Cleaning permanent marker off film holders

StepheKoontz · Apr 21, 2019

Most of the used 4X5 film holders have those white marker boards filled with previous owners markings, of course using permanent marker. Obviously they are meaningless to us, but previously I couldn't clean it off to use my own markings. Recently I learned a trick for cleaning permanent marker off of a white board and it also works for this.

Get a dry erase marker and scrub over the permanent marker using the dry erase ink. Let it dry and then wipe off the residue. Then get some alcohol based hand sanitizer like purell and clean off the rest of the residue. You might have to repeat this a few times but it will eventually clean them and get back to a nice clean as new white board!

Steve Goldstein · Apr 21, 2019

I’ve found that 91% isopropyl alcohol will remove “Sharpie”.

Ian Grant · Apr 21, 2019

Agree although I use 100% IPA as that's how I buy it. If engrained I have used a spot of Cif (mild abrasive cream cleaner) on a cotton bud or similar.

Ian

GLS · Apr 21, 2019

Acetone is better than alcohols for removing inks, but must be used more cautiously as it can also damage some plastics.

Ian Grant · Apr 21, 2019

GLS said:
Acetone is better than alcohols for removing inks, but must be used more cautiously as it can also damage some plastics.

Acetone will definitely attack the plastics don't even attempt using it.

Ian

GLS · Apr 21, 2019

Ian Grant said:
Acetone will definitely attack the plastics don't even attempt using it.

Ian

Well I'm not talking about just pouring it on. Dipping a cotton bud into the acetone and wiping just the area in question with it should work. It could be trialled on a patch of the label material and seeing if it does any damage.

IPA I'm sure would also work, but probably will require more passes.

David A. Goldfarb · Apr 21, 2019

Alisyn Solvent/Cleaner for removing old dried lubricants from musical instruments, I’ve discovered accidentally, will remove permanent marker very effectively. I bought a quart of it and was transferring some to smaller dropper bottles that I’d marked in advance with a Sharpie, and a little dripped on the side of the smaller bottle, and the marker was gone instantly. You can find it at some larger musical instrument supply shops like Woodwind and Brasswind—

https://www.wwbw.com/Alisyn-Solvent-Cleaner-420382.wwbw

or order directly from Alisyn—

http://syntheticlubricants.aerospac...l-instrument-lubricant/alisyn-solvent-cleaner

jim10219 · Apr 21, 2019

Sharpie uses alcohol as the solvent in their ink, so alcohol will remove it. Alcohol is also safer on most materials than other, stronger solvents. Rubbing alcohol, denatured alcohol, or even high proof drinking alcohol like Everclear will all work.

Another trick is to use a sharpie to write over the old and then wipe it up while it is still wet. It uses the same principle, only you're using the alcohol in the wet ink to dissolve the dried ink.

Ian Grant · Apr 21, 2019

GLS said:
Well I'm not talking about just pouring it on. Dipping a cotton bud into the acetone and wiping just the area in question with it should work. It could be trialled on a patch of the label material and seeing if it does any damage.

IPA I'm sure would also work, but probably will require more passes.

Acetone even applied lightly will damage the surface of the plastics used, I know because I use it deliberately.for some repairs and also have commercial experience of solvent welding. All solvent based inks will be removes with IPA and no damage will be done, but pencil and china-graph pencils, and biros etc, were often used they sometimes need a very mild abrasive.

Ian

Patrick Robert James · Apr 21, 2019

Put me on the alcohol pile.

When you get the markings off do yourself a favor and cut a piece of masking tape to cover the white area so you won't have the issue again...

And while you are at it, mark your holder flaps with that binary thing Ralph posted years ago. Then you know what film was in what holder and you even know what side it was on. Makes it easy to take notes without having to figure things out later, and problem holders are easy to identify.

Sirius Glass · Apr 21, 2019

Once clean put your annotations on with pencil and they will come off with a soft rubber eraser.

Arklatexian · Apr 21, 2019

Sirius Glass said:
Once clean put your annotations on with pencil and they will come off with a soft rubber eraser.

+1

StepheKoontz · Apr 21, 2019

All this said, after I cleaned them I used my brother label maker to make some nice stick on labels so I know what is in them.

AgX · Apr 22, 2019

Often the dye of permanent markers migrates into plastics/varnishes over time.

In such cases grinding/polishing the surface is the only remedy.

RalphLambrecht · Apr 22, 2019

StepheKoontz said:
Most of the used 4X5 film holders have those white marker boards filled with previous owners markings, of course using permanent marker. Obviously they are meaningless to us, but previously I couldn't clean it off to use my own markings. Recently I learned a trick for cleaning permanent marker off of a white board and it also works for this.

Get a dry erase marker and scrub over the permanent marker using the dry erase ink. Let it dry and then wipe off the residue. Then get some alcohol based hand sanitizer like purell and clean off the rest of the residue. You might have to repeat this a few times but it will eventually clean them and get back to a nice clean as new white board!

I never understood why people use the permanent markers for this anyway.

AgX · Apr 22, 2019

Likely because they are most easy available.
And more resilient against accidential wiping-off than white-board markers.
And often easy to remove again (nonwithstanding what I wrote above). The binder and the respective solvent even changed over time.

Kilgallb · Apr 28, 2019

I work for an electronic white board company and we get this question a lot. We tell customers the procedure below which is just what the OP describes. We have tested many methods and this works and is safe.

To remove permanent marker (sharpie) cover the marks with expo dry erase black marker. The smelly type, not the low odour type. Let it sit for five minutes and wipe away with a soft cloth.

It might take a few tries to fully remove.

Apparently the solvent in an Expo dry erase marker dissolve sharpie ink. Do not use Acetone, it is bad for You and bad for the plastic.

DREW WILEY · Apr 28, 2019

PEC film cleaner will remove it without attacking the plastic, or in the case of wooden filmholders, the varnish. Acetone will
haze the ABS and vinyl plastics that filmholders are made of.

Cleaning permanent marker off film holders

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