How do you remove sharpie marks from walls without rubbing the paint off?
By Madison Sherman from Bend, OR
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Mr Clean Magic Eraser works well. However if it is flat latex paint it might blemish the paint. You could also use a stain blocker such as Kilz or Zinsser and spot paint.
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How can I remove sharpie ink from a wall? The wall is latex painted.
Joe From Hopewell, NJ
Try WD40. Spray on and use a Mr. Clean Eraser on it after that. Continue spraying and scrubbing and it should come off. (10/10/2006)
By Debbie
I had someone write on my painted walls with an orange sharpie. I tried everything to get it off, including a lot of the postings I read on this site. However, nothing worked, so I decided to try using Pine-Sol (do no dilute it with water) on a damp washcloth and it took it right off. It took a few minutes, but it came off and did not remove my paint. I hope this works for those who try. (06/09/2007)
By Lynette
I needed a way for my mom not to find I accidentally got marks on my wall, so I went to the cleaning cabinet, tried everything, but Soft Scrub worked right away. (09/06/2007)
By Molly
My sister tried the nail polish remover, the hairspray, and the wipe off marker. We were only testing and the nail polish remover removed not only the sharpie, but the paint. The other two didn't do anything. (09/21/2007)
By OHGODHEREWEGO
Try using nail polish remover without acetone. That wouldn't remove the paint. (10/05/2007)
By Grecia
After trying the suggestions mentioned above (to no avail) I decided to venture into removal methods of my own. Unfortunately, the only thing that seemed to work (and seamlessly) was Marmite. The yeast extract has riboflavin, and lifts the stain right off. However the new emulsion can be easily removed with the plentiful application of Toilet Duck. Honest guys, it works a treat. (11/19/2007)
By Ricky
I used nail polish remover and it worked like a champ. (11/20/2007)
By Autumn
I can't believe it hasn't been suggested, the ink comes right off. (02/13/2008)
By Lidia
WD 40 let it sit a bit and then you will see it just gone. (06/13/2008)
By regina
I took the advice of the many suggestions for brake fluid and it was remarkable. It worked instantly. (07/31/2008)
By Sherri
I am doing a science project on removing sharpie and I read somewhere that if you put toothpaste on a tooth brush and scrub what you are trying to remove worked really well, but I haven't tried it yet so let me know how it worked. (11/03/2008)
By Chloe
Germ-X works. Put it directly on the stain or on a paper towel or rag, wait a minute or two and wipe away. The wall might taste bad and smell of Germ-X for a day or two though. (11/16/2008)
By OhNoes! D:
How do I get sharpie markers off a wall. The wall is white. Other than painting the wall, what can I do?
You will probably have to paint over her artwork, but be sure to seal the marker with KILZ paint (or use KILZ wall paint or the marker will just bleed thru. (12/28/2004)
By Linda
Rubbing alcohol will remove some, but not all, of the Sharpie. After that, try rubbing the mark with some lighter fluid (naptha). Test the lighter fluid in a hidden spot first, but I don't think it will take off much (if any) paint. I was able to remove black Sharpie pen marks from a plastic surface using exactly the above method, which did not dull the plastic finish at all. The lighter fluid was the key. Good luck! (12/28/2004)
By Tori
use hairspray (12/29/2004)
By Kristy
I work at a personalized ornament stand and we use a sharpie to write on the Christmas ornaments, and to remove or correct the marker we use a little bottle of enamel thinner that you can find in a hobby shop. It may take the paint off though, but at least you can paint over with out the marker bleeding through.
Kim (12/30/2004)
Like Linda said, KILZ is the way to go. I took a scenic painting class in college and we used Sharpies to do outlines that we wanted to stand out underneath many layers of paint. Sharpie lines will really show through almost everything, but KILZ and BIN [another good hiding paint] will cover them well. They're kind of expensive, but they'll hide almost anything in a few coats. I believe you can buy both of them buy the pint, and I've also seen them as a spray paint. (01/04/2005)
By Mary
My husband runs a printing press and has been known to drag home a glop of thick gooey ink on his boots that end up on the entryway floor the only thing that I have found to clean this up, now wait this gets good... is PEANUT BUTTER. What made me think of it in your situation is that the friend that gave me this tip used it to clean sharpie marks off her wood cupboards. The only hitch might be is that the Peanut Butter may leave a grease stain on your flat walls, but you can usually get that out by rubbing straight dishwashing liquid on the stain then rubbing with wet cloth. The sharpie marks that my friend cleaned up were several months old. (01/05/2005)
By Kat
I tried the peanut butter and darn if it didn't get the mark off. I am totally surprised. (06/23/2005)
By Jimmie Dial
I had a tenant who used black and bright colored sharpie markers to draw all over the walls in one bedroom. After 3 coats of Kilz, 1 coat of BIN, and 5 coats of Behr camel brown the graffiti still came through. Finally, I used an old but true method and it worked. I painted the room battleship gray. One coat did the trick. The door had a mural of a flaming red and orange cross-2 coats covered it entirely. I guess there is a reason why the Navy uses battleship gray. It covers anything. I have returned the room to a neutral almond color. It was easy to paint over the gray. I only wish I would have started out using the gray. (06/27/2005)
By Pam
Alcohol got about 50% of it when applied within 3 minutes and so I hit the web to see what I could find. So 10 minutes after the 2 year old had his way with the dinning room table, I saw the Peanut Butter comment above. I said, OK, I'll be the goof and try it. Well call me stupid, but darn it, it worked. Jif was the brand. Rock on... thanks for the advice. (07/03/2005)
PEANUT BUTTER! Cleaned Sharpie from a stained, carved wooden box like it was jelly! I had written it off as firewood. Read it here, THANKS! (12/28/2005)
By Shar Peanut Butterman
Rubbing alcohol took some fresh graffiti off my painted wood exterior. I tried peanut butter first, and it helped, but the alcohol took it off like an eraser. For future reference, is there any trick to using peanut butter? Just rub with a rag, or is there more to it? (12/29/2005)
By Uda
Peanut butter didn't work on any of the painted surfaces I have. (My toddler got 7 walls, So I am left sitting here consoling myself with peanut butter straight from the jar.) The Mr. Clean Magic Eraser works... slowly. (02/22/2006)
By Alison
There is a product available called Goof Off and you can find it at paint and wallpaper stores. (04/26/2006)
By Ldyfromnowhr
