Does anyone know how to remove permanent marker stain?

Question

My son decided to draw on my carpet with a red permanent marker. Alot of drawing. Does anyone know how to get the stain out safely? Please help!

Answer 1

If it was a sharpy perminent marker then some acetone (the solvent in nail polish remover) or isopropyl alcohol (sometimes sold as rubbing alcohol) should be able to disolve the ink. If this happened in my apartment I would first try rubbing it out with isopropyl alcohol and vigorously scrubbing it with a wire bursh. Acetone is a stronger solvent than isopropyl alcohol for removing this sort of ink stains, but it has a harsher smell in my opinion. Make sure you open the window when you work with these solvents. Also after you have cleaned the carpet to your satisfaction I would suggest purging the remaining solvent out of your carpet with some water then soak up the water with some paper towels, let it dry and purge with water one more time. This should dilute any remaining solvent to levels that are safe even for small children.

There are two potential risks to using this procedure to clean your carpets: First, the ink should be desolved by the solvents, but it should then be quickly absorbed by a paper towel or by a vacuum before it is allowed to dry. There is a chance it will just dry again and make for a larger but duller stain. Secondly, depending on what sort of fibers your carpets are made out of the ink may have penetrated into the fiber itself, where the solvent can not reach it.

If you can find out if your carpet is made out of nylon fibers or polyester fibers (The two most common carpet fibers in modern homes) this would be helpful. In general polyester fibers are more stain resistant and therefor should be easyer to clean. Nylon fibers are slightly more common in newer carpets, and some of the more expensive ones have a stain resistant coating on them as well. Both materials are somewhat porous so there is always the chance that the ink has impregnated the fiber beyond the reach of solvents.

A few more quick thoughts. A previous answer suggested cuttingt away the fibers which are most completely stained. I agree with this answer as being a good idea. Basically if you are worried about the ink running once it has been attacked by the solvent then cutting away those fibers which are most stained prior to trying to clean the stain would help a lot.

Also, I would definantly suggest contacting a carpet cleaning professional, just to ask for advice. Ask about the chemicals they use to clean carpets, and see if they can't provide you with any answers. If they give you some bogus answer like we need to send a professional down for a costly consultation then just ignore them. Finally if you look on the shelves of your local hardware store, I'm confident there will be dozens of cleaners and solvents, and hopefully at least one or two heavy duty carpet cleaning compounds.

Good Luck,

-Mike

Answer 2

Aquanet Hair spray will remove sharpie and carters perment marker from clothes. I have not tried it on carpet. it is very cheap to buy. give it a try on a spot that is inconspicuious.

Let me know if it worked.

Like I said, it removes it form clothes and skin as well, should work on carpet. Then you can just go over it with a carpet cleaner to get the hair spray out.

Answer 3

Spot shot works good, it won't get it all, but It will get most. Also, cutting some of the carpet to get the worst parts out.

Answer 4

Turpentine. Paint thinner. It may smell kind of strong, but it works like a charm for everything from marker, to body filler.

Answer 5

Sorry, it's permanent. Call a carpet cleaning service and see if they can give you any help.

Answer 6

try thinner or goo gone and i no 100% sure there is some stupid way to remove permanent marker stain i just can remember what it is!!!!!!!.......... oh i think maybe some dawn soap and water??? or nail polish remover???? one of those im 95% sure dawn soap and water or nail polish remover i heard it on tv

Answer 7

Well i got it off furniture with nail polish remover but not sure about carpeting.

Answer 8

Brasso will leave the plexiglass badly scratched since it contains an abrasive. You can try nail polish remover (acetone), but that might leave the plexiglass clouded.