Does Sharpie on the Wall Ever Come Off?

Updated on April 01, 2009
G.W. asks from Granbury, TX
41 answers

Here we are, 2 weeks before we are scheduled to move out of our rent house after living here for 2 years, and my daughter has taken a black Sharpie and written on a part of the living room wall. We'd rather not repaint it, and I am wondering if there is some way to clean it off without removing all the paint. Any suggestions?

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D.C.

answers from Dallas on

wd40 may leave an oily stain.
If alcohol doesn't work, try bleach. Test on a hidden area of paint first. If it doesn't bleach the paint, use a Q-tip dipped in full strength and carefully dab at the Sharpie area.

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S.H.

answers from Dallas on

Mr Clean Magic Eraser. It worked in my daughters room when she did the exact same thing, I also use it in my preschool classroom.

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A.M.

answers from Dallas on

The Mr. Clean Magic Eraser (or another brand) should do the trick. You won't even believe how easy it does it either! Good luck.

More Answers

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S.M.

answers from Dallas on

Try magic eraser. It just might work!

1 mom found this helpful
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K.O.

answers from Dallas on

Hi G.,
It looks like you have a lot of suggestions for the magic eraser. Their is a product from Melaleuca called Sol-U Mel and it removes all sharpie marks on walls, tile anything. It truly is amazing. I have used it for lost of trouble spots. Ask around to see if you know someone who uses the product. Good luck!

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S.H.

answers from Dallas on

Magic Eraser will be your best friend!!! It may take a little work - but my friend got it off her floor, walls, cabinets, etc. with a magic eraser.

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J.W.

answers from Dallas on

Rubbing Achohol should do the trick.

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S.S.

answers from Wichita Falls on

IME, Mr Clean takes off some paint too, and peanut butter (found it on a website) doesn't work. Alcohol takes off more paint than Marker. I ended up touching up. Don't know why I went so far out of the way to avoid it - had a quart of the paint tinted to match (just for this kind of occasion) in the closet.

Good luck finding a solution.

S.

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M.V.

answers from Abilene on

Having been through this before....magic eraser will take the paint off not to mention it isn't safe around kids. Purell (the hand sanitizer)took it right off for us. We keep the BIG bottles of Purell on hand as it takes all kinds of stains out with little effort....marker on carpet or walls, ink out of clothing, permanent marker on 1 year olds, blood out of carpet and clothing, etc. Good luck!

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A.P.

answers from Dallas on

hi:

I have the same problem. I tried the magic eraser and it took the paint off the wall but, left the marker. I have just decided to repaint the wall.

Good luck, hopefully someone on here knows what will get it off

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K.R.

answers from Amarillo on

Have you tried WD40? It seems to be the thing to use to clean and repair certain things. I don't know if it will take the paint off, but you can read and see what you think.

K.

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D.W.

answers from Wichita Falls on

Try a Mr Clean magic eraser. It should take it off.

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S.K.

answers from Dallas on

Mr. Clean Magic Eraser or Goof off (found in paint dept at Lowes).

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

A.G.

answers from Dallas on

Try a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. Good luck!
A.

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J.C.

answers from Dallas on

Hi G. -- As the owner of a couple of rental properties, I would much prefer our tenants just be honest about it and check with me before using anything more than maybe Magic Eraser. Otherwise you might end up making it worse, which could be harder to fix later. (My son has oily marks on his bedroom walls from those slimy sticky-hand toys, so using anything oily might be hard to cover without using Kilz.) If you have a good relationship with the owners, chances are they'll be ok with it. It's not uncommon to have to repaint every few years, and they may have touch-up paint handy. Good luck!

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R.E.

answers from Dallas on

Try Magic Eraser in the cleaning isle. It works for lots even crayon.

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E.W.

answers from Dallas on

I think you are going to have to put some Kilz on it and then just retouch the paint on the area you Kilz'd. You shouldn't have to paint the whole wall or anything.

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C.S.

answers from Dallas on

have you tried the MR. Clean Magic Eraser?? It will take a little paint off, but that's the only thing that comes to mind! Good Luck!

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M.

answers from Dallas on

Hi,
I got it off my kitchen table with rubbing alcohol. Try it!
Good luck!
M.

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A.L.

answers from Dallas on

The Magic Eraser had not let me down yet.

