Sharpie out of Leather?

S

sixty7mustang22

New member
I am detailing a Land Rover tomorrow and the owner warned me that her young son had marked on the leather seat with a Sharpie pen. The dealer could not remove it (go figure) but they said they knew a guy who could. So apparently, it can be done.

I have only removed pen marks out of leather. I have never ran accross Sharpie marks since I began detailing. Call it luck I guess. For you guys that have ran accross this, what did you use?



Leather cleaner/conditioner has always removed pen marks for me, but I don't know if it will tackle Sharpie.



Suggestions?
 
I wonder if one of those Magic Eraser would work. You could also try a APC/Water Dilution or a Woolite/Water Dilution.







I know dry erase markers remove permanent markers. :chuckle:
 
Isopropanol is pretty good at getting Sharpie out of most things. Really, any alcohol based chemical should be pretty effective at getting Sharpie out.



However, I don't know what kind of effect those chemicals would have on leather.
 
DoubleT said:
Isopropanol is pretty good at getting Sharpie out of most things. Really, any alcohol based chemical should be pretty effective at getting Sharpie out.



However, I don't know what kind of effect those chemicals would have on leather.
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If you do go this route. I suggest dilute it really good and just get scrubbing. I rather scrub for 20 mins than use a strong chemical and destroy the leather..
 
I would suggest using whatever chemical(s) you end up deciding on, on an inconspicuous part of the leather (like maybe where it tucks under the driver or passenger seat) to see if it has any adverse effects on the leather itself.
 
weekendwarrior said:
I would suggest using whatever chemical(s) you end up deciding on, on an inconspicuous part of the leather (like maybe where it tucks under the driver or passenger seat) to see if it has any adverse effects on the leather itself.
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Yeah, I already knew this...but I would even feel bad if I messed up that area. So, I was trying to see if people had a combination that they knew would work and not hurt the leather.



Regardless, I am testing it in a hidden area.
 
sixty7mustang22 said:
Yeah, I already knew this...but I would even feel bad if I messed up that area. So, I was trying to see if people had a combination that they knew would work and not hurt the leather.



Regardless, I am testing it in a hidden area.
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Only problem with testing an area may be that the test area is more likely to be vinyl and if the application area is a "Seating surface" it will be leather. Not sure how similar the materials are, but still take caution even if the test area passes the test.
 
sharpie marks aren't that hard to get out, I usually just use my APC as I would throughout the interior, the marks just take a bit of finess, Aresol APC work well on magic marker also-Mr jinx by claire or crazy citrus clean by sprayway
 
I would think that the Sharpie mark is not going to come out of the leather, short of sanding and re-dyeing. I have struggled to remove regular ball point ink from leather using a strong dry cleaning solvent. Of course, I tried the usual APC's and alcohol etc. Please let us know if something works.
 
'Our mechanic uses Ozium on the interior leather of the airplane I fly. He has success getting ink and marker removed. Strange as it may sound for an air freshener??\r\n\r\nOzium Deodorizer'
 
I'd call Sharpie and ask them what their secret kryptonite is? Sometimes the makers of the product knows what it takes to remove them best.
 
Well, I have good news. And no, I didn't save on my insurance by switching to Geico...



It wasn't a Sharpie mark. It was a regular gel ink pen (which I found under the seat while detailing) and the ink came out with Stoners Invisible Glass. I got all worked up for nothing.



I'll know for next time though and maybe it will help someone who searches. Thanks guys!:werd:





brwill2005 said:
I would think that the Sharpie mark is not going to come out of the leather, short of sanding and re-dyeing. I have struggled to remove regular ball point ink from leather using a strong dry cleaning solvent. Of course, I tried the usual APC's and alcohol etc. Please let us know if something works.
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Kinda weird that you mentioned it being hard to get out regular ball point ink out with even APC. I saw that it wasn't a Sharpie and while I was cleaning the glass, I decided to try Stoners Invisible Glass since it has never discolored anything I have gotten it on and it took it right out. It didn't take much scrubbing at all at very light pressure. It came out that easy.
 
I always tell customers that ball point pen is a 50/50 chance of coming out. Some do and others don't. I would almost think a Sharpie would come off better than some pen ink.
 
I am glad you were successful. There was nothing weird about my comment. My situation was simply different than yours. The ink in the car you did came out easy, and the ink in the car I was referring to did not come out easy. That could be due to any number of factors; the type of ink, the type of leather, and how long it had been there. BTW, are you sure the ink was on actual leather, and not a vinyl surface? That makes a difference, because the ink will absorb into real leather, but not into vinyl. The point of my comment, was sharpie ink on real leather likely would not come out easily.
 
salty said:
I always tell customers that ball point pen is a 50/50 chance of coming out. Some do and others don't. I would almost think a Sharpie would come off better than some pen ink.
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Yeah, that is what I told her. It may not come out.



brwill2005 said:
There was nothing weird about my comment. My situation was simply different than yours. The ink in the car you did came out easy, and the ink in the car I was referring to did not come out easy.
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That is exactly why I thought it was weird that you mentioned that. Even though we are both talking about ink and leather, your was hard while mine was easy. Not that "OMG I can't believe you can't get it out as easy as I did!!!" Don't get all defensive.:wavey



And yes, I am sure it was actual leather. Probably with a coating however. Either way, it still takes cleaning to get ink out.
 
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