Tips for cleaning sharpie off of equipment?

[XOIIO]

Hey all, aside from trying to fix the 250v electrophoresis power supply I got (will be posting to the repair forum once I render/upload part 2, I'm stumped) I am working on cleaning some sharpie someone decided to scrawl the word "BLAU" on it. I got a magic eraser and that did pretty good, some of it is completely gone, rest is faded a lot, and it's good for getting other gunk off, but now no matter how hard I scrub it won't come off.

I also want to get some retrobright to clean the case at some point possibly if that would not ruin the black printing on it, but I just want to clean this sharpie off.

[RRobot]

I use magic eraser and isopropyl alcohol to remove marker. Goo gone might work as well.

[XOIIO]

I use magic eraser and isopropyl alcohol to remove marker. Goo gone might work as well.

Do you put the alcohol on the eraser? I have a bit somewhere around here...

[smashedProton]

Personally I use vodka 

[free_electron]

citrus oil , goof-off , orange oil terpentine.

[T3sl4co1l]

Pretty much anything... a greasy finger will do, if it's a smooth surface...

Among common solvents, to actually dissolve the stuff and get it soaked into a rag, anything alcohol or better will do.

Tim

[XOIIO]

Scrubbed it for half an house watching a video on youtube, got it maybe, 60% gone.

Man it's a pain on this.

[rdl]

Sharpies and similar markers use dyes and not pigments for the color. Some of it will absorb into plastics and other porous materials, so it's hard to remove completely. They are generally not highly UV resistant, so maybe after most is cleaned off, put in sunlight for a day or so and see if it fades.

[XOIIO]

Got impatient so made a topic in the repair forum already, there may be some overlap with people saying I should check something I already have but maybe someone has a brilliant idea and helps me fix it tonight lol, all I know is it's nearly and 8 gig upload so I don't want to wait XD

Anyways, check out that video, you can see what it was like before, and this is how it is now. Considerable improvement I suppose but still looks bad.

[G7PSK]

When the ink has gone into the plastic or paint the best thing to use is T Cut which also brings the surface up like new. Not sure what T cut is called in other parts of the world but it is a mild abrasive polish for buffing car paint work so any other make of such a polish should also do the trick. I keep a bottle on the shelf next to the IPA and contact cleaner as I use it so often, even removes light scratching from computer screens.

[XOIIO]

When the ink has gone into the plastic or paint the best thing to use is T Cut which also brings the surface up like new. Not sure what T cut is called in other parts of the world but it is a mild abrasive polish for buffing car paint work so any other make of such a polish should also do the trick. I keep a bottle on the shelf next to the IPA and contact cleaner as I use it so often, even removes light scratching from computer screens.

Alright, I'll see if we have anything like that around here, once I actually fix the power supply that is.

[nixfu]

Not sure what T cut is called in other parts of the world but it is a mild abrasive polish for buffing car paint work

Turtle Wax polishing compound.

[edm68]

WD40 usually works well on smooth painted surfaces. Not sure if it will in your application though.

[rob77]

isopropyl-alcohol (IPA) or industrial grade alcohol (95%+) + transparent polishing wax (or even toothpaste) -  successful in 98% of cases (at least for me).

[dfmischler]

I use an acetone solution, and it is pretty successful.  Obviously watch out for damage to plastics.

[SeanB]

Scribble over it with a dry wipe marker, then wipe off. A few goes and it will be a lot fainter.

[robrenz]

I would try Xylene, Toluene, or MEK with the magic sponge if they don't rapidly attack the paint.

[justanothercanuck]

Scribble over it with a dry wipe marker, then wipe off. A few goes and it will be a lot fainter.

That might work, depends on the material and how long the marker has been on there.  Judging by the picture, it's a metal casing, so its probably less porous than plastics (which is actually a good thing in this case).  Here's a video of trying to get marker off a GameCube using the dry-erase method...

[willb]

I've had great luck with nail polish remover.

[sunnyhighway]

I've had great luck with nail polish remover.

Which is just acetone in a extremely expensive small bottle.

But hey, if your girlfriend payed for it... 

[Stonent]

Scribble over it with a dry wipe marker, then wipe off. A few goes and it will be a lot fainter.

They use this at my wife's school.  She said also dry erase cleaner works well.

[electronics man]

hydrogen peroxide solution?

[mbwiz]

I use dry eraser marker to remove permanent ink...

Yes this is correct...

Take a standard dry erase marker, and write over the permanent ink, then wipe it with a cloth...

Dry erase marker have a solvent that keeps the ink from drying.
When you use it on a permanent ink, you are adding the solvent , so it dissolve the permanent ink.

[TerraHertz]

Ah, it's a textured surface. And plastic. So you've got *both* problems - ink dye diffusing into the plastic, and dye sitting in the bottom of low points of the surface texture.

A similar problem I encounter is with that textured greenish vinyl Hewlett Packard laminated onto the aluminum panels of their instruments. Then people write on it with felt pens, damn them.

What I found works well, is a fine brass wire brush, and alcohol (methylated spirits) and/or turps. (Best mix depends on the type of marker pen.)
Literally pour some solvent on the surface then press hard with the brush while scrubbing in a drifting circular motion, so every groove of the texture gets bristles run along it in every direction - a lot.

The bristles get the ink out of texture grooves. It doesn't take too long to completely remove the marker.

But that might ruin the texture on that plastic case you have. If the dye has also diffused into the plastic, you may not be able to remove it AND keep the texture.

Edit: Oops, I see as someone else mentioned, it's actually painted metal. The ink dye probably wouldn't diffuse much into enamel, so maybe the wire brush method would work. Will roughen the paint surface, so then use a polish to get the shine back.

Or heck, you could just paint-strip to the metal then respray it?

[Joule Thief]

Or heck, you could just paint-strip to the metal then respray it?

This was easy out option I chose on several Fluke 8012A DMM's I have reconditioned. The entire case was sprayed with a matte "camo" paint very close to the original light brown color. Results were impressive and all marker residue was covered completely.