Removing Permanent Marker from Walls

When your child uses the wall as their canvas or your accidentally get permanent marker on the wall it needs to be cleaned off carefully. This is a guide about removing permanent marker from walls.

Solutions: Removing Permanent Marker from Walls

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Permanent Marker On Walls

I have a 4 year old who loves to draw. I read on here that hand sanitizer works to take permanent markers off walls. It sure did, along with a layer of paint, but it did the job. I also tried rubbing alcohol. It didn't do anything.

The next best thing I used for my walls was SOS pads. They leave a blue tinge on the wall after cleaning but they work. It may take a few times to rinse the wall but it worked oh-so-well for me.

I hope it does for other people having the same issue with a small artist.

By Kapree2010 from Victoria, BC

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Questions

Here are questions related to Removing Permanent Marker from Walls.

Cleaning Permanent Marker Off Walls

How do I get black permanent marker off the walls?

By Bridget from Scottsville, KY

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Most Recent Answer

By jefftami 03/31/2011

Mr Clean Magic Eraser Gets Permanent Marker off items. Hopefully your walls are painted with at least a Semi-Gloss Good Luck!

Removing Permanent Marker from Walls

My two kids got a hold of my permanent marker and scribbled all over their bedroom walls. For a month now, I've been trying everything I can think of to remove it and nothing seems to do the trick. I've tried Totally Awesome, power spray, nail polish remover, rubbing alcohol, Magic Eraser, hair spray, toothpaste, and many others! Please help me.

By Mandy85

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Most Recent Answer

By lyonpridej 11/18/2011

I've used Simple Green on permanant marker before & it usually works for me. But if it's been months, it may be so absorbd that it won't all come out. I used the Simple Green full strength with a rag, using a toothbrush in the harder spots. Most of it came out, I had a few barely visible lines left. This was on white painted walls though, so if you have colors, it mught make the color lighter.

Black Sharpie on Walls

How do you get black Sharpie off of white walls?

By Deliana

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Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

Do you hate when your children or brothers and sisters get permanent marker stains on the wall? Well, I have a solution for you and its very simple. All you have to do is use any toothpaste (maybe Colgate) and wipe the mark away. Works every time!

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker or Crayon off Walls

Try using a product called "Erase" by Zep. It takes it all off! (10/14/2005)

By ladybug

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker or Crayon off Walls

Mr. Clean Eraser works for this too! (10/18/2005)

By mamascott

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker or Crayon off Walls

WD 40 spray and hair spray work (10/19/2005)

By marsbar

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker or Crayon off Walls

Germanex or any alcohol based hand sanitizer! It works wonders. And for crayons or pen use an eraser. (12/23/2005)

By Nita

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

I couldn't believe the hand sanitizer really worked. I'm house sitting and my 2 year old made pretty art work with perm. marker. I'm so relieved. Thanks for the advice. (02/01/2006)

By Ms.Denia

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

Germ-X is working awesome in taking off the permanent marker! (03/31/2006)

By maddie N Abby's Mom

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

My year old decided to make his little creations all over my house, my doors are wood and my walls are concrete, I tried the "toothpaste" did not work, so I used nail polish remover, it worked like a charm and did not even take the paint off my walls or damage my wood doors, then I used baby wipes on him! Needless to say he will go in the bathroom when I have to go now... lol! (04/11/2006)

By Sasha J.

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

WOW the hand sanitizer worked GREAT! I am a college student and had made a poster earlier this semester, using my wall as an easel. The permanent marker bled right through the paper! I was so worried I was going to get charged for it - I had tried scrubbing it with Lysol, bleach, and dish soap with no success. Whoever came up with this idea is incredible. Thanks again! (05/11/2006)

By Ellen

cleaning permanent marker of the fridge

Toothpaste is a big no helper and nail-polish remover works great! (06/21/2006)

By initials:AM

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

Go with the hand sanitizer, the toothpaste did Nothing!! Thanks for the tip (06/30/2006)

By Katrina

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

Thank everyone! My son put black maker in my brand new white bed and thank goodness that nail polish remover worked i tried every thing even tears...(lol) but on nail polish remover worked awesome. (07/11/2006)

By Ariel

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

My son drew all over on our outside walls with permanent marker and I just rubbed them with Colgate and cotton balls and they came up 100%! Yay! (07/24/2006)

By Heidi

Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

I was wondering if there was anything to use on my daughter's bedroom wall to get permanent marker off. Typical 2 year old.

