Help!! - Beaverton, OR

Hi T.,
I teach 8th grade science and we do a unit on stains and solvents. Most permanent markers are alcohol based instead of water based and so people often have luck removing them with rubbing alcohol. If you can find an isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol that is 99% instead of in the 70% range the 99% works best but it is hard to find in drug stores. I would definitely use rubbing alcohol on the linoleum. The ink should come right off. As for the carpet, you can try the rubbing alcohol too, but just know that it causes the ink to run a bit. You are going to want to have several clean rags on hand to dab up and the rubbing alcohol may dilute the stain and cause it to spread before it is removed. It may take quite a bit of rubbing alcohol to do the trick. The same thing happens on clothing. The ink will run with the rubbing alcohol so you definitely want to be ready to soak it up with something. Rubbing alcohol is also a bit stinky, so you will want to keep the room well ventilated. I would let that evaporate away and then follow up with a good carpet cleaner. I have had great luck with "Kids and Pets" stain remover. You will probably want to let most of the alcohol evaporate away first though.

The hair spray trick that someone else mentioned can work also, but mostly because most hairsprays have alcohol in them. Aqua Net has a ton of alcohol and I have found it works well for ink stains on clothing, but have never tried it on carpet.

I hope this helps. Good luck!

Give "kids and pets" a try. It gets tons of stains out. I have bought it at Fred Meyer and Safeway, in the cleaning aisle.

T.
my twins did the same thing. I used rubbing alchol then went over it with spot shot. You can find spot shot in most stores in the carpet/floor cleaning area. I now keep it in the house all the time because it pulls almost every stain out. Good luck to you on this fun Twin journey mine are now 4 1/2 and the days are getting better

T.,

I also use Melaleuca's Sol-U-Mel. . .works great and I've used it to remove permanent marker out of clothing. It has so many additional uses as well: regular household cleaning (diluted), add it to a load of laundry, heavy cleaning such as mold/mildew, etc. Great product!

T., I've used the magic erasers on cloth before and it has worked for me. Also, I use baby wipes on ink stains that are set in fabric and that usually gets most of it out first. I would try the combination of both baby wipes and magic eraser if it were my carpet. I've heard of the hairspray thing before but I've never done it myself. Good luck and keep us posted. I love to find new and "easy" fixes for our little kiddie emergencies.

hi T....
after you tried these other suggestions and if still need to try something else..

use a razor/trimmer and gently shave off the top of the area which is marked. if you do it gently and slow it won't be very noticable & when the kids are napping or in bed so they won't try to copy you another day.

razor, nail clipper, thread puller/cutter,.or scissors (the small kind like you might have in your make-up stuff.)
and you might also practice it a bit like the other solvents in an out of the way area to get the 'gist' of it before trying it in the middle of the floor.

good luck,
-marg

You could try oxiclean. I know it works well with carpet stains, but not sure about permanent pen. Good luck! I know the feeling, I have a two yr old and a large stock of magic erasers in our house! lol

--- 2 ideas - and likely you'll need them both -
a --- call or contact the maker of the colored marker -
b- call your land-lord and ask what the fabric in the carpet is made of and tell them in a calm manner that a marker made a spot ( You DONT need to tell them now how big the spot is) -- and you want to do your best to clean it without making the problem worse.

I'll keep my fingers crossed

Blessings, Old Mom
aka- J.

I have 6 children and have had problems like this before. I have found a cleaner at the Dollar stores that works wonders on everything including permanent marker. The one I use is called Awesome. Like I said, I buy it at the Dollar store, so it is very cheap. I spray it on the spot, let it sit for about 10 minutes and then take a slightly damp cloth and work it out of the carpet. I swear by this cleaner! Hope this helps!

C.

Hi T.! Melaleuca has a product called Sol-U-Mel that, when used full strength, has taken permanent marker off for me before, though I haven't tried it on carpet =( It's totally safe and very powerful. You can order it from their website; if you'd like to get the preferred customer price I can help you with that.
T.
____@____.com

Un-Do! It's at most Scrap Booking & Craft stores. It's a liquid you can squirt on, it does wonders for everything!!!

I second the rubbing alcohol solution. Use a cotton ball to transfer the alcohol to a small section and hold a cloth diaper or other absorbant material behind the yarns to blot up the drips. It may help to rub it around a bit and may take a couple tries to get it all out. Also, after treating, you may want to steam clean or at least go over the area with a damp rag to remove any alcohol residue.

Try Brake Kleen! Last Halloween my daughter spilled black nail polish on the carpet. It tipped and bounced so there were 4 black spots that I was sure would never come up. We rent too, so I was terrified! It worked wonders! The spots didn't come up 100% - but enough to make it look like a regular wear-n-tear stain! Hope that helps!

http://ezinearticles.com/?Remove-Permanent-Marker-From-Ca...
Alcohol, hand sanitizer, or hairspray.

SOLUMEL!!!
www.jeanlandes.com

We have light colored carpet and use Windex for stains. Spray on and blot off. I would test a small area first. Good luck.

What I used to get all the stains out of the carpet at our last apartment (including horrible strawberry colored stains in light grey carpet) Is called AWESOME. I got it at the Dollar Tree, it is in a red spray bottle, it is Awesome carpet stain remover or something like that. Or you can get just regular AWESOME that comes in a clearish spray bottle, and full of yellow liquid, it is not dilluted, you have to do that yourself, but it works.. well, AWESOME!! LOL. It worked for everything.. and I have 3 boys!

My daughter threw up red Gatorade the other day and I tried everything. Finally I went back to some old remedies. I used 1 quart warm water, 1 tbsp laundry detergent (Tide HE) and 3 tbsp white vinegar. I poured a little on the spots and then took a clean white towel and blotted. I have to say I was totally amazed it came up.

Sorry, I dont really have a suggestion, but wanted to say thanks! My little one loves to color and get into all kinds of stuff, and needless to say ends up on the carpet (we to rent). We have fuit snacks mashed into the carpet too. Thanks for asking, I have gotten some great ideas for the posts!!!!

not sure if it will work on marker, but hairspray is really good on ink. Do you have a rug shampooer? If not you can rent one from safeway for like $25. Soak the spot in hairspray and let sits for a few minutes, then use a good shampooer/steamer to clean it out. It may or may not get rid of the spot but it should at least fade it.

We had success on our living room rug (not carpet, but a rug) with non-acetone nail polish remover. Test it in an out-of-signt corner first. Took the Sharpie right out with a Q-tip the first time... but it was NOT a big spot.

Good Luck!

I'd say depending on how deep it is in the carpet, you might be able to trim it out... just take a little off the top and see if you still see it... probably would never notice if the carpet was a tad shorter... just a suggestion!

I'd try oxyclean.. I'm always amazed at what it can get out of things.

not sure you have many options...what color is the carpet? can it be bleaches and then dyed? i also don't know how big of a space you are talking about, but I did see a talk show do a carpet repair solution show once, and they recommeneded taking a plate (or something els you can trace around) and cutting out the section that is ruined, then replacing it with a clean section of carpet (i.e. if there is extra carpet somewhere rolled up in storage). also, before trying anything, I would call a professional carpet cleaner and the landlord!