How to Get Marker/pen/colored Pencils off Furniture?

Like many others...the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser (Extra Power is even better) gets out Sharpies. I used to teach in the inner city and would use it to remove graffiti. It's truly "magic" and would work on the fridge, dressers, fireplace, etc. That being said, if you're a perfectionist like me, you'll notice that it does remove the sheen from glossy paint a little. So, try a test spot. I'd use Spot Shot for rugs. Good luck and switch to Color Wonder by Crayola.

try hairspray, I know it removes ink form some things

Updated

try hairspray, I know it removes ink form some things

Sometimes on hard furniture a magic rub eraser (like the kind from art class in school) will take off permanent marker. Hairspray takes ink out of almost anything... you just have to spot test to make sure it won't leave a mark. Usually you can use the hairspray to get out the ink and then use warm water to get rid of the hairspray.
Good luck with your little artist!

If you have leather furniture that she has marked on, a good place to go for help is http://www.thatleatherguy.com and contact a guy named Todd, who has been in business for thirty years. (By the way, this is not Todd writing an ad for himself - it is his bride speaking. I'll grant you that my opinion may well be prejudiced, but I can tell you that he is well-respected and well-known in the trade, that really knows what he's doing, that he won't take your money if it's not worth it for you to fix it.) Speaking from my own experience with leather furnishings, it would not be recommended for you yourself to attempt to clean something off leather without your first knowing what kind of leather you have (there are over 200 kinds of finishes, so it would be difficult for you to know) and what it's tolerances are (some are cleanable, some are not). And the technique used to remove marker, etc., would depend upon what your daughter used to write with.

I empathize with your daughter's urges - I distinctly remember being caught drawing with red crayon on my mother's soft green wallpaper. I thought I was beautifying the wall, but I quickly found out Mother did not feel the same way! :)

As for a solution about restricitng access to the markers: how about keeping them in a little cash box or tool box that has a lock on it. That way even if she finds their hiding place, she still can't get at them. Can't imagine that what's in those permanent markers is really very good for the body, so I'd be in favor of taking a strong measure like that.

Well, I have tried sol-u-mel even as recent as last week, and it does NOT take any stains out for me!

Use glycerin for the carpet, Goof Off for the wood and brick and stainless steel, and if you have leather, use Neutrogena face soap on a damp cloth.

Good luck!

I know something great if it is in your wal-mart. It is the blue spray bottle of Dawn dish cleaning spray. It is like power dissolve. It works wonders. It will even take out oil, red mud, and pen from clothes. I just spray it on and drop the clothes in the wash. I have used it to even get melted crayon off my car set. I was so upset when I found that gift.

i actually just answered a question very similar to this! lol. so i am going to cute and paste my response if you dont mind!

i get my cleaner online and it is the best stain fighter EVER. i use it to get the pen, marker, juice, syrup, etc out of our microfiber sofa. It has also taken marker, hot sauce, and chocolate soy milk out of our carpets (which are a very pale off white/gray berber) it helps deodorize too. you have to buy it online, and im not sure how you feel about that, but for me its worth it. i just started buying all of my cleaning stuff through them, it made it a lot easier. http://www.HealthySafeAndClean.com is where you can go if you want to check it out. Just fill out an information request and say that you want to know about natural stain fighters, someone will call you with the details.

mr clean magic erasers are amazing for nearly everything! also the color magic line is fabulous bc they only work on the magic paper.

For the fabrics I recommend Spot shot. It's around $5 a bottle. You can find it at Walmart and most grocery stores. Blue bottle with an orange top. While we were out of town our dog cut her foot and we came home to dried blood all over the living room carpet and "her" chair. Spot Shot got every bit of it out. When my son went through his Picasso stage, he colored my beige couch (and I mean COLORED - we honestly thought we were going to have to replace it) with black permanent marker...again spot shot saved the day. When he decided to redecorate the couch cushions with red sharpie...spot shot saved the cushions. It does smell a little strong...not bad, kind of like undiluted carpet cleaner. So I usually go over things with my steam cleaner with water to help with the smell, but it's not something I have to do. I also use spot shot on my clothes for bad or greasy stains. For the non fabric items, the magic erasers work pretty well on most spots (but I usually test a small area first).

Switch everything to washable crayons/markers and save, donate, or throw out anything that marks permanently. I do not think you can ever get out a permanent marker like Shapie. For anything else, try a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, or a product called Oops (which is usually over with the commercial strength glues at the hardware store).

Lastly (save your sanity) by putting all the drawing stuff in a bin that you keep out of reach. When she asks for it, have her sit at the kitchen table.

First of all, get all the permanent markers out of your house or out of her reach. I'm sure you have already done this but honestly, I only allow them to have washable markers, crayons etc....anything that comes in goody bags or from a restaurant goes in the trash. Second see if you can find a product called Amodex. It is recommended by Sharpie as a permanent ink remover. It does work, although truly works best if you have not applied any other spot removers on the area. It can be tough to find. I may have found it at CVS or even the grocery store. Also, if you go to the Sharpie website there are some tips there (or at least there used to be) Good luck

A lot of people recommend Solumel to me (to get nail polish out of carpet)but I found it was tricky to buy, you have to sign up for a whole membership and buy lots of their products which I found annoying. I ended up using acetone on my carpet and it worked fine. Try Spot Shot for the fabrics, that stuff really does work great and its cheap and at walmart, kmart, grocery stores etc.

SOL-U-MEL will get it out…whatever it is. I used it just this weekend to get non-washable marker off the fridge and pen off the furniture. I use it as a stain lifter on clothes too. It’s amazing. Good luck!

mr. clean magic eraser - i have no idea how it works - but it got nail polish (a rubbed off from my finger nail) off the wall

also, take away all her writing utensils and get the color wonder markers and paper. the markers only work on the specified paper

May sound strange, but...toothpaste! Works like a charm on most surfaces.

My daughter wrote with a Sharpie in my husbands new car all over the leather seats, the cloth ceiling cover and the DVD video screen. He looked it up on the Internet and the Sharpie company recommended using brake fluid. It worked like magic. Even on the delicate video screen. Good luck.

Toothpaste takes out permanent marker off of wood without removing the varnish. I found this tip online and tried it and it worked super! The entire Sharpie mess came off of our kitchen table. I thought for sure we were stuck with a marked up table but it really did work and it was cheap and simple.

Plain ol' rubbing alcohol will do the trick for permanent markers on anything you can use rubbing alcohol on, like plastic toys, etc. You can also use it on other surfaces, like walls and even wood, but beware it will most likely ruin finishes.

Mr Clean Magic Erasers. They get everything clean. My kids draw all over everything too and I just run the magic eraser over it and it takes it right out.

I use some great natural products that work wonders on stains - they even get rasberry stains out of carpets. It's a concentrated formula, so you may need to use a pretty strong solution, but they work great for me. There's a bunch of other products that are great and that are safer for your household as well. www.livetotalwellness.com/joycita. I really like all of their prodcuts, and I think they all work so much better than their grocery store counterparts. Good luck!
J.