Anne from Tasmania, Launceston

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

I tried the, hairspray, it did not work, I also tired the hand sanitizer, it worked really well, but it took the paint off of my wall. The best product has been the Magic Eraser, although it is taking for ever, it works without taking the paint off of my walls. (08/03/2006)

By Jennifer25

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

My Two year old used a sharpie all over my walls and and end table. Colgate whiting Toothpaste with scrub sponge took it right of with a little elbow grease. (08/04/2006)

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

WD-40 works wonderfully for removing any types of stains. No scrubbing required!! (08/11/2006)

By Christie

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

Nail polish remover took it off my tape measure. (09/10/2006)

By bonny

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

In our dorm, we got sharpie on our wall. We tried different cleaning agents that we had but found that Colgate toothpaste worked the best with some elbow grease. Specifically it was the "pro-health" toothpaste that had the 'crystals' in it. Cleans it off orange peel walls with semigloss. (09/24/2006)

By Philip Szelagowski

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

Try an old sock and some astringent. WORKS THE BEST. It usually comes off with one wipe! (06/25/2007)

Cleaning Marker off Walls

WOW! Thanks to all who suggested Hand Sanitizer. I have never seen anything work so well. You are life savers! (09/07/2007)

By Jessica

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

Dawn Power Dissolver removes any permanent marker off anything and fast. Even clothes. It is amazing. It doesn't bleach the color or remove paint! (11/17/2007)

By ChaoticMom

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

Vinegar works wonders, hint - hint (12/30/2007)

By Taylor

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

Thank goodness for this site and my son's preschool teacher's advice. After reading these posts I tried the hand sanitizer and it worked well but also took the paint off. Then I tried the preschool teacher's advice and used Comet powder with a wet washcloth and it really did the trick on the Sharpie marker on our walls. Hopefully making my 4 year old do much of the scrubbing will deter any repeat offenses - also suggested by his teacher:-) (02/15/2008)

By Janet

Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

How do you get pen marks and permanent marker off a wall?

Fasha from San Antonio, TX

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

Supposedly the Mr. Clean Erasers work wonders. Can't hurt to try them. And there's this stuff, Motsenbocker's Lift Off #3 http://www.dtep.com/liftoff3.htm I don't know how well either work. If worse comes to worst, I would simply use a fine sandpaper on the marks and a small craft paintbrush to touch up the wall paint. Good luck! (03/04/2008)

By luvmygingerkids

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

Hand sanitizer got most of it off our wall. Still took off some of the paint. Nail polish remover worked on our metal heater grate (make sure you wash it with soap and water after though because the remover will catch fire). Neither worked on both surfaces. Toothpaste didn't do anything except make my wall and heater minty fresh. (03/21/2008)

By Rachel

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

Thanks for the advice. I got the permanent marker off with nail polish remover. It took a little paint off but nothing that I will have to repaint. (03/25/2008)

By mum of a 2 year old

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

My little girl, who is 2, decided it was a wonderful idea to canvas her art all over my walls. So I used toothpaste. At first it didn't work, but then I took an old toothbrush and scrubbed, I guess the toothpaste works with the bristles. It came off great and didn't take the paint off. (03/29/2008)

By Alexa

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

Rubbing alcohol usually removes permanent marker if it's soon after the accident. (04/02/2008)

By susan

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

My sister decided to make her room look pretty with some permanent marker, and we've tried many different products. I think overall, nail polish remover works the best! (04/13/2008)

By leash1.

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

What works really well, is hair spray with krylon clear. It makes the marker drip then you wipe it off with a magic eraser. (04/22/2008)

By stephen

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

Ok, so we tried the WD-40 and it only faded it slightly. We also tried the Magic Eraser and to no avail it still didn't come off. So we tried the toothpaste trick and it worked! We just used Crest Cinnamon. Flavored and it worked fabulously! Thanks for the help all. (04/28/2008)

By Heather

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

I used Mr. Clean Magic eraser. It works great. Gary Dominicus (05/04/2008)

By Gary dominicus

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

I am moving out soon and my autistic son already did some damage on the apartment. He found a sharpie I didn't know we had, and in 3 min., marked on 4 walls, mostly in my kitchen, big black marks. I read the posts, and not having the wd-40 or eraser on hand, I tried toothpaste. Amazing! It came right off, but as said with some elbow grease. I got a good portion of it off in 3 minutes with a scrubby sponge and a wash cloth, to get it in the little hard to reach textured areas. It's coming off. I'm so thankful I don't have to repaint the apt.! Thank goodness for Google or I'd be up a creek with out a paddle! I'm bookmarking this site! (05/19/2008)

By chameleon galaxy

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

Oh my goodness, thank God for this site. My son just learned how to draw smiley faces. Well, he decided to practice on the walls with a purple permanent marker. I used everything this site said but nothing was really doing the trick. Finally the hand sanitizer worked wonders, took a tiny bit of paint off but nothing you can notice. Thanks so much. What did moms do before the internet. lol! (05/20/2008)

By veronica

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

Use ajax, a sponge, and some elbow grease. I just cleaned permanent marker off my wall, and it came off like nothing. (06/24/2008)

By Sabrina.

