I have a two year old little boy that decided to express his artistic abilities with a blue Sharpie Marker. He expressed himself all over my walls, my doors, and himself. I have read the suggestions for walls and furniture, but have not seen any for getting it off of your kids.
Please help before someone nicknames him Smurf.
Michelle from Tennessee
Hand sanitizer/sunblock/toothpaste all worked on me.(11/07/2007)
By Pflails
My five year old daughter just made a mask using a black marker all over her face. OK, after a major panic, I got on here to find help in removing it. I used baby oil and some of it came off. While on here, my daughter grabbed baby wipes and took all of it off. She just came into the room and said, "Mommy, don't panic it's gone." I looked and there is no trace of magic marker. She is so smart. Hope this works for you. (11/10/2007)
By Dana
This works great and will not harm the skin. Get some hair color stain remover. They sell it at Sally's Beauty Supply. There is one called "Roux Clean Touch" works great. (11/18/2007)
By Sue
If you use perfume, a lot of it comes off with no scrubbing at all. (01/28/2008)
By Tara
Our 9 year old came home with both hands full of Sharpie. Tried all of the above and then wife used hair spray. Hair spray finally got it off. (02/04/2008)
By Papa
First use round of warm water and soap. Next use cotton balls and alcohol. And last follow up with (no joke) a squirt or two to the worst parts with WD-40 (02/14/2008)
By ahhhhh
If you put rubbing alcohol on it, then it comes off. His skin may be a little red because of the harshness of the stuff but it comes off in like 15 minutes, if he gets it on hair it comes out w/ soap and water. (03/07/2008)
I don't think this will work for anyone else, but my very neat, clean 13 year old used his saliva to get blue permanent marker off of his 2 year old sister's forehead. Weird! (03/10/2008)
By Heahter
We used a generic dishwashing liquid. The ink came off easily with gentle rubbing. Just make sure to rinse all the soap off the kid afterward. (04/12/2008)
By Tim - Loganville, GA
Head and Shoulders shampoo worked last night on my 2 year old when all else failed. Just be careful around the eyes. (04/23/2008)
By Barbara
My boyfriend wrote all over my legs in a black Sharpie! I went home that day and tried toothpaste, it didn't work, Nail Polish Remover helped a little, perfume was another no, and soap and water helped a little! So I got out a bottle of Mean Green! I had to scrub a little then get in the shower but it worked perfectly! (05/09/2008)
By TODAM
Germ-ex works, but if you put it on a child then wash immediately with soap. Germ-ex can kill the child.
Editor's Note: Any risk with hand sanitizers has to do with the alcohol content, which will quickly evaporate in air. Keep the bottle out of range of children, as with any cleaning product. (05/13/2008)
By Brittany
I used tea tree oil last night. I put water on a cotton swap, added a few drops of tea tree oil, and Sharpie wiped off easily with no irritation! I'm not sure if tea tree oil will irritate kids' skin. (05/19/2008)
By Pain
Please! Especially, if you have a child who has drawn on themselves: It only takes 2 seconds for them to cover themselves in marker! Be aware and prepared because anything can cause a reaction, including toothpaste! When I did my search, I saw don't use those, magic eraser things, they have oh, so many chemicals in them, please read warning labels. I've seen a chemical burn on a kid first hand from that.
But I figured toothpaste wouldn't have an effect as such. I now have a very traumatized two year old! Please, please remember to test a small area before cleaning an entire leg with toothpaste, or anything for that matter. (05/29/2008)
By Samantha
Gentle and harmless: My 4 year old son used a black Sharpie all over his face and legs. I used a wet wash cloth and poured some "Burt's Bees Almond Oil" on the cloth, then gently washed his face and legs. It came off magically!
Beware of the tea tree oil, it must be diluted with another oil like olive or grape seed. Tea tree oil is very harsh and can irritate adult and children's skin. (06/20/2008)
By Cath
My niece decided to write all over my 15 year old's arm with a red Magic Marker. I used 2 Oxy Acne pads and it came right off without scrubbing. I was amazed. (07/04/2008)
By Jan Langford
My 2 1/2 year old took permanent markers to his face (red, green, and yellow). Avon Skin So Soft Bath Oil works very well. Just dab a little on a wet cotton ball or pad, and rub. It works great, and is less harsh on the skin than rubbing alcohol or nail polish remover. (07/09/2008)
By Holly
I was looking around the house for any of the products mentioned, and having no luck at all. After my 2 year old daughter got a hold of Daddy's Sharpie, I grabbed the bottle of Neutrogena Black Head astringent, and it worked. I had the best results using Q tips and cotton swabs, paper towels didn't get it all off. I think the only "permanent ink" on human skin is Tattoo Ink! (07/12/2008)
By William
My 3 year old, decided he wanted to look like Mr. Incredible, black raccoon eyes and various other parts of his body covered with black Sharpie. All I used was baby oil. It worked like magic! (07/14/2008)
By Anne from Cape Cod
Baby oil works very well because the ink bonds to it. That should be your first bet, because it doesn't require scrubbing.
For the lady who said "Please don't use the Magic Erasers, they contain chemicals that are bad, and hurt you..."
No they don't contain chemicals that hurt you, unless you use them on yourself. All the chemicals are stable. But it is an Ultra Fine scrubber. It can get in between latex paint, and all sorts of things. It is not meant for skin, as it is SUPER abrasive. 1 minute of scrubbing hard with the Magic Eraser can take off all your skin. (08/02/2008)
By David
We saw a tip to use a banana. Amazing results in very little time! (08/27/2008)
Use the spray kind of sunscreen. I used Bullfrog for Kids. Worked like it was made to remove Sharpie from fingernails. (09/04/2008)
Just tried rubbing a little shaving cream on black Sharpie on my skin, wiped it off with a slightly damp cloth, then a small dab of toothpaste with whitener in it and wiped it off, worked like magic! There is nothing there. (09/18/2008)
By Sharpie mom
Olive Oil works perfectly, too. Just had to remove red Sharpie off of my 2 year old's face, arms and hands. (10/03/2008)
By Tiffany
After reading all these posts I went and bought some Crisco cooking oil for my son as he wrote all over his legs with a dark green Sharpie marker. It came off instantly! Just use regular old cooking oil and it will come off! (10/06/2008)
By Bermuda
Soap and water work! (10/17/2008)
By Willyjoeshow
I have been writing on myself a lot, I use 70% alcohol. (10/23/2008)
By Kori
Dawn Power Dissolver took the ink off like magic. I also tried hand sanitizer, Goo Be Gone and Vaseline. The Power Dissolver really did the trick instantly. Thank goodness! (11/21/2008)
By Dawn
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LIQUID DAWN SOAP ,A SOAK IN THE TUB WITH WARM WATER AND A MICROFIBER WASH CLOTH WORKED LIKE A SHARP
We tried many of the other remedies without much luck. I'm sure different marker brands have slightly different formulas that can make a difference! Aloe Vera after-sun gel finally did the trick.
BABY WIPES!!!!! MY 3 YEAR OLD JUST FIGURED IT OUT
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