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Removing Blue Sharpie

R

rapid_ascent

Well Known Member
Hey folks,

I I was just getting ready to rivet my hinge pieces to the seat floors. Then the unexpected happened, I can't seem to remove the marking that I put on with my blue sharpie. I've tried the normal lacquer thinner and several other solvents but I can still see my markings. Anybody have any ideas?
 
Yeah Lacquer thinner usually works for me too, but for some reason these marks aren't coming off. Maybe because they've been on there for a while. Not sure.
 
rapid_ascent said:
Yeah Lacquer thinner usually works for me too, but for some reason these marks aren't coming off. Maybe because they've been on there for a while. Not sure.
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Did you write on top of primer or are the markings on bare aluminum? In the first situation, I've found that I have to scotchbrite off all of the primer to remove the marks.
 
terrye said:
Isopropanol (isopropyl alcohol) available at drugstores.
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+1 works well and less dangerous than most. Acetone is a last stop. I had some red in a shirt and cleaned with iso alcohol, but still left stains. Wore it in the yard for working and the sun did the rest to my surprise.
 
Sharpie

BillL said:
+1 works well and less dangerous than most. Acetone is a last stop. I had some red in a shirt and cleaned with iso alcohol, but still left stains. Wore it in the yard for working and the sun did the rest to my surprise.
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I use denatured alcohol. If they are on a painted surface, they may have to be scuffed off.
I put my markings on flanges where they will never be seen again. No need to remove.
 
Easiest

Just trace over the markings with the same pen (or same style). the solvents that let the ink flow out will dissolve the already dried out ink, then you can use mek (or your favorite solvent) to quickly wipe it away.

This works when somebody accidentally grabs a sharpie and writes all over a dry-erase board.... should work well on aluminum too.

Don
 
Mike S said:
Brake Kleen works well to remove Sharpie.
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As long as it is not the California blend. Ca took all the fun aggressive stuff out of these products. if it says not for sale in CA, you may do better just buying orange juice to clean anything. Sorry, just a technician venting here :cool:
 
Sharpie will bleed through to top coat..... ask me how I know :rolleyes:

If it is on bare aluminum, cellulose thinners removes but you may see a ghost on the ali - it won't grin, it is just the reaction of the Sharpie solvent.

If you have primed over the Sharpie and it has grinned through, you will need to remove the primer either mechanically or by thinners if you are using a 2 part system as opposed to an epoxy system.

I always have a 120x plastic Coke bottle of cellulose thinner on the bench - useful for all sorts of cleaning, de greasing etc etc.
 
It's my understanding that the hinges have a clear anodize coat on them. I noticed if you let sharpie stay for long periods of time on anodize or powder coated parts almost nothing works unless you remove the coat as well. I too couldn't get marks off them hinges so I left it knowing that the seats would cover them.
 
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I suspect the chemicals in the sharpie ink might etch the surface of aluminum slightly. Even after the color is gone, you can still see a faint line.
Any chemists out there?
 
JonJay said:
I suspect the chemicals in the sharpie ink might etch the surface of aluminum slightly. Even after the color is gone, you can still see a faint line.
Any chemists out there?
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Chemical engineer, not chemist. I doubt there is much chemical interaction between the solvents in the ink and aluminum. Probably just slight surface scratching from the fiber applicator in the pen.

You could test this hypothesis by making various marks with different pressures on the pen, wiping the ink away with acteone, and then comparing the residual marks.
 
Ray, acetone is my go-to solvent for cleaning everything in the kit, including the aluminum markings from the factory, sharpie pens, and undesired primer. I've gone through several gallons so far. It's nasty but apparently not as nasty as MEK which the great state of California doesn't let us buy. I found it doesn't clean sharpie off the powder-coated parts. It also won't remove those paper part-number-stickies, which you need to scrape off and then use something like Goof Off Adhesive Remover.
 
Draker said:
It also won't remove those paper part-number-stickies, which you need to scrape off and then use something like Goof Off Adhesive Remover.
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Peel off what you can with a popsicle stick, and then use Gorilla Tape to dab off the leftover adhesive. Rub your (always) dirty finger over the area to detect any missed adhesive residue.
 
Depends on how long the sharpie mark has been on.
If you put it on, do whatever you are going to do and then take it off it will come off with denatured alcohol. If it has been on a while it will take acetone to remove it.
I have three cans of solvent under my bench. I always start with denatured alcohol, if that doesn't work then I get the acetone. When that doesn't work I pull out the nuclear option, MEK.
 
Well I went ahead and installed the seat floors so I'll have to be much more careful with any further experimentation of removal.

It was interesting though. I had a couple of hinges where it came off without any problem. Maybe I used a different marker. I also had some more recent marks that I just added before I removed the hinges from the floor pieces. Those came off without any issue. So it seems to just be the marks that have been on for a long period. They are just a faint blue now but still visible.
 
1001001 said:
Chemical engineer, not chemist. I doubt there is much chemical interaction between the solvents in the ink and aluminum. Probably just slight surface scratching from the fiber applicator in the pen.

You could test this hypothesis by making various marks with different pressures on the pen, wiping the ink away with acteone, and then comparing the residual marks.
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In have (tested), it does (scratch), just like you said. Mechanical mark.

I wrote final assembly notes on the wings of things as they were flight ready. They were removed after first flight. Light polishing and they disappear.
 
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