Is there a remover for sharpie?

i have accidentally marked plastic with a black sharpie permanent
marker… is there a way to get it off without harming the finish of
the plastic?..with minimally harming the plastic?

as always, thank you for your help.
jean adkins

Hi Jean,

You don’t say what type of “plastic”, but I would try denatured
alcohol on a soft cloth. If the “plastic” is porous, you may be out
of luck. Steer clear of acetone…

Wayne

i have accidentally marked plastic with a black sharpie permanent
marker.. is there a way to get it off without harming the finish
of the plastic?...with minimally harming the plastic? 

Try the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. I have used it even on fine dyed
leather to remove Sharpie and it worked marvellously well. :slight_smile:

Cheers,
Kieran

I use alcohol swabs from my diabetic testing kit.

john

Jean,

Try isopropyl alcohol. It’s regular off the shelf product as a
dilute solution of alcohol and water. This should be enough to remove
the Sharpie. It contains a 60 - 70% water to alcohol mixture which
should be enough to remove the Sharpie but not hurt the plastic.

Another good solvent is 140 proof Grain Alcohol or pure ethanol
which you can purchase in some liquor stores. I didn’t know they sold
this in stores, but it actually works very well. It’s flammable, so
be careful.

The following is from Wikipedia which is a great source for
research.

Neutral grain spirit (also called pure grain alcohol [PGA], or grain
neutral spirit [GNS]) is a clear, colorless, flammable liquid that is
distilled from cereal grain and has a very high ethanol content. The
term neutral refers to the fact that it lacks any flavor derived from
the mash used to distill it, nor does it have any flavor added to it
after distillation (as is done, for example, with gin). The grain
from which it is produced can be any of the common cereal grains.
Other kinds of spirits, such as whisky, are distilled at lower
alcohol percentages in order to preserve the flavor of the mash.

Denatured alcohol is ethanol which has been rendered toxic or
otherwise undrinkable, and in some cases dyed. It is used for
purposes such as fuel for spirit burners and camping stoves, and as a
solvent. Traditionally, the main additive was 10% methanol, which
gave rise to methylated spirit. There are diverse industrial uses for
ethanol, and therefore literally hundreds of recipes for denaturing
ethanol. Typical additives are methanol, isopropyl alcohol, acetone,
methyl ethyl ketone, methyl isobutyl ketone, denatonium,[1] and even
(uncommonly) aviation gasoline.

In the phrase denatured alcohol, denatured means “a specific
property of ethanol, its usefulness as a beverage, is removed”. The
ethanol molecule is not denatured in the sense that its chemical
structure is altered.

karen christians

You should be able to find Goo Gone or some similar citrus based
product at a hardware store or in a paint store.

Bill, Deborah, Michele & Sharon
Reactive Metals Studio, Inc

I have used w-d 40 to success.

Karen Bahr - Karen’s Artworx
http://karensartworx.ganoksin.com/blogs/

Methilated spirits works a treat.

Hi Karen, Folks…

Try isopropyl alcohol. It's regular off the shelf product as a
dilute solution of alcohol and water. This should be enough to
remove the Sharpie. It contains a 60 - 70% water to alcohol mixture
which should be enough to remove the Sharpie but not hurt the
plastic. 

In another life, one of my interests is Natural Perfumery and the
Natural Essences… Alcohol plays a major part with both…

Isopropyl alcohol from the pharmacy or grocery is 70% alcohol, 30%
water…You can also get 91% isopropyl alcohol (9% water)
commonly… It’s also referred to as Rubbing Alcohol…

Grain alcohol aka ethanol, is a great solvent as Karen
mentioned…When you are talking about ethanol, the stuff in the
liquor store is not denatured, the stuff in the paint section at
the hardware store is…Vodka is essentially grain alcohol filtered,
usually with activated charcoal, to make it “smoother”…sometimes
redistilled…

If you are eyeing the vodka bottle in the liquor cabinet…remember
that a proof is 1/2 of a percent, in regards to purity…

So…100 Proof vodka is 50% ethanol, 150 Proof is 75%…the
balance being water…

In liquor stores grain alcohol and sometimes vodka can be found as
high as 190 Proof, or 95%…A brand called Everclear comes to
mind…

That is, if your State or Country allows it…

In addition to its historical use as an element at frat
parties…190 Proof Everclear serves as an excellent solvent for most
of thefragrant essences…i.e. you can use it to make alcohol based
perfume…

Gary W. Bourbonais
L’Hermite Aromatique
A.J.P. (GIA)

ta-da! kieran dewhurst suggested that i use a mr. clean magic eraser
to remove my permanent ink sharpie marks from my unknown plastic.

it worked–like magic. well, it took a little rubbing, but the
surface of the plastic has not been harmed. i already had the eraser
in the hou se but never thought of using it.

thank you all for your help. orchid and ganoksin are truly
wonderful. i guess this is distance learning, huh?

jean adkins