Removing marker (1 Viewer)

[Bob clamer]

What is the best way to remove marker from the face of a disc. I purchased a DVD and when it came in the mail the person wrote their name on the disc in red marker. What can I use to remove it if at all? The disc itself has original artwork on the face. Thanks!

 

[Mark Zimmer]

Your best bet is probably lighter fluid. It shouldn't damage the plastic of the disc, and depending on what the marker is might take it off. No promises as to whether it might also affect the artwork, but I've used it on some discs with no ill effect.

 

[beetyke]

Is it permanent marker? This may sound crazy, but I bought a used DVD that had permanent marker on it (the video store catalogued their rentals this way, via hand-written number) and after some research online, I found numerous people saying to use a dry erase marker. At first I was skeptical, but so many people swore by this solution, that I tried it and it works. Honest. Took it right off. I just coloured over the area that was written on and used a dry-erase brush to erase it.

No, I am not kidding.

 

[David_B_K]

You're onto something with the dry erase marker. Reminds me of another solution. Nowadays, many schools and offices use white marker boards (the kind that use the aformentioned dry erase markers). There's always some numnutts who will write on the dry erase board with a permanent marker like a Sharpie, which will not come off. The solution many people use is...another Sharpie. If you go over Sharpie ink with a Sharpie, the solvent in the ink will often break down the original ink, and you can quickly wipe it off before it dries.

 

[Todd Stout]

You may want to try Goo Gone. It is similar to products like Goof Off and Lift off but it's citrus based and not petroleum based. All three remove marker from metal surfaces but I'd guess that Goo Gone would be easier on plastic than the other products would be.

Edit: It looks like the company that makes Lift Off has a line of products that are environmentally friendly. Here is a quote from their site:

 

[Bob clamer]

Un-frickin-believable! Worked like a charm! Thanks everyone who chimed in on this. I appreciated your input!

 

[Mark Cappelletty]

Huzzah! This is a great thread. I have a bunch of DVDs and CDs I've marked with my initials following a robbery a few years back and this way I can sell the ones I don't want to used record stores/ebay/etc. with impunity.

 

[Doug Miller]

Rubbing alcohol.

Doug

 

[JohnRice]

I have always used denatured alcohol and a cotton polishing cloth and it works quite well. I suspect it is the same concept as using a dry erase marker.

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

It's true.

I was so nervous because I was working as a PA in Visual Effects on a recent film and was jotting down some slate info for a specific shot that I had to witness cam for the vendors and I accidentally used a permanent sharpie and couldn't get it off the slate! I didn't know what to do, but I needed to get the camera info so I continued writing over the permanent marker with a washable, and when I put a paper towel to it afterwords to wipe off the excess... the entire thing came right off and I was so relieved that I didn't ruin the whole slