Removing Sharpie Marker from Plastic

From: Mail List <mail.list_at_analog-and-digital-solutions.com>
Date: Fri May 16 09:55:01 2003

Hello Chad,

Perhaps you hadn't read the entire thread on this?

> Which may scratch painted metal, since comet is an abrasive.

Part of the previous messages was about getting Sharpie marker
off plastic. That's what I said I've used the alcohol / comet paste on.

> I doubt that an abrasive is a common gun cleaning recommendation.

You'd have to ask the gun experts. I'd never heard of this Hoppe's Powder
Solvent before. It wasn't I that was advocating it's use. But if I ever
have some,
I'd be willing to give it a try just to see how it did. But at the present
time, already
having a proven effective method of cleaning the Sharpie off plastic with
commonly
available materials already at hand, I don't yet have the need to run out
and get
any of the Hoppe's Powder.

>>Smooth finish plastic is all right
>>too.

> Not when it is surrounded by texture.

On something like a huge monitor, the marking were generally on the top
of the bezel. I'd cleaned / smoothed the top, stopping at the corners and it
looked acceptably ok when it was done. The corners provided a transition
point from being smooth on the top to textured on the sides.

Sometimes the parts are worth enough to put a lot of time into it, and
sometimes
they're not. As monitors declined in value, the time available to clean or
refurbish
them also had to correspondingly be reduced. Part of it also depends on how
much
spare time you have, and what value you place on that time. The time it
took to clean
a monitor as I describe below was only something I could do in times past.
With monitor
values having declined to where they are now, I could only do this cleaning
for one
I was going to use myself these days. I stopped selling any monitors a long
time ago,
and now excess ones only go to scrap. But ...

If you have an old 13" or 14" VGA monitor you've picked up at uni or gov't
surplus,
if it's an average small size PC monitor, it's not worth a whole lot these
days, so
you wouldn't be risking much to experiment on it. My method was to take the
back
casing off the monitor and clean it up in the bath. Squirt straight
dishwashing liquid
on a scrub brush, the sprinkle comet on heavily to get a paste, then scrub.
It scrubs
the sharpie marker off very very well. Then either let it dry overnight, or
blow dry with
air.

On the body of the monitor, since it couldn't go into the bath and get soaked,
I used the alcohol on a white paper towel and got off as much as I could. Then
I wet another paper towel with alcohol, sprinkled on comet, and scrubbed. The
alcohol comet paste scrubs the Sharpie marking off very well. When I cleaned
monitors this way, when I was done, they were so clean, even though they
started out dirty and marked up, when done, they looked like they just came
right out of the box new. The 20" Sony I'm sitting here in front of right
at the
moment was done this way. The results were perfect. The texture was not
disturbed in any noticeable way.

You can choose to disbelieve, or you can give it a try. Your choice.





At 02:57 AM 5/16/03 -0400, you wrote:
>Mail List wrote:
>>Yes, but the previous paragraph was about the kinder and gentler
>>alcohol / comet cleanser paste. Just requires mucho more elbow
>>grease.
>
>Which may scratch painted metal, since comet is an abrasive.
>
>>I'd bet the comet is similar to your Hoppe's Powder, but
>>not being a specialty product, probably is lower in cost, and being
>>found in every grocery store, more readily available.
>
>
>I doubt that an abrasive is a common gun cleaning recommendation.
>
>>Once you've tried it and gotten comfortable with the acetone technique, ie.
>>learned when it might work for you, and how to go about it, etc. It doesn't
>>really damage an item, it just modifies it. Smooth finish plastic is all
>>right
>>too.
>
>Not when it is surrounded by texture.
>
>>And clean is better than all marked up.
>
>Not when the cleaning is destructive. Besides there are alternatives that
>will clean and not be destructive.
>
>Try 3M's Adhesive remover. It's an auto body shop product.
>
>Chad Fernandez
>Michigan, USA
Received on Fri May 16 2003 - 09:55:01 BST