How to remove Toddler Marker art from your laminate wood floor
Today, my little one grabbed a permanent marker off the countertop, removed the cap, and drew this wonderful artwork on the floor. I swear it all happened in less than 10 seconds. He is so fast. Like super human fast. I think toddlers have superpowers and one of them is the snatch-and-grab. How do they move with such speed, agility and precision to do their mischief, but a walk down the hall can cause them to trip over air and fall flat on their face? It’s baffling.
So here we are. Marker scribbles on the floor. Mama’s heart racing. And he is calmly standing over it, pointing at it, saying, “Mama. Mess. Mess.”
First of all, let’s ignore the fact that my beautiful white floors are now scribbled on with PERMANENT BLACK MARKER. Let’s bypass the fact that I have no idea how to remove this. Let’s not concentrate on how I will have to learn to live with this PERMANENT reminder of the day I realized I needed to purchase a safe just to house my permanent marker collection.
Let’s just forget about all that and simply take the time to look at his artwork and appreciate it.
AUDREY II 2020
Black Permanent Marker on Laminate Wood Floor
12 x 12 inches
Collection of the Artist
It goes without saying that we are all impressed at his knowledge of cheesy, low budget, cult films. (Specifically, 1986’s rock horror-comedy musical film Little Shop of Horrors.) But the resemblance that he achieved in less than 10 seconds is remarkable. I am one proud mama!
Now, lets move on…
How are we going to safely remove this masterpiece from the floor?
Items Needed
THe removal Process
Color over a section of the permanent ink with the dry erase marker. Spray glass cleaner onto the ink. Wipe away the ink with a paper towel. Be sure to completely dry the surface before applying more dry erase marker. Repeat this process until the entire surface is clean. And be prepared for it to take a while.
It will be especially time consuming if you are having to distract a “helpful” snatch-and-grab toddler from spraying the bottle, stealing the wiping towels, and snatching the dry erase marker to draw all over mommy’s arm. He really was trying to help, though… Sweet boy.
I recommend paper towels because of the ink. However, I used a microfiber towel at the end to get places that were a little more stubborn.
I finished up with a few sprays of my favorite household product, FORCE OF NATURE, and a final wipe with my microfiber cloth.
And… VOILA! The floor looks as good as new.
If you ever find yourself needing to eliminate a masterpiece from your floor, I hope my experience will be helpful.
I crowdsourced help from my facebook friends and got a lot of great ideas: rubbing alcohol, turpentine, Oxiclean, magic eraser, hairspray, toothpaste and baking soda, nail polish remover, hand sanitizer, and my favorite… Just put a frame around it. LOL!
I can’t vouch for any of these suggestions, but I have them in the arsenal if the artist strikes again.
Products Discussed In This Post
Microfiber Cloths
These are my go to microfiber cloths because they are durable and long lasting. I’ve had some of them for 4 years!
What do you think? Have you tried this hack?
How do you clean up permanent marker?
I’d love to know.
Please leave a reply down below.
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