark. P.S. “Simple Green” also worked great on the walls. THANKS AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!
The door of my home was written on with a black sharpie marker. also the counter tops of my home were damaged. I hope this works. Thanks for the sugestions!!!!
THANK YOU SO MUCH! SOME1 WOULDVE GROUNDED ME IF I HADENT LOOKED HERE! U R A LIFE SAVER!
My son left a drawing with a green permanent Sharpie marker on our stone fireplace! Any suggestions for getting it out?
I just now accidentally made a mark with permanent marker on my husband’s family heirloom wood table that his grandfather made. YIKES! I quickly googled “permanenet marker wooden table” and came to this site. I didn’t have any of the products lying around, but I did have toothpaste. I rubbed a little on the table with my finger and after a bit, the mark disappeared! Thanks! This is good news since I already messed up his Mom’s old desk by watering a plant on it.
If the stain is a year old and you’ve used a dryer to dry the towel for the past year, it’s almost impossible to get any stain out. Might as well use it house cleaning or something. I use such rags and old t shirts to clean kitchen floors…wet it and ring the water out, and hook it up on one of those cheap swiffer things and use it with some floor cleaners. Then put it in a bleach mixed water and use it again.
-Nick Maceus
I have been told that Murphy’s Oil Soap will get dry-erase ink out of fabric but I have not tried this myself, although I must admit it seems somewhat odd.
-Nick D. Maceus
My daughter found a blue sharpie and was writing on some paper. Her hand slipped and she wrote om my mom’s new wood coffee table. The toothpaste took it right off. Thanks so much we didn’t know what to do….the things you can find on the internet…amazing!! Carrie
good ideas but how do one remove permanant markers from paper
Littlest pet shop markers box says caution may stain 2 year old scribbled all over light beige colored carpet with the red marker we rent please help me
stain is soaking in shout at the moment
so my daughter used permanant marker on the carpet, and this is probably a guy solution, but you might try to use brake cleaner(it works really well). You just got to hit it with in the first 12 hours or soafter the marker has been layed down.
My son asked me to see if I could find out how to remove Sharpie (red and black permanent) from his white Les Paul Studio guitar.The 8 ways were tried with no result and then I read about Deep Woods Off wipes. Worked great!
permanent marker on a vinyl colored tent.. The axe body spray seems to be working well.. Phew!
I always keep a small can of lighter fluid around and try it first to remove perminate marker before trying other methods because it often works.
If you ever get Sharpie on a dry erase board, just write over where it is with a dry erase marker, and erase. Takes it right out.
If you use permanenet marker on a whiteboard by accident, just write over it with a white board marker and then erase. It may take a few tries depending on how long the marks have been on the whiteboard. After several years of being stained though, this may not work.
My kids were messing around with the dreaded sharpie and got a huge mark on the bro in law with no kids’ sofa. I used the hairspray and it came off with out him even knowing about it. Thank You SO SO very much for the hints!!
what about removing permenent marker on bur bur carpet
My daughter drew with sharpie on the lid of my white Apple Macbook, and I left the marks on it for about 6 months. I did some research and found out that the Macbook shell is polycarbonate plastic… So, I spread some toothpaste (Sensodyne, Fresh Mint to be exact) on top of the sharpie marks, let it sit for 30 seconds, then scrubbed it and it completely disappeared! Good as new
Orange glo wood cleaner and polish will wipe permanant marker right off of wood surfaces…no need to scrub with toothpaste
I have read the reviews but do not see anything addressing removing ink (indelible) from vinyl and leather. Anyone have any suggestions?
Murphy’s Oil Soap almost completely removed sharpie from my cream velvet bench. The stain had been there for over two years.
how to remove marker stains from tv screen
???
We had our 2 year old son write with a mega green sharpie on our wooden computer table.
Mr Clean Magic Eraser took it out! WHEW!
Mr. Clean Magic Eraser = awesomeness!
I drive a school bus and have a real problem taking marker writings off of the back of vinyl seats. Am going to try magic eraser. Any other ideas?
My 2 year old was ‘coloring’ and i found out it was permanent black sharpie on our new vinyl ottoman. I spread margarine on the stained spots and let it sit about 5 minutes and used dry paper towel to wipe it off!!! worked great and shined up the vinyl nice too… lol
how do you remove black sharpie permanent marker off a motorcycle gas tank and plastic fairings? didnt help at all with the scratches i was trying to fix
Sooo… my wonderful 3yr old has a thing with permanent markers…. she just recently was in the back seat of her fathers NEW truck and colored all over the back of the drivers seat… and then today she colored all over the back of my new couch… don’t know were she keeps getting the markers, i need help in getting this stuff out! I’m trying hair spray right now… but not sure on how to do it. PLEASE HELP!
My 3 year old scribbled all over our $3k flat screen TV! After a little panic, I sprayed Windex on the screen, let it sit for about 2 minutes and it wiped right off. Whew! (The manufacturers suggest NOT using glass cleaner on these screens but I took a gamble and it worked without clouding the screen).
My 2 year old marker on my bedroom door with sharpie permanent marker I need to get it off tryed harispray, toothpaste, hand gel, windex, cooking spray, and awesome cleaner help before my husband gets home he will be mad we just bought this house.
I need to remove red permanent marker from my apartment carpet
My four year old Daughter had fun with the sharpie pen on the dining room table, I tried the
toothpaste tip and it took it off, they was alot on there, so make sure you cake it on and then wait
about 5 min and then wipe it off with dry cloth and keep going over it and it takes take it off. Make sure its bleach kind not Gel one. At least my table is smelling minty fresh now LOL
My 4 year old colored on my father’s tan leather (real leather) chair with black permanent marker- I tried leather cleaner, but it didn’t do a thing! I am hesitant to use any cleaners that might ruin the leather- please help!
I found that cooking oil worked the best out of all the options!