How To Remove Permanent Marker from a Painted Wall
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Removing Sharpie Pen Ink from a Wall
Our two year old daughter decided to express her artistic side by drawing on our living room wall with a Sharpie pen. I originally thought that we were going to have to repaint the area, but we were able to get the stain out due to the quick thinking and expertise of my father-in-law, George.
Here's how we were able to remove the ink:
- First, try to remove the ink as quickly as possible.
- When cleaning a new surface, try a small amount of the cleaner in an inconspicuous spot.
Some paint will probably come off with the ink, so scrub with care.
- Pour a good amount of rubbing alcohol on a washcloth and scrub the area. Our daughter used red ink, so the wall was pink after our first initial pass using the rubbing alcohol.
- Fill a bowl with water and use a sponge with an abrasive side to scrub the remaining color off. You can pour rubbing alcohol on the sponge to remove the final color.
- We tried Comet and OxyClean, but neither product did much good. In case you haven't tried it, Baby Oxy is a miracle stain remover for clothing. I have been able to get out almost everything with it. I wet the stain and generously pour on the Baby Oxy and let it sit for a few hours. For particularly difficult stains, I may need to wash off the powdered Oxy and keep reapplying. It works even when the clothes have been washed and dried with the stain. It is a miracle cleaner for clothes, but doesn't work for the removal of ink from a wall.
Good luck! If you're willing to share, please leave any cleaning advice in the comment box below.
Removing Indelible Marker from a Wall
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Do you have any cleaning tricks up your sleeve?
Nice tip! Normally I will just re-paint the wall but ended up having two tone colors.
Ever tried nail polish remover or vinegar? Both should work.
I've never tried cleaning a marker scribbles, but Mr. Clean is great for any spots or marks on walls, tiles, appliances, etc.
Magic erasers by Mr. Clean I think they are called. These work great on painted surfaces. also 409 original variety is good for colored marker. The paint underneath is always the deciding factor. C.S.
Rubbing alcohol? I never knew that...hmmm...
Another thing that works (but doesn't smell that good) is W-D40. I can't remember if we used it to remove crayon or marker, but it was surprising how well it worked. I've also read that you can use an abrasive toothpaste (not the gel kind, though.)
Thanks for all of your comments and tips! I love the Mr. Clean magic erasers, but I don't think they'd work with a Sharpie. Has anyone tried the erasers with indelible marker? The only big downside of the rubbing alcohol was the smell. We had to open all the windows and stay out of the room for awhile. ;)
@wannabwestern
W-D40. That reminds me of my grandmother. She swore it could fix anything.
OK, who knows, maybe I have an artist in my house. It's funny (not literally) because my 3 year old did this a few days ago. He did it with both a Sharpie (permanent) and Crayola (water-soluble) marker. ALL OVER!
He also did color on his fire engine bed once before when he was 2 and what got that off was the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. I usually use organic cleaners and those are very toxic, so I use gloves when using them, but it got crayon off the groves in the bed.
As far as permanent marker, there's a product called Sol-U-Mel and it's made by Melaleuca. Haven't tried it on the walls yet, but it definitely works like magic on Linoleum floors. My infamous 3 year old (then 2) colored on our kitchen floor with a big fat permanent marker. I put some straight Sol-U-Mel on it (undiluted) and it came right up (no scrubbing). It works great, has no bad smell, and it's pretty much harmless (unless you or family member is allergic to tea tree oil).
Thanks for the advice belief713, where do you buy Sol-U-Mel? It sounds like a great product.
When i was younger we used to have one wall which was allocated for us to draw on as it was soo much more fun than just drawing on paper and when we finished, we could clean it off with just water and cloth!! ...i don't know if it was the type of paint on the walls, or the type of crayons-feltips we used to use that made this possible!
ps..Jules (the budding artist) looks such a cutie:)
Robin, that photo is adoreable! She is smiling and proud of her creation! Thanks for the tips, I have dealt with this many times, with my girls, but never successfully. :)
Oh, permanent markers are the worst. So far, I have only had the pencil, crayons, and ball point pens to worry about.
