Glass is a fragile and precious item to have in the home. It can also be costly to replace, making it even more important that you keep your glass looking as good as new. This article discusses how to remove permanent marker from glass, hopefully saving your piece of mind – and money!
When faced with a large surface area of dried on permanent marker, you may think your marking pen is permanent. You most likely feared that there was no way to remove permanent marker from glass – or any other hard surface. Well the good news is that if it’s dried on, how to remove it can be achieved with a few everyday products and some patience!
How to Remove Permanent Marker From Glass
How to remove permanent marker from glass is something you might need to know how to do if your child has decided that their artwork requires an additional painting tool. Or maybe you’ve looked at your windows and suddenly noticed the smudges caused by the children’s toys or household pets? Either way, fear not; help is at hand! Keep reading to discover how you can remove permanent marker from glass, and any other hard surface.
Materials Needed:
Lighter fluid (or substitute with nail varnish remover) Paper towel or dry cloth Cotton buds Toothpaste (plain white toothpaste) Newspaper / paper towel Newspapers Oil (baby oil, mineral oil, vegetable oil etc.)
Step 1:
Use the paper towel or dry cloth to place over your piece of glass – if there’s any excess fluid coming off the marker it will soak into the paper towel rather than drip onto your surface. Then gently wipe/pat at the permanent marker with a small amount of lighter fluid on your cloth. If you don’t have lighter fluid, you can substitute this for a good quality generic nail varnish remover or acetone (from a chemist). You may find that the marker starts to lift off at this stage which is great!
Step 2:
If this doesn’t remove all of the permanent marker from the glass, then we recommend that you moisten a cotton bud with the nail varnish remover and try this method. If it’s still not coming off, using an old toothbrush (or a brand new one if you don’t mind getting paint all over it!) gently scrub at the marker until completely removed. If you find that your toothbrush is gumming up with paint, then you’ll need to rinse it off and use a new toothbrush.
Step 3:
You may find that some of the marker has stained your glass. If this is the case, add a little bit of plain white toothpaste to your cloth and gently rub at it until all the remaining stains are gone.
Step 4:
Finally, wash your glass with clean water and dry it thoroughly to ensure that there is no excess toothpaste or other residue on it. Then polish with a clean piece of paper towel or cloth until the surface is smooth again.
How To Remove Permanent Marker From Other Surfaces
As well as clean glass, how to remove permanent marker from other surfaces can be achieved with the same methods. These include laminate flooring (with heavy duty cleaning fluid or lighter fluid), paintwork (again with lighter fluid) and painted walls or wood (using nail varnish remover/acetone, veg oil etc).
The most important thing with this method is to ensure that the permanent marker stain is thoroughly rubbed with the lighter fluid. If there are any traces of it left behind, it’ll come back over time – especially if you have pets or children who tend to leave their mark on the furniture!
Conclusion:
Now you know how to remove permanent marker from glass (and all other hard surfaces!) and how to remove permanent marker from wood and painted surfaces. Hopefully this will save your surface some damage!