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

Thank you for the toothpaste idea. I had got a little sharpie on my friends kitchen wall in his apartment... don't ask me how, and had to have it gone before he got back from the store. Toothpaste works miracles for small marks. (08/02/2008)

By Melissa

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

Oh my gosh, this is a life saver. My little brother thought it would be funny to write on our family white board while my mum and dad were out, but he mistook the permanent pen and white board pen and he couldn't rub it off! I am so happy that I found this site. The toothpaste trick with a toothbrush works like a charm! By Sophie (08/07/2008)

By Sophie

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

I had used some rubbing alcohol and some cotton wipes, it took the permanent marker right off. It did take off a tiny little bit of paint, but you can't notice a bit! (08/08/2008)

By Lisa

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

Oh my gosh, thanks to google I am saved! My little sis just wrote all over my computer screen! I was reading all the comments and found out about the rubbing alcohol, it came right off! Thank you! (08/28/2008)

By kady

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

Thank goodness for this site. Permanent maker came almost completely off the surface with toothpaste. (09/02/2008)

Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

My renter's little boy wrote with permanent marker all over the walls. It has been about a month and I'm now finding out about it. Is there something extremely good I can use to get it off?

Faith from Nortonville, KY

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

Some permanent markers can be totally removed with plain rubbing alcohol and some just fade a bit. It depends on the brand of the marker and the finish of the paint. (of course flat paint is harder to clean and eggshell is much easier) Rubbing Alcohol has worked for me. I put some in a well marked spray bottle and squirted it on to the wall, then waited several seconds then wiped it off.

At Boeing they use Ketone to remove permanent marker, so I understand people saying that fingernail polish remover works because it's usually made with acetone. But what they fail to say it that you need to use the type that does "not" say "for artificial fingernails", because the kind made for fake nails has no acetone in it. (09/11/2008)

By Cyinda

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

Amodex (09/12/2008)

By Graycrab

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

Purell Instant Hand Sanitizer all the way, invisible in seconds. Takes a little unnoticeable paint off, but works like magic. (11/05/2008)

By Chrissy

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

Lava soap. I tried the alcohol and nail polish remover on small test patches, but they seemed to start removing the paint from the wall. The toothpaste was working, but took a lot of elbow grease. Then suddenly I remembered that I'd used Lava soap to remove ink and grease from clothing before. It worked like a charm. Granted, I'd already lightened the marks with the toothpaste, but the soap finished the job with a lot less scrubbing. My sister swears by the Mr. Clean erasers (used one to clean a "mural" of marker off a full wall), but I didn't have one on hand and didn't want the stain to set. (12/06/2008)

By Tired Mom

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

Got black marker pen on the walls, doors? No worries. Just get a special sponge called,"White Magic" and your troubles are over. No chemicals, or detergents just add water and a bit of rub a dub dub. I got my "White Magic" from Howard's Storage World, but who knows where else you could find it. (12/16/2008)

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

While I was doing the dishes my 2 year old decorated the walls with a big Sharpie. I used Ammonia (straight from the bottle). It took it off of all the surfaces, except the one that is done with flat paint and the papered wall. I'll get back to you on that when I figure something out (12/21/2008)

By Jeniffer

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

An organic cleaner with Citrol works wonders. (02/05/2009)

By Randall P.

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

I used alcohol and a toothbrush. The toothbrush worked to get into the different texture of the wall. However, it works a lot better if it is a fresh marking, But I used it on a old marking to it just took a little more scrubbing. (02/08/2009)

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker off Walls

I tried Magic Erasers, it took the shine off the paint and left the marker. I tried hand sanitizer, took the paint off of the wall. I'm no longer using this stuff on our hands. Dr. Bronner's All in One soaps are miracle workers. Takes permanent marker off with ease. It works on any and all surfaces. Fantastic stuff. You can buy online or health food stores. My 2 year old hit various surfaces just today. Dr. Bronner's saves the day, again. (02/24/2009)

By Jennie

Cleaning Permanent Marker Off Walls

I have a permanent maker stain on my wall where my son decided to go wild. How should I remove this?

By smathis123 from Murray, KY

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker Off Walls

Hi! Have you tried a Mr. Clean Eraser? That has worked for me. Good luck! :) (06/10/2009)

By meowsley

RE: Cleaning Permanent Marker Off Walls

There is an awesome product that will take off anything! Usually available at hardware stores such as Ace. It's called "Oops, mistake remover", there is another called "Goof Off" as well. However, hand sanitizer, Axe (or any of those deodorant body sprays) will get off permanent marker, and sometimes regular rubbing alcohol works! (06/16/2009)

By shassan