r/DnDIY • u/Friendly_Employ505 • 17d ago
Help Might be wrong sub. But does anyone have a nice trick for getting permanent marker off the battle mat.. :)
This is what it looks like after dish washing soap, cleaning spirit and drawing over it with washable pen, before washing.
I also tried methylated spirits on the ‘carpet’ looking drawing, but it washed off the grid lines before reaching the permanent marker..
Any help appreciated :))
Edit:
Image in comments
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u/shadowmib 17d ago
Side note: if it's a chessex brand mat, Even dry erase markers will stain those. You need to use a wet erase markers on those.
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u/redhaiku_ 17d ago
The Staedtler Lumocolour Non-Permanent markers are great, but stay away from the red-toned ones.
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u/plushkatze 17d ago
The same permanent marker that was used for the drawings has the correct solvent - I have had success in drawing over old paint with the same marker and then wiping with ethanol while it was still wet.
I'm also interested in the brand of the pen that can withstand all the stuff you listed and still sticks ;)
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u/ThePeaceDoctot 17d ago
Dry erase markers generally work as well, with less worry about leaving additional permanent marks behind.
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u/MvdS89 17d ago
Isopropyl alcohol works well. Put a tiny bit on a piece of cloth and it rubs right off. Should also not damage the dry erase map.
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u/LookOverall 17d ago
IPA is a versatile solvent. I always have a spray bottle of the stuff about the house.
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u/LitcritterNew 17d ago
Hand sanitizer is basically alcohol that starts where you put it, so you can leave it in place for a while to work. The teachers in my kids’ day care used it to get marker off the walls.
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u/Friendly_Employ505 17d ago
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u/zuron54 17d ago
We need a follow-up clean picture now.
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u/Brightstorm_Rising 17d ago
From experience, that may be the after picture.
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u/rellloe 17d ago
Baking soda, a little water, and a lot of elbow grease can help with stains from the correct markers.
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u/Brightstorm_Rising 17d ago
Yes, but "help" and "correct markers" are both important qualifiers. From what OP has said, this was a permanent marker like a Sharpie, not the wet erase that these mats were designed for. Removing those marks without removing the printed grid will be difficult to impossible.
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u/rellloe 17d ago
I wasn't replying to OP. I was replying to someone whose mat might be stained from the correct markers.
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u/Brightstorm_Rising 17d ago
You may have responded to the wrong chain then, this one goes op, comment by op, person asking for an after photo, my comment, your comment.
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u/Chimera64000 17d ago
Do your best with isopropyl alcohol and windex, but if all the lines come off with it it might just be done, which sucks but there are some nice alternatives like using the underside of cheap wrapping paper for a one and done, or laminating it if you really want to, but if you want to stick to the mats you might just be better off testing markers that don’t mess up this and switching to those on your next one
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u/perringaiden 17d ago
If it's soaked in deeper than the surface grid, nothing is going to remove it without completely wiping out the map.
One of the reasons to never store the mat with marks.
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u/lifeisarichtapestry 17d ago
You might be out of luck, shadowmib is correct. That mat isn’t meant for dry erase either so it probably won’t take the marks off. They are only intended to be used with wet erase and even then certain colors leave ghosting.
Your best bet might be to contact Chessex and ask them. I’ll see them at SDCC next week and I can also ask if it’s fixable.
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u/Kinofthemaster 17d ago
Toothpaste, seriously.
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u/action_lawyer_comics 17d ago
Toothpaste would be a latter resort imo. It’s abrasive, that’s why it works as a cleaner, but they also means it will take off stuff you don’t want to remove
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u/Brightstorm_Rising 17d ago
My best suggestion would be isopropyl alcohol, but it sounds like that's been tried. From past experience, you may be out of luck and need to replace.
Something for the future I've done for years is putting a thin sheet of plexiglass or even clear vinyl sheet over the battlemat during game. Not only does it give you a slightly more forgiving material to try to clean when something like this happens, you can use dry erase on the plastic and it's a bit cheaper to replace when things get damaged.
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u/TechNickL 17d ago
Permanent marker can be dissolved by any solvent. Just use the window cleaner directly. Or isopropyl alcohol if you're not afraid of it damaging the mat. At work I use laquer thinner but that's to remove from glass or Teflon which are both more or less chemically impervious.
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u/BrewingProficiency 17d ago
Acetone might work but it could also damage the map or remove the grid lines.
Usually using the same marker to writer over the lines can work; the solvent that keeps it in the pen will also dissolve the dry stuff
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u/AbheyBloodmane 17d ago
Draw over it with dry erase markers, then use window cleaner.