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.
Hard Surfaces – Dry Erase Marker and wipe off with a towel. If it’s stained paint, or if a shadow remains, try oxy clean in a bucket with water and a rag. WD-40 works, but if you’re using it on a surface that’s covering say MDF or chip board, be careful not to get ANY into the cracks as it will cause the wood to expand and make your tiny crack into a giant bubble.
Soft Surfaces – Xylene will work for carpet, but either dilute it or use sparingly. Oxy works as well. Rubbing Alcohol will work for most cloth stains.
Your Kid – A bath and a little humiliation for a while! That’ll teach him/her to get mucked up before having to go to school the next day!
Outdoor Saddle Soap works good on leathers.Just apply and rub off, may need to do this a couple of times but i found it works good.
thanks for your tips – here is one to help you and your red kool aid stains – trust me it works… take 50/50 sol. of water and amonia… pour on stain and let sit a few min. then take dry white towel… place on top of soaked stain, then place an warm iron on top and steam it out… ****stay with the iron and monitor it – lets not have any fires here…**** the way it works the steam and chemicals draw stain up on to the clean towel… it works – follow it up with a good carpet cleaning…
This maybe a ‘duh’, but I got some black permanent Sharpie marks on my eyeglasses, and rubbing alcohol dealt with them, no problem.
My 3 yr. old drew on our new washer and dryer with a red perm. marker…it’s a front loader and has glass/plastic kinda in the front I can’t find anything to remove it! Any suggestions?
*AP*
used Oreilly brake parts cleaner non-chlorinated
contains
Methanol 67-56-1,Ttolune 108-83-3
to erase permanet marker letters, on plastic cooler top, only
Worked great………….
How do you get a perm marker spot off of the console in a car?
hey guys i need an advise regarding this topic. I beleive this guide is very useful however, my problem is, my son actually made his room a freedom wall. every corner of the 4-wall room is vandalized with permanent marker. how will i be able to remove those marker stains
I found a product at Lowe’s called Foley’s spot remover….It actually took melted crayon off the fabric on the back seat of my car…grey/blue fabric..neon pink crayon…not a hint of it left,
I followed the directions on the bottle, and I think I had to do it 2 or 3 times, but it left no hint that the crayon had ever been there. I have become a Foley’s fan for any kind of stain…only perm marker has defeated it!
My legally blind father accidently got a 2 inch mark of thick black permant marker at center eye point on my living room wall. PLEASE HELP! I thank you in advance…
How do I get permanent marker off of vynil cones(traffic). I have dried alcohol, and several other things but it will not work.
My two year old son drew all over our walls, carpet, and projection tv (the screen) and obv. himself with permanent marker!!! i have tried Oxy, and rubbing alcohol, and that’s not working any other sugg.??
oh and I also tried Acetone and that def. DID NOT WORK!!!
i tried the anti bacterial hand gel to remove the sharpie, he had it on the wall and the door, it worked great took all of the sharpie out…. thanks…
To remove permanent marker on smooth non-porous surfaces, scribble over it with a dry eraser marker and wipe off normally with paper towel.
Just had a ‘Sharpee emergency’. Tried bleach and cooking oil to no avail. But, acetone did the trick in less than 5 seconds. Thanks all!!
Got a catface drawn on me today, I used Clean & Clear Spot reducer on a cotton wool bud, was abit of a sting but came off without too much effort
i need help my son took sharpie to my sofa what do i do
Just took permanent marker out of a micro-fibre sofa with Hand Sanitizer. The isopropyl alcohol in it is the active ingredient for removing the stain. Because it’s in gel form, it was much easier to use.
Anti-Bacterial hand gel worked wonders to get the permanent marker off a white board.