Beautiful little girl, though. Isn't it hard to chastise them when they smile that way? Thanks for the info.
Great tips, this is something that everyone with kids should know.
Mr clean magic erase does not work
Love it, wish I would have knew this when my son decided to draw on our hotel room wall. Good thing to note, mr. clean erasers work well.
o no!! My little brother just scribbled on a total of 3 walls and 1 window. I couldnt think of anything but to hop on google. Thanks for the tips, I'm going to try them out now,
A grateful teen
great tip!! my daughter used a black dry erase marker on our white walls. i tried regular house cleaner, and nothing worked. but the alcohol took it right off leaving no evidence at all!!! thank you!!
I love the pictures - this was great! Do you by any chance know how to get hair dye out of bathroom grout? I just dyed my hair and got some in the grout and can't get it off. I'll try some of the techniques from this hub just in case they work on hair dye, too.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! it worked great my 2 year old had fun with a black perment maker on my walls and dresser,i tryed every thing and nothing worked till i tried this. i even tried peanut butter i was told about that just makes a mess LOL!!! thanks agin.
This tip worked great! My 4 year old decided to write the letter T on the wall and a rainbow using a Sharpie about 4 months ago. Nothing worked. He recently expanded on his artwork and I found this tip. This method removed the new and the OLD!!! Thank you for sharing!!!
hello there my nanny use to always give me home remidie ideas for things that my kids my try in life and this just so happens to be one of them lol... PEANUT BUTTER is how to get this off any kind of paint it takes alittle rubbing but it comes of no problem just a little dab on a cloth and rub the spot and wahla is gone.. hope this helps as it helped me alot lol
Okay so the rubbing alcohol works on the painted walls..lil bit of paint came off couldn't get it off bookshelve or plastic..gosh i'm so angry about it period..but looks 90% better.
Nice! Thanks for sharing this tip :-)
Nice hubs-Thanks for sharing this tip
Thanks for the tips. My darling twin granddaughters have just finished "decorating" the couch with the able assistance of SuperSpiderMan who is four.
It looks like a good job. No less than 3 types of indelible ink pens were used.
I may have to try all the tips!
This worked great!
Perfect for 2 batchlors who get drunk and draw on the hallways of the appartment, and even themselves....you probably saved us from being kicked out! whew!
I tried your idea of the rubbing alcohol low and behold it worked great!! No left over marks although this was a sharpie black permanent marker. Thanks for the help!!
Thank you for the tip! Does rubbing alcohol work if a child writes on themself with permanent marker as well? I once had a student come up to me after class with marker all over his arms and asked, "What is a Sharpie?" I answered, "Well, a Sharpie is a permanent marker, my friend, and your mother is going to kill you." Hopefully, I can pass this info on if it works on skin as well, it might help my junior high kids stay out of getting grounded...
OMG I thought I was going to have to live with bright red Sharpie on my walls forever!! Thanks so much!! I have so much ink on my walls I ran out of alcohol...thank goodness it's so cheap! I have a 4 and a 5 year old....I'm stocking up!! lol.
Latex paint cleans lots better than regular.
Alcohol cleans from skin just make sure there arent any owies that might come into contact..it will burn
I feel so lucky to have found this! It worked great on my 4 year old's "artwork." Thank you!!!
I have to say that, I was desparate to remove black permanent magic marker from a wall in my hallway after my ex-husband visited with me and my new husband one night and decided to do his artwork on our walls.
I used the alcohol method and it was doing pretty well except I decided to apply it to self adhesive sanitary napkins since they absorb more and unlike the sponge method they do not allow you to lose the alcohol. I just removed the strip on the back of the napkin and folded it so that both adhesive parts touched. I then applied the alcohol and began to scrub till the stain was completely removed. Some of the paint came off but, not so much that you would really notice. If, it does'nt come off completely at first keep at it. I assure you it will come off with some work.
