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.
Thank you Thank you Thank you….now THIS is good info!
I’ve recently discovered silver permanent Sharpie marks in some of Snuggle Bug’s board books. I think I’ll try the nail polish remover to see if I can get them off. Thanks for the tips!
Thanks also for your comment on my WFMW (alternate use for a pot rack) post. As always, I appreciate you stopping by!
i’m going to try that next time! thanks!
I knew about some of those, but not others. It’s always good to have more things like this in one’s repertoire! If one thing doesn’t work, another might. Thanks!
Great list. They should market it with permanent markers.
Thanks for the tips! Wordless photo to funny! Thanks for stopping by.
Baby wipes work surprisingly well, too!
Thanks for stopping by my WFMW on the One Weigh blog and my foodie blog!!! The link above is actually my main blog (yes, I blog in three places… LOL)
Thanks for the great tips!!!
Wow – WD40? I’ve never heard that being used before as a stain remover.
I must print this list out and keep it handy for future reference!
Any tips for getting crayon off of the red footstool? It’s a cloth footstool. I’m afraid anything I use will result in dying the red.