Removing Sharpie From Acrylic

Shayla

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I managed to smear some Sharpie on the front of a small painting and noticed a day later. It's to the right of the 'a'. Know of any way to take it off?
Not that this matters for the answer, but it came from the 'circle' on that wee bit of puffy plastic.

framing sharpie on acrylic.jpg
 
Maybe add another letter??:faintthud:

...or, maybe try a bit of alcohol on a Q-tip and try a tiny spot of it first.
 
I managed to smear some Sharpie on the front of a small painting and noticed a day later. It's to the right of the 'a'. Know of any way to take it off?
Not that this matters for the answer, but it came from the 'circle' on that wee bit of puffy plastic.

View attachment 32788

If there was more room, I could make it look like 'Framah'. :cool:
 
About 25 years ago I phoned the Sharpie people about this issue, and they did not know.

Maybe it''s time to make a second call.
 
No one might even notice.....

If anything, I’d try to scrape it lightly. Maybe take some magic eraser to it.
I doubt any fluid would make it come out and I would be hesitant to use it.

Agreed. Not doing anything until our lady sees it. She's so laid back, she might not even care.
It's a cheap painting she bought online, and she might just paint over this herself. In fact, maybe I'll suggest that.
 
Honestly, the mark is So slight that if you said nothing I'm sure that it would never be noticed.
But, once you bring it up to the customer, she might look at it and really focus on it.

It's not the Mona Lisa so it's not really about a major issue.

I know a product that would work if you want to go there.
We get our mat boards in plastic bags from our suppliers,
We like to re-use these bags for finished framing but they have our company name written on the bags in very large letters with a felt tip pen.
I use a product that we have in the shop and wipe the felt tip off with a paper towel and it's gone.
It doesn't leave any mark on the plastic bag.
We also use the product to clean excess corner putty and felt tip from the frames when needed.
I have also used this on artwork VERY CAREFULLY AFTER TESTING to remove marks.
We always test first on a scrap because on some mouldings, it can remove patina.

If you really feel that you need to try to remove the almost invisible mark you can try this with a Q-tip and the product.
I would test a very small area first but I'm sure it would work.

I don't want to post the product name in the thread because I don't want anyone to try this on something that it won't work on and then blame me for suggesting it.
I have 50 years of experience, I still work full time and I know a few things.
PM me if you want to know the product referenced.
 
Maybe I'm reckless, but i would give Framah's suggestion a go. Sharpie is alcohol soluble. You should be fine to try dabbing it off.
 
Painting over a marker ink will not work in the long term. Ink will work its evil way back into view over the years. Unless you use shellac first.
 
Painting over a marker ink will not work in the long term. Ink will work its evil way back into view over the years. Unless you use shellac first.
After that post, I remembered what once happened to the backs of some mat samples. At the top backs of them, I write A, B or C for which company it is. Changed Sharpie size to small, after the fat one bled yellow through to the fronts of some. It took a long time, but happened. Your note is a good caution, and thank you for writing.
 
Friend of mine was almost in tears when he came in. He was at a golf tournament fund-raiser and picked up an 8x10 photo of some hockey great, had it signed, and somehow the signature had almost faded away to nothing by the time he brought it in.

The same day!
 
I was once a proud member of the Fine Art Trade Guild. Still got the certificate which was one of the first things I framed.
It had two sigs on it by the Guild worthies which have completely vanished. Given that this professional body is an arbiter
of conservation standards, this didn't give me much confidence. 😕 Anyway, when they put the subscription up I bailed out. 😂
 
LOL - I have a couple of framing "diplomas" (my CPF is one and the other was for a now-defunct group called the Picture Framers' Guild, which employees could join instead of the PPFA, which at the time was only for owners) which have disappeared signatures. I show them to people who bring in diplomas to emphasize the need for conservation glass (even though few diplomas are actually signed these days, signatures are pre-printed along with the diplomas).
 
Try the alcohol method first very lightly with a q-tip because I believe Sharpies are alcohol based.

If that doesn't work, use a conservator's trick... enzyme cleaning. Rinse your mouth out well then work up some saliva and spit it out onto some surface. Take a q-tip and apply saliva to the mark you wish to remove. Let it sit for a couple minutes and lightly brush with the q-tip. Let it sit another minute and reapply the saliva if it starts to dry out. Blot with a paper towel.

You want the enzymes in your saliva to do the work so don't try to remove it immediately and you DO NOT want to scrub. Just lightly brush with the q-tip.

I'm serious. Conservators don't normally tell you about this because most people don't want to know that you spit on their art! 😜🤣 :icon9:,. It works without disturbing the paint or the varnish. I've cleaned entire paintings this way with amazing results.

See #2 in the below link for a more detailed description.

 
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I find by referring to this method as using an "enzyme cleaner" has a tendency to impress most folks. They never ask where the stuff comes from or what the brand name is. Works on frames, photographs (water processed - not digital prints), oil and acrylic paintings. ;)
 
I did it with Unstick. Tested a sample first, then the real thing. If it had been a single color, with a lot of shine, the fix would have shown up, but on this, it was great. When she picked up today, I had to tell her it had even happened. Thanks to an anonymous Grumbler for the suggestion.
 
I did it with Unstick. Tested a sample first, then the real thing. If it had been a single color, with a lot of shine, the fix would have shown up, but on this, it was great. When she picked up today, I had to tell her it had even happened. Thanks to an anonymous Grumbler for the suggestion.
I don't know if I'm the "anonymous Grumbler" but I'm glad it worked.
I just didn't want to post a product that I thought would work and have someone try it without testing and have an issue.
I've learned many things in 50+ years of framing.
I'm still working full time with an amazing full plate of stuff to do even with 7 of us working.
We have 6 computers in the shop now.
(I still remember 8 track tapes, televisions with no remotes and only 3 channels, rotary dial phones and dial up internet).

I am in charge of the one design company framing that slams us with SO much work that we now have one computer and a production list that is just designated for this company besides the regular crazy retail and other commercial stuff that we have.
I stretched 30 large gallery wrapped canvases in floaters for them last week with more and more coming
This is the company run by the great lady I used to work with back in the 90's before she opened her own company in 2001.
This lady, along with the other 6 women who work with her at their design company, does an amazing amount of high end design and framing and she just piles up the designs and the frame choices and we get the work and then I get to work.:cool:
 
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A thing I've just thought of.....

You can get little 'pens' that are designed for cleaning small electrical contacts. They have a bundle of
fine glassfiber strands that you wind out as they wear down. I call them 'Bristle Sticks'.

They allow very fine and controllable abrasion. I use them on matboards as the next step-up from an eraser.
Rescued many a mat with one. 😁 That would be my weapon of choice on that job.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/163356-REG/Hama_HA_5629_Contact_Cleaner.html
 
I have one of those bristle sticks around here somewhere. Never really figured out what to use it on. Now, if I ever find it again - I will know!
 
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