cleaning marker off slate

February 21, 2007 10:35 AM

How can one remove magic marker from unsealed light coloured slate? My sister's family moved into a house with a fireplace. My 7 yr old nephew, no doubt both in an effort to be helpful and display his literacy, wrote "ca(u)tion" on what appears to be an unsealed slate hearth, light grey colour, in permanent magic marker.

(After 5 kids, sister is apparently never going to learn the unimaginable value of watercolour markers in places with kids, in spite of my tutoring!)

The usual inital suspects have been tried: common kitchen cleaners without bleach and lots of elbow grease. This faded it, but obviously isn't penetrating as far as the maker has. Any suggestions, Fi-ites?

posted by mattfn to home & garden (26 comments total)

Did you try something alcohol-based? Alcohol is generally a solvent for permanent markers, so that may help.
posted by that girl at 11:03 AM on February 21, 2007

magic marker can sometimes be removed with denatured alcohol, have you tried that?

Also useful is cheap shaving foam, let sit for 30 minutes and then clean with a warm sponge.
posted by parmanparman at 11:06 AM on February 21, 2007

to remove permanent marker that you have accidentally written on a dry erase board with, you can color over it with the dry erase marker and then wipe clean like normal. i doubt it would work on slate, but could be worth a try if you have dry erase markers around.
posted by white light at 11:08 AM on February 21, 2007

Now that my kids are older, I'd say have a sense of humor and leave it! They grow up in a blink. It's priceless.
posted by thinkpiece at 11:15 AM on February 21, 2007 [1 favorite]

Another thing you can do is cover the entire surface of the slate with marker, then 'clean' it as above. It should change the color of the slate, but at least the original markings will be gone.

Then seal it.
posted by Monkey0nCrack at 11:16 AM on February 21, 2007

You might try a magic eraser. Note that it is an abrasive and may damage the slate. (And don't rub it against your face)
posted by stefanie at 11:20 AM on February 21, 2007

I haven't used it on your type of surface, but I'd had a lot of luck with the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser sponge. Granted, I think it strips my walls of a teensy bit of paint, but I don't scrub hard and it gets the mark out.
posted by spec80 at 11:21 AM on February 21, 2007

We had good success using the mosquito spray "Off" to erase permanent marker. YMMV based on the porousness of the surface, time left on, etc.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 11:28 AM on February 21, 2007

Thinkpiece, your reaction was mine too! I'd seal it as is, especially since the remodel wasn't done well, and to make things nice you'd have to redo it anyway. But alas.....we are talking about dear sister's first house here.

MonkeyOnCrack, the 7 yr old and his 3 yr old sister would LOVE your solution! Problem would be keeping them off the floors and walls too!

Speaking of that, is it the alcohol in the wipe off markers that some think that would work? It seems the porousness of the slate would make it impossible to wipe off. That works on a dry erase board because it isn't porous.

Keep them coming! I suspect it will be a combo of a few techniques that will get me results.
posted by mattfn at 11:33 AM on February 21, 2007

Writing over the permanent marker with a dry-erase marker should allow you to wipe off both the permanent and dry-erase marker if you do it quickly. A test on a small area is of course a good idea. I've used this trick to remove permanent marker from plastic, glass, and LCD screens.
posted by J-Garr at 11:35 AM on February 21, 2007

Along with alcohol, you can try some common organic solvents. I'd go with acetone first. It's used to strip sealant from slate, so it should be safe.
posted by mr_roboto at 11:42 AM on February 21, 2007

I'm thinking some kind of poultice, like parmaparman's shaving cream, or maybe a wad of paper towels soaked in alcohol. Press firmly against the stain, and allow to sit until dry. This may work to draw the marker out of the porous stone.
posted by Rock Steady at 11:42 AM on February 21, 2007

I'll second acetone. I use it to clean up permanent marker frequently. It's probably best to test it in an inconspicuous spot first, just to make sure it doesn't do anything funny but I doubt it will. It may require more than one attempt to get all the marker out. First soak the corner of a rag or cloth with it and start scrubbing. If that doesn't get it all an old toothbrush might be able to get into the stone better. If it's on a vertical spot, put down an old towel so you don't get acetone dripping down to the floor. It might do funny things to carpet or finish, if it's wood.

