Just got a new-to-me playboat and the Previous owner had his name written in black Permanent marker all over the inside of it. how can I remove that without damaging the boat…
Tommy
Rubbing alcohol.
That’s what we use at work to remove permanent marker (Sharpie) writing from glass and metal and plastic.
nail polish remover
Even more effective than rubbing alcohol (for the really stubborn stuff)…acetone, I believe.
Denatured alcohol,
– Last Updated: May-21-08 8:57 PM EST –
naptha (lighter fluid) or, my favorite, Bestine rubber cement solvent (heptane) will safely (read caution panel) remove 'permanent' marker from the surface of many non-porous plastics. If the marker has bled into the surface and 'stained' it, you might as well find some stickers you like or paint to cover it with. It's always important to wear gloves and goggles and work in a well ventilated area with any of the solvents mentioned so far. Dampen a clean cotton cloth with a small amount and rub with moderate pressure. I try to start with less aggressive solvents and work my way up. Acetone will dissolve many polymers, watch it with that stuff.
Will it hurt
Will the acetone hurt the boat?
DO NOT USE ACETONE
on thermoplastic (hard plastic). Nail polish remover is acetone. It will eat into it like acid into metal. Any time you want to use a solvent on plastic, test it on a tiny non-essential spot first.
cross it out
ever try
just using a pencil eraser? I have used one of them before to remove a sharpie grafitti artist in my home and it works well
gasoline
bing bing bing
Out of all these posts, we have winner.
Denatured Alcohol quickly and easily removes permanent marker. I stopped using permanent markers to identify items because of how quickly it worked. I just started engraving everything.
For petes sake …
… is it “polyethylene” your boat is made of ?? … just go and “TEST” wipe it with Acetone if you want to , and if it makes you feel better , do it in a inconspicuous place first test … I’ve poured straight “Acetone” right out of the can onto my polyethylene boat just recently because I couldn’t believe what others were saying that it might eat it !! … guess what , nothing happened except the Acetone evaporated fast leaving a cool surface , no heat or softening whatsoever , BUT test your own and proceed at own risk due to others who seem to have had bad experiences … what ever you try , “TEST” it first … fingernail polish remover contains lower percentage of Acetone and other ingredients … I’ll go and put some permenant marker on my boat and when it drys , I’ll give the Acetone test to see if it removes it ??
There , it’s done !!! …
… took all of 5 minutes … scribbled a Sharpie all over the bow of my “brand new” Old Town 16’-9" Expedition (haven’t even put it in water yet) , waited a whole minute to be sure it was dry … generously soaked the fold of a rag with “Acetone” straight out of the can and it wiped off instantly , no softening , no damage , no problem … my boat is “polyethelene” skin …
Put a P-net sticker over it
Why mess with it - - -
Gas works great…
for erasing mistakes. Especially when used with matches. Too bad I can’t afford the stuff.
Try acetone on your Royalex boat.
– Last Updated: May-22-08 7:52 AM EST –
Or try storing acetone in a LDPE (polyethylene) bottle, like I did. Agreed, Acetone is probably safe to use on HDPE but, why use such nasty stuff when less harmful or agressive solvents work equally well? There is a reason it comes in a metal can (or glass bottle as fingernail polish remover).
tkto …Most nail polish …
… bottles are made of pastic !!! … so tell , what happened when you stored Acetone in a LDPE bottle (and why did you do that , didn’t it already come in a container ??) … What happens when Acetone contacts a Royalex boat ?? … to my knowledge there are some 40 plus thermoplastics of which 14 are various polyethylene resins … I have been trying to melt, damage or affect thermoplastics with Acetone recently and haven’t had any success yet , anyone know what common plastic item I can have success with ?? …
I love working with acetone.
I’ve used it on every type of surface (boat’s) and have had no ill effect’s to the material’s cleaned. Very effective stuff. However … don’t let it ‘pool’ or stay too wetted on Royalex (the outer vynal skin), or any plastic’s, it will get soft and tacky, Useing a wetted paper towel or cleanish rag with a dabble of acetone on it with a vigorous wipe. The stuff evaporates so quickly there’s no need to attempt to dry wipe it off.
Stickers are great fun but …
… all those p.net stickers would get boring , the poster said “all over the inside” … maybe a bunch of different stickers like those old hippy buses ??
Acetone will dissolve…
the plastic that your computer and printer are made of. Try it! There are plenty of plastics the Acetone will dissolve. Wipe your flat screen TV with it. I would try the acetone on the marker writing on the inside of the plastic boat. You want something that will dissolve the surface skin. It’s not like the acid in the movie “Alien”. As soon as it evaporates the reaction is over. I used to draw with markers and the ink is alcohol based. But once it dries, alcohol does not want to dissolve it. It must be some weird alcohol type of mixture??
JayB. , what type of …
… thermoplastic is TV case made from ?? … what is it’s initials identifier or name ?? … Acetone has an interesting effect on it … I cut a sliver of my TV case w/razor knife, put it in my glass test tray , covered w/thin layer Acetone , during evaporation I was able to seperate into several pieces - reform (mash)them into flat sheet , when dry the result is a stable flat piece ?? … the most interesting to date is celophane food wrap , when placed in the dish with Acetone it instantly relaxed to a film almost as liquid , upon moving this film around w/toothpick it seemed to congel in a glob , put resulting glob on paper to dry , when dry I was amazed , I was able to manipulate glob with finger tips back into it’s original form still having almost identical flexable properties , wow , wonder what that’s all about ??