sharpie ink on seats?

my daughter's friend had drawings on her from a swim meet.. it rubbed off on the seats any suggestions on how to get it off?

i think i heard that nail polish might take it off

I have removed sharpie ink with goo gone or goof off.

had it on my deck from same type of thing. Scrubbed with a brush and it was better, but still there. After a few times out I 'm guessing it faded in the sun cause I can't find the spots anymore?

Larry about two weeks ago on a very hot day I was out on the lake and was filling up some ballast bags for surfing. I had set one of the fly high sacs on my rear seat while I filled another one. When I lifted up the ballast bag it had left a stain from the red print screen on the bag. I was pissed and didn't think it would come out. The next day was another very hot day. I removed the seat cushion from the boat and layed it in the yard for about 3-4 hours and the stain was gone without a trace. You cannot tell where it was it is just gone. The same will happen with the shaprpie. Let it sit in the yard in direct sunlight for a day.

hmmm... tempted to try the sunlight thing but i'm afraid it will bake it in instead! thanks guys for the info.

LOL what do you have to loose. It won't get any worse than it is now. I know others who've been in your spot before, don't doubt the power of UV.

magic eraser

X2 on the Mr Clean Magic Eraser. My wife gets all kinds of stains off stuff from our three boys with those. Just test it on a small spot.

Sunshine will do the trick, just be patient.
I had a brand new boat on it's maiden voyage that someone left a wet RED towel on! Turned a white seat pink!! I almost cried, and the person felt like an arse.
I scrubbed with everything known to man and nothing.
But after few days in the sun, the stain was gone

All you will do with the magic eraser is take a layer off your seat and you don't want that. The magic eraser should be used as a last resort on vinyl only. I would stay away from the magic eraser and stick to the all natural sunshine.

sold on good ole sunshine.. thanks folks!

sunscreen. Really. Regular old sunscreen. Rub it in with a towel, it will remove it. We've done this TONS of times on new and old boats in college, as ppl would get written all over when they passed out, and get int eh boat the next morn.

Larry, let me know how it works out. This just happened to our boat last weekend, and i'd like to get it off asap!

Same thing happened on my brand new boat ( about 3 weeks after I got it) I took some 10% benzoil peroxide ( face wash) and put it on a q-tip. was very careful to keep it off the stiching , but applied it along the mark and left it in the sun for abtou 15-20 min. totally erased after that. I then washed down with some water.

x3 dont use the magic erasers, too abrasive.

MR CLEAN IS MY FRIEND

Sounds like your sold but yeah UVA/UVB does the job every time and I've had several issues with bleed off on the seats in my boat. It works on the gel coat too. I had some plastic pennants on my boat during our 4th parade. They blead off but it was gone within a few hours.

Isopropyl Alcohol (rubbing alcohol) will take out sharpee. Most organic solvents will, but IPA is not going to ruin your vinyl as fast.

Magic eraser. I used to do 1-2 magic eraser cleanings a year on a boat that I owned for 5 years and there were no adverse effects.

^^^ Try it on your gelcoat and see how it effects that.

^^^ MAgic eraser is like taking sandpaper to your vinyl. It will remove topcoats ( protectant layer)

We are not talking about gel coat, he got sharpie on his vinyl, read the title.

I operated a boat dealership for 3 years and cleaned, washed, waxed, polished, repaired a few hundred wakeboard boats. Magic Eraser is not going to hurt his vinyl unless he abuses it and/or scrubs way too hard.

On a few different surfaces other than office whiteboards I have used the dry erase markers. Just mark over the sharpie and wipe off. Vinyl was not one of those "other surfaces", so i would find a piece you don't care about a give it a try first.

Alan I don't care what you've done with it, it's abrasive and not recommended for vinyl cleaning unless absolutely the last resort. I read the title and was telling you that if you think it does no damage try it on your gelcoat. Is that clear enough for you. I used to swear by them until I started to notice all the dull spots on my vinyl where I had used the magic erasers. It took the outer coating off of the vinyl. How about since you're pushing the use of it so hard you warranty his vinyl against the damage caused from the magic erasers. You up for it? My experience has been that just because someone has worked at a dealership doesn't mean they know crap about how to take care of a boat.

(Message edited by 05mobiuslsv on July 28, 2009)

(Message edited by 05mobiuslsv on July 28, 2009)

there is no magical transparant layer on yinyl it doesnt have a clear coat nor does gel coat. and they wont do anything to gelcoat except remove wax.

Sorry to stir the pot, but I have used magic eraser for years. It works great. I would agree that you should not rub into a spot so hard that you are rubbing the color out of your vinyl. Of course you should use a bit of caution, but the product works and is not going to damage your vinyl. If you really need to get a spot out and can use extreme caution take a splash of water and acetone (50/50) in a small cup and dip a Q tip in it and use it to rub at the mark. Be very careful as this will burn into your vinyl. Do it very slowly and you will see. It works, but yes you can damage it if you are not very careful.

This from a guy that keeps his boat less than a year!

I still say Magic Eraser as a last resort it's obvious how it works and I don't think consistently sanding small layers off of your vinyl is a good thing. Here it'd likely be fine although I don't think it would work.

Nu Bu, I am to boat ownership, as Chuck Norris is to the planet Earth.....

Don't be haten Hate N Pain... ha ha.....
I just tell it like it is. I think most people know I baby my stuff and take great care of my things.
Is it abrasive? yes
Will it ruin your vinyl? No unless you are going to town and using elbow grease. If you know how to use them, then use them. If you are scared, then you probably should not use them.

You guys are the same people that say use a brush on your vinyl (i do to) and claim it is not abbrasive. Take that same brush and rub it on your fiberglass and see if you get scratches. Yep it is abrasive too....

I will say I wish I would have bought stock in Mr Clean. They are as valuable as the 3M sticky note in my book.

I have a solution for extreme stains such as Sharpie ink...... “Off insect repellent”.

Last week I took my boat on an 8 hour road trip and I towed it with my mooring cover which happens to be blue. The cover left LARGE blue stains wherever it touched the vinyl. I tried everything to get these stains off and nothing would work. These stains were so large that I was seriously looking at having to re-upholster all of my sundeck cushions, captain’s chair, and bow side cushions.

My mother heard me talking about it and told me to try insect repellent. I thought she was crazy, but at this point I had nothing to lose. I sprayed it on and immediately wiped it off. The blue stains came off effortlessly! Granted, I sure this is not the best stuff to be spraying on your vinyl, but if you have exhausted all other alternatives insect repellent will work. Afterwards I applied a vinyl conditioner as a precaution to make sure there were no adverse effects from using the bug spray. So far so good, my vinyl looks brand new!

huh... interesting....^^^

Sure enough this just happened to me.

Kid comes over to my boat while hanging out with his lunch in hand - nicely labled by his mom with his name - and the Sharpie ink transfers onto my sun pad.

FOR ••••••••••

I just tried sunscreen, goo b gone, magic eraser...no luck.

Nothing like a new boat with some kids name inprinted on it.

Pissed

T

Trust me.... try the insect repellent!

Used goo off or goo gone as well. Insect repellent sounds interesting though.

get a thick brush, bleachwater, and some soft scrub and with a whole buch of elbow grease any stains in vinal will go by by... i work at a dealerships and use this daily... just rinse it off frequently and make sure to throw some protectant on when done... 303 works really well...