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J.P.

answers from Dallas on

aerosol hairspray works great! (teacher trick)

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N.G.

answers from Dallas on

We used rubbing alcohol when my son did it. I would recommend testing a small area first but it did not damage our paint.
good luck

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K.W.

answers from Dallas on

try magic eraser
i think that's what my husband used

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K.K.

answers from Dallas on

Perm marker may be removed from SOME objects if you catch it quickly enough. Try taking a dry erase marker and rubbing directly over the perm marker mark. Then quickly run away with a rag. It worked for me on a beautifully finished wooden desk. Drywall is more porous so you would have to move quickly and it still may leave residual staining. The Majic Eraser everyone mentioned should definately be able to get the remainder though.

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K.S.

answers from Dallas on

We use magic eraser for alot.....I think it would help & you can get them at the dollar tree I know because thats where I buy them but you can get them just about anywhere. Have a great day & God Bless!

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B.D.

answers from Dallas on

I learned from someone who worked in a grocery store to use Lysol disinfecting spray. We were able to get some off of our baseboards very easily with that trick. That was a oil finish, so depending on if your paint is a flat or glossy paint might make a difference, but this is the best trick I've found. If your paint finish is flat, I doubt it would work, but if there's some gloss to it, I'd sure try this.

Good luck!

S.M.

answers from Dallas on

use the mr clean magic eraser sponge, I had some sharpie in a table for over 6 months and I tried everything then I tried the magic eraser, it came right off. my sons kindergarten teacher uses it all the time to clean the class room desks

good luck!

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B.L.

answers from Dallas on

Sol-U-Mel I went to a friends house and cleaned marker off of their walls. I went to my church and cleaned bad words off of their tables. I just recently had my 2.5yr old color all over my desk with different color sharpies & it all came off!! contact me to find out how to get it. ____@____.com
PS there's no scrubbing either.

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N.M.

answers from Dallas on

Hi G.,

My daughter did this when she was 2. We used the Mr. Clean sponge erasers. It took the permanet marker off the door of our house. Just make sure you get the sponge wet, we didn't but it still worked for us. It will take alot of elbow grease but the marker came off the door. Good luck!

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M.W.

answers from Dallas on

I don't know about the wall, but when my children have Sharpied their skin alcohol or nail polish remover have taken it off. Worth a try perhaps?

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C.H.

answers from Dallas on

I have used the Mr.Clean magic eraser to get marker off the doors and walls. Depending on how hard you have to rub the walls you may have to possibly touch up the paint. Hope this helps.

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L.

answers from Dallas on

G.,
O.K., here goes...go over the lines she has drawn with a dry eraser marker and then wipe off. I've tried it at home and a lot of times it works! My daughter did this when she was about 7.. and tried to "hide" her writing with a dry eraser...then wiped it all off. Too much to write about..just try it. Good luck!

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T.S.

answers from Dallas on

Have you tried alcohol? I was able to get it off a dresser with some 90% isopropyl alcohol on a cotton ball. A little at a time. Cost only 2 dollars. Let me know if it works...good luck!

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L.D.

answers from Dallas on

magic eraser works well.

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B.B.

answers from Tyler on

Mr. Clean Magic Erasers or wonderful!!! My daughter took a sharpie to almost everything in her room. Dresser, wall, radio, picture frames, etc.. It took it all off! But, I caught it soon after she did it. If it has had time to set I don't know how it will work. Good luck! B.

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D.R.

answers from Dallas on

Rubbing alcohol works wonders. I've used it to remove Sharpie marks at the high school, and where it had bleed through some papers at church. It's a lot cheaper than Mr. Clean erasers.

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A.M.

answers from Dallas on

use the Mr.Clean Magic Eraser...that thing does wonders!

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M.G.

answers from Dallas on

Don't know how it works on different surfaces, but I once got Sharpie off a wall by drawing over it with a dry-eraser marker. The Sharpie blended with the marker and I wiped them both off while they were wet. Good luck!

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J.A.

answers from Amarillo on

Hi G., my friends daughter did the same thing. She says she got it off with a combination of goof off, mr clean magic eraser, and wd40. She tried the goof off and then when she went to buy a magic eraser a lady at walmart suggested the wd40 which she used while scrubbing with the eraser so she's not sure which one worked or if it was a combination of all.

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M.W.

answers from Dallas on

Try the Magic Eraser by Mr. Clean or the Walmart brand, which is what I prefer. It got marker off our walls. Good luck!

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L.W.

answers from Dallas on

try www.marthastewart.com

good luck.

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