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Original poster

Help! Sharpie and toddler disaster!

54 replies

GreenDiscovery · 16/03/2018 09:05

DD has managed to find a sharpie and draw all over the sofa!! Any tips on how to remove? Will a boil wash get it out?

OP posts:
NotAnotherJaffaCake · 16/03/2018 09:52

Alcoholic hand sanitizer gel gets Sharpie off clothes, but it would take a lot to sort that sofa out!

SoupDragon · 16/03/2018 09:52

Good lord that’s bad! Sorry!

You’ve got nothing to lose by rubbing the marks with alcohol or a solvent and a cotton bud.

Bratsandtwats · 16/03/2018 09:59

Dd thought she would help and has drawn a massive squiggle inside the welly. I'm going to try some of these ideas.

Why? The squiggle is inside, who is going to see it?

Notonthestairs · 16/03/2018 10:01

DS - then 4 years old - once drew a straight line with a sharpie from one end of the house to the other. It was at his head height. Rented house. White walls.

I had to paint over it multiple times.

VivaKondo · 16/03/2018 10:04

Lesson: never ever buy sharpies. They are the work of the devil, even when children are older.
They leak through paper, yu can’t remove it.
Anything is better than sharpies tbh.

Original poster
GreenDiscovery · 16/03/2018 10:04

It's good to know I'm not alone 😂 I should be thankful it's just our sofa. We rent too and would have heart failure if she had drawn on the walls or floor Shock

OP posts:
AdoraBell · 16/03/2018 10:09

I’ve been told that milk gets biro off fabric, but I haven’t tried and don’t know if it would work with Sharpie.

Good luck.

Terftastic · 16/03/2018 10:14

Wow, she really went for it didn't she! Grin

Be thankful you can turn the cushions over - I don't think sharpie comes off. It's very very permanent and not suitable for toddlers.

BuffyBee · 16/03/2018 10:19

Don't just wash them! Try with Vanish or something first.

Just turn them over for today until you get some.

liquidrevolution · 16/03/2018 10:40

I really think sharpies need to be banned from houses with under 10s in!

Turning over the cushions is a good move.

TheFaerieQueene · 16/03/2018 11:01

Get a throw and put it over the sofa. I don’t think it will wash out.

trinesrad · 16/03/2018 11:13

isopropyl alcohol is the best stain remover ever. great for spotting carpets and even got some paint transfer off my bumper from a stupid post that had jumped out behind me (thai i didd'nt see)
so it should help.

Dowser · 16/03/2018 11:19

We have an excellent carpet cleaner and car valet in our town who has been on lots of courses and buys excellent chemicals.
I’d ask him but in the absence of him I’d just be careful with stuff like vanish. He posted a picture the other day of the white spots on a cream carpet where a lady had used vanish.

duvetdaysgone · 16/03/2018 11:20

I found milk will dissolve most ink stains but failing that take off the covers and place an old towel in the seat cover, dampen and spray with hair spray and blot it. Every time you blot the stain use a dry/clean part of the towel. Keep repeating until the stain comes out. It might take a while but it does work.
Good luck 👍

Dowser · 16/03/2018 11:21

If she’d drawn on the walls you could try the magic erasers things.
They are very good for getting pen and crayon marks off walls and doors.

MrsPepperpot79 · 16/03/2018 11:31

Wow. No idea - but noting others suggestions with interest! My toddler got hold of a sharpie last night and drew with it - fortunately (!) only on herself. Blue hands for a while but at least that I know it will eventually go! Still no idea where from though - currently suspecting older DDs of smuggling some into the house!

UpstartCrow · 16/03/2018 11:34

Alcohol hand gel gets it off hard surfaces, but I've seen Sambuca burn a hole through nylon fabric so use a test patch where it wont show.

Lostmyunicorn · 16/03/2018 11:37

Haven’t read all posts but HAIRSPRAY is what you need. It gets permanent marked out of fabric. Spray it on and dab it. It really does work. Rubbing alcohol also works.

sentenceinterrupted · 16/03/2018 12:05

I'm hoping this might turn out to be an ikea sofa bed that I can buy a replacement cover for ... anyone recognise it before I spend hours trying to remove this?

Help! Sharpie and toddler disaster!
Help! Sharpie and toddler disaster!
Knittedfairies · 16/03/2018 12:13

I found mumsnet while searching ways to remove ballpoint pen from a cream leather sofa, less than a month old, so I feel your pain! ( Tips I got didn’t work but found something else online which did)
I think turning over the cushions is your best bet.
Forgot to mention the culprit with the pen was my husband..

Dakiara · 16/03/2018 13:27

I'd turn the cushions until she's older then recover the top ones in a contrasting fabric. My sympathies - mine did that on a sofa ATM and it never did come off.

Re: red sofa - you could try hand stitching some contrast patches all over the sofa to cover the sharpie marks? Or you can get a patch of leather or something to cover each arm?

Elphame · 16/03/2018 13:29

Hair spray is my go to when I spill permanent hair dye on my clothes. It takes the stains out like magic. Spray, leave then launder.

sentenceinterrupted · 16/03/2018 15:08

It's not my (red) sofa so I've got to try and keep it the way it is. I've just put myself to bed as I think the vomiting bug has finally found me (it's gotten the kids already), but I'll try hairspray next...

thecatsarecrazy · 16/03/2018 15:12

When my son was about 3 he got hold of one. Drew all over his hands and legs. Sneaky monkey came down with socks on his hands. Knew he had done wrong. I used tooth paste recently to get some off my table mats

Original poster
GreenDiscovery · 16/03/2018 16:09

Update!

Luck must be on my side Grin I've just got them out of the wash and the sharpie has gone!!!

OP posts: