Pen marks on wood

[PickledFanjoCat]

Does anyone have some tips on how to get biro marks off a wooden table? My toddler has been busy!

Hi Pickled. A few questions: what type of wood is it?

Is it varnished?

Is the surface scratched? If so, how deep?

Hi Nicholas, I think its pine and it does have a varnished finish, the marks are surface only but they are not coming out with any cleaning product.

He didnt manage to scratch too deeply.

Thanks for you help!

Have you tried a small amount of wd40?

If you have a hard polyurethane type varnish you can probably try surgical spirits or methylated spirits as long as you wash it off with soapy water straight away afterwards!

When dd "accidentally" got permanent marker on light wooden sideboard a neighbour recommended using a laundry stain remover- it worked! I had one of thus kind of roll on ones.

You're lucky it's not scored into the surface given the softness of pine. As it's varnished I'd use (like Educatingarti) surgical spirit. If it hadn't been varnished I'd have recommended sanding down to minimise scoring and remove the marks. With this method keep the dust, mix with a little PVA and use the mixture to fill in any holes before sanding it flat.

Thanks everyone, I will try that. I suppose its the first of many things that will start getting ruined. Much appreciated!

Oh yes, it's the first in a long line of stuff. :o

My son signed his name with biro on an oak chest of drawers.

It came off with 'Liquid Gold' wood cleaner.

My DH is a teacher and I always find the end of red ticks over our table
A lot of elbow grease with one of those JML magic sponge thing seems to do the trick. Good luck!