MY 2 YEAR OLD WAS AT MY MOMS ONE DAY AND DECIDED HE WANTED TO BE AN ARTIST, WELL WE SCRUBS THE WALL WITH SOAPY WARM WATER. MOST OF IT CAME OFF BUT THE WALL WAS STILL PINK, HE USED A RED MARKER SO THEN I LOOKED UNDER THE KITCHEN SINK AND TRIED SOME RESOLVE THE FOAM KIND AND LET IT SIT FOR A MINUTE OR 2 AND IT CAME RIGHT OFF. GOOD LUCK
Our triplet girls, 5 years in May 2009, would sometimes write on inappropriate surfaces when 2 and 3 years old, and still occasionally on themselves. The Mr. Clean Magic Eraser worked well on the kitchen cabinets (white linoleum), and usually on the walls. I've found that baby wipes work well on skin and also on walls. Once they understood what we told them about how wall art would disappear, but art on paper wouldn't, with the 2 to 3 minute timeout chair now and then, they pretty much stopped the wall and cabinet art.
my 3 yr old colored on her bedroom walls with a purple marker that was not washable and im renting my house... had no clue what to do. googled and got this page i used the alcohol method and some paint came off but not enough to notice. thank you so much i just saved a fortune!
Thanks for the tips. It may come in handy one day. I have two young boys!
I saw the comment about the Melaleuca stain remover and how it contains tea tree oil. My kid just Sharpied our newly-laid linoleum floor, and tea tree oil did the trick (rubbing alcohol faded it a little, but not much).
My daughter colored on the wall with a BIC Mark IT this morning. I tried your idea of the rubbing alcohol idea and it worked. It took of some of the paint and made it a little sticky for a few minutes but it took the marker right off. Thank you for your help.
Great Tip - I use the magic erasers - I really swear they are magic - I use them for so many things.
Hey our 3 and 1/2 year old Autistic son woke up this morning thinking ok .. mommy's i made you a little something in the kitchen... OMG i about died our new wood cabnets and the draws and the newly laid linoleum and our newly installed stove......omg if i haddnt caught my Breath i'd have Fainted... i mean he didnt just draw -draw he scribbled made circles and dot,dot,dot made lines up and down and then drew lines back to the circles ... i took was very upset, but sence we tried the alcohol it fadded ,but jus a little ...but the cabnets are great .. and the stove and linoleum is still back... i HATE SHARPIES there going in the TRASH..lol so with a time -out and no Morning Sponge bob cartoons he learned that house painting is a Huge NO-NO i think he got this idea cause Patience one day put up a white paper and let him draw on it while on the wall... so maybe he thinks its ok...Thanks guys ..
Hey our 3 and 1/2 year old Autistic son woke up this morning thinking ok .. mommy's i made you a little something in the kitchen... OMG i about died our new wood cabnets and the draws and the newly laid linoleum and our newly installed stove......omg if i haddnt caught my Breath i'd have Fainted... i mean he didnt just draw -draw he scribbled made circles and dot,dot,dot made lines up and down and then drew lines back to the circles ... i took was very upset, but sence we tried the alcohol it fadded ,but jus a little ...but the cabnets are great .. and the stove and linoleum is still back... i HATE SHARPIES there going in the TRASH..lol so with a time -out and no Morning Sponge bob cartoons he learned that house painting is a Huge NO-NO i think he got this idea cause Patience one day put up a white paper and let him draw on it while on the wall... so maybe he thinks its ok...Thanks guys ..
If you have some Jif, it works wonders! I had a black Sharpie mark on a wall, and within seconds of light scrubbing with the Jif it is all gone and I can't even see where it once was.
We have Jif in Australia, but if you don't have it, it is simply a mild abrasive cream cleaner.
Nice advice for removing stains from walls. I would certainly follow your advice.
Paul Edmondson says:
17 months ago
The final picture still shows a bit of pink on the wall, but it's almost impossible to tell that she drew on it now. I was pretty sure we would have to repaint, since it was done with an indelible marker, but the rubbing alcohol did the trick.