Cleaning Marker/Sharpie from vinyl and other plastic.

[B-Lister]

I bought a Real Ghostbusters Stay Puft Marshmallow man several months ago, because I love vinyl, love Kaiju, and love Ghostbusters. I didn't pay much for it, but it did have one flaw. A very large, very blue, and very old marker stain on the white vinyl.

I went online and read some possible cures. I heard the oil in peanut butter would draw the ink out (it didn't), I heard bleach would work (too dangerous), I read that a Mr. clean Magic Eraser would do it (too abrasive).

Then I read that if you put Clearasil on vinyl and left it in the sun, it would do the trick.

It has benzoyl peroxide which is a natural oxidizer. I smeared it on in a thin layer. Just enough to cover the stain, but still thin enough to SEE the stain, so the sunlight could hit it.

While the Clearasil crusted up in an hour, it was doing the job. The ink was drawn out and the vinyl only suffered minor discoloration due to the age of the stain. You only notice it up close.

So, if you have any marked up vinyl toys, add this trick to the arsenal. If it works on snow white vinyl, it'll do it for anything.

Just make sure you use a 10% benzoyl peroxide product, direct sunlight, and don't get any near the paint.

[fishmilkshake]

Nice work. That's good to know. 

[B-Lister]

Apparently the trick was discovered by doll collectors looking to restore their childhood baby dolls.

[B-Lister]

Another piece of good advice I found is that Sharpie can be removed from ABS and most other hard non porous surfaces.

Simply get an Expo brand dry erase marker and color over the Sharpie mark, wait about 30 seconds then wipe off. It may take a few applications but I have rescued many Lego bricks with that technique.

[Scotty]

Yes, I've used that one before. Never heard of the Clearasil trick tho!!

[B-Lister]

Yup. Feel free to add any more tricks you may know. This can be a comprehesnive thread.