How to Get Permanent Marker Off Walls

Many parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and babysitters have walked into a room and realized that learning how to remove permanent marker stains from walls is part of a caregiver's rite of passage. Before you buy new paint, take a deep breath and try a few techniques for removing permanent marker without having to go to extremes. You often can beat a marker stain with common household materials. Permanent marker doesn't have to be permanent on your walls.

Things You'll Need

• Toothpaste
• Toothbrush
• Baking soda
• Alcohol-based hand sanitizer
• Acetone fingernail polish remover
• Rubbing alcohol

Instructions

1. Apply toothpaste--not gel--directly on the permanent marker ink on your wall. Scrub it in circular motions using a toothbrush. Toothpaste typically won't remove paint.

2. Apply a pea-sized drop of hand sanitizer gel directly on the mark, if the toothpaste didn't work. Use the toothbrush to rub the gel gently in circular motions. Dampen a washcloth with water to remove the gel after two or three minutes. If you leave the gel on longer, it may remove the wall paint.

3. Mix 1 cup baking soda and 1 cup water, and scrub the permanent marker stain with this mixture for five to 10 minutes.

4. Apply acetone fingernail polish remover or rubbing alcohol to the stain. These solutions will definitely remove the marker stain, but will most likely remove your paint as well. Use these solutions only if the above steps did not work.

Tips & Warnings

• Other household items that are sometimes used include bleach, cooking spray, WD-40 and hair spray.

• Because hand sanitizer gel might remove the paint, spot test it on an unnoticeable part of your wall first.

References

• Lilduckduck.com: 8 Ways to Remove Permanent Marker Stains