Make sure to have a fan set up to keep vapors blown away. It's not super harmful stuff but it isn't a good idea to breathe in too much. I got a sore throat that lasted a few days doing that once.
posted by 6550 at 12:02 PM on February 21, 2007

A third for the "Magic Eraser", with the caveat that the "damage" it usually causes is polishing the surface. You may have a smooth, shiny patch where you clean the slate.
posted by GuyZero at 12:09 PM on February 21, 2007

As J-Garr said, test anything you do on a small, unobtrusive area. I have successfully used WD-40 to remove permanent marker but not on stone.
posted by bobobox at 12:12 PM on February 21, 2007

Acetone. My neighbor's daughter went on a perm-marker spree, and put a mustash (and a few other statigic items) on her mother's concrete Venus statue. The acetone (fingernail polish) got it off.

wife of 445supermag
posted by 445supermag at 12:21 PM on February 21, 2007

Standard practice for removing stains from marble and granite is to make a poultice with acetone and paper towels and tape this down over the stained area. Leave overnight. Remove and clean.

As others have suggested, you might want to do this in an obtrusive spot first, to make sure it doesn't discolor the slate.
posted by alms at 1:57 PM on February 21, 2007

I'l back up the acetone comments. It's the One True Solvent, particularly in situations like this. I would also back up the idea of a poultice and then using a old toothbrush. Bear in mind that acetone is incredibly volatile, which means that it evaporates very quickly. I would probably try to seal the poultice with a plastic bag or something. (Wax paper, in case the acetone melts the plastic?)

I would also get used to the idea that it is never really going to go away...
posted by schwap23 at 2:39 PM on February 21, 2007

I wouldn't try colouring over it because the slate is pourous, you're not going to be able to rub off the new colour any more than the old. What you need is a solvent to soak the stone and wash it out, and methanol or acetone (nail polish remover) will do the job nicely. I use them both in the lab to remove permanent marker labelling from all kinds of things. Also seconding testing on a small area first, but you shouldn't have any trouble if you use a relatively pure solvent.
posted by shelleycat at 2:42 PM on February 21, 2007

lacquer thinner, just used it to remove graffitti from a portable toilet, wiped right off. The marker was a sharpie.
posted by flummox at 2:52 PM on February 21, 2007

Some of the cleaners recommended might stain. I would start with alcohol as it seems least likely to stain, but I would still test it in an unobtrusive spot. Next up would be nail polish remover, a well proven permanent marker stain remover. I would be quite cautious with oils like WD-40. You probably want to stick with things which will easily evaporate away.
posted by caddis at 3:01 PM on February 21, 2007

From Home Comforts [my bible for this sort of thing]

"Ink (Magic Marker, pen, ink): Clean with bleach or hydrogen peroxide (light colored stone only!) or lacquer thinner or acetone (dark stones only!)"

Emphasis in original.
posted by Mozzie at 3:05 PM on February 21, 2007

At least some acetone nail polish removers contain oils or some other substance that claim to condition the nails. If you try acetone I'd go with the hardware store variety rather than nail polish remover.
posted by Carbolic at 3:07 PM on February 21, 2007

Dry erase marker will stain porous surfaces.
posted by Mitheral at 4:29 PM on February 21, 2007

Try the alcohol and acetone based solutions. Do not try anything that's oily (bug spray, WD40) as it will just be absorbed by the porus slate and will leave a stain. Also, do not try writing over the permanent marker with a dry-erase marker. This may work on a smooth, non-porus surface like a dry-erase board or glass, but not on a porus surface like slate. If you do this, the slate will just absorb the dry-erase marker and you'll still have a stain.
posted by youngergirl44 at 7:43 PM on February 21, 2007

If you've gone through the better verified suggestions above and are still at a loss, I've had some luck with removing ball point pen ink stains with CHEAP hairspray. Leave on for a while then rinse out. I tried it once at a friend's house with her designer-stylist hairspray and it didn't work. Hairspray on ink has worked times when plain alcohol didn't. No, I haven't the faintest idea why or where I found this from.
posted by kch at 7:50 PM on February 21, 2007