I am having problem while erasing my Whiteboard. Yesterday I used Permanent Marker on it. After that, I used dishwash scrubber to remove it. My board's surface is rough now and each time I write on it the ink gets stuck on it and gets rubbed only partially. Please suggest me a way to make my board smooth again and good to write.
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2Next time use alcohol to remove permanent marker.– blacksmith37Dec 3, 2021 at 16:48
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Or write over top of the permanent marker with a whiteboard marker. Then simply erase.– Greg BurghardtMar 1, 2022 at 19:33
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Then again if there is a LOT of permanent marker, go get a few 3-year-olds and let them color with the permanent marker. The more, the better!– Greg BurghardtMar 1, 2022 at 19:34
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3 Answers
Sounds like you've scratched the surface of the whiteboard - if it's only in a small area of the board you can sand the affected area using really fine sand paper until it's smooth and then apply some fresh white board paint over the sanded area.
If that sounds like too much work (and I wouldn't blame you - it's a lot of hassle) or a large portion of the board is affected then a better alternative (and arguably the more "lifehack" approach) would be to apply one of the "whiteboard sheets" over the whole surface and use that.
PS: It's too late now but if you find yourself in a similar situation in the future where you've written on a whiteboard in permanent marker a good "hack" for removing it easily is to color over the permanent marks using a non-permanent marker and you should then be able to wipe the whole lot off. This works because most non-permanent pens are actually just permanent ones with solvent added.
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1The top white layer of the board is usually very thin. Sandpaper-ing it even more is unlikely to get a good result - according to my vivid imagination, at least. I was not (yet) lucky enough to scratch white-boards - even though I left occasionally permanent marks.– virolinoDec 2, 2021 at 19:12
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@virolino yeah - the goal of the sanding in that process is not to reach unaffected surface but rather to remove the top layer in that area and provide a suitable surface to re-coat with the whiteboard paint. But yeah it's a complete PITA job and rarely worth the time and effort, hence my suggested hack :) Dec 3, 2021 at 13:16
Repairing scratched plastic can be a pain. If you do not have much to lose, you can try applying heat to the surface, and hope for the best.
Do not use open flame. The smoke will most likely get embedded in the plastic, and you will never be able to remove it. Use an electric heat gun, from some distance - you do not want to set the board on fire. Ideally, you start from very far, and you slowly come closer, until you see that something happens. Do not keep the heat gun over the same spot for a long time - you can overheat the plastic.
The idea is to heat the surface enough that the rough "corners" more or less melt and return to the main body of plastic.
I did not try this - not with a white-board, at least. I got the idea from a video I saw many years ago, where a guy repaired some scratched plastic inside of a car. Because the plastic was dark, he actually used some open-flame cigarette lighter. The scratches simply disappeared.
Disclaimer: the success of this solution depends on many factors. Be (mentally, financially also) prepared for disaster. Just in case :)
Removing permanent marker from a whiteboard is done usually by applying white-board marker over the permanent marker "marks", then removing the whiteboard marker "marks". Repeat. And repeat again. Be ready to spend quite a lot of elbow grease during this phase.
Note: before other repairs, please properly clean the surface of the board with dedicated alcohol. Any dirt, pigment etc can remain trapped in the plastic and it will not look very good in the end.
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1I think you'd have to remove the board from the wall and put it flat before heating, otherwise you'll get drips or streaks. Getting an even coating is going to be hard, and anything uneven will trap ink and be hard to clean.– Stuart FDec 6, 2021 at 12:15
It's a draw Lifehack:
You can use a regular sheet of glass over white (or other colour) paper as a substitute for a Dry Erase (white) board. (Hardware store + picture frame)
Need something bigger? I have also used a thin sheet of white plexiglass successfully with dry erase markers and erasers. While a frame would make a nice finish, a simple hole can be drilled in the plastic directly for hanging. (Hardware store)
Neither of these alternatives has the opaque white look of the original product; but, functionally, they are all identical.
It's your choice.
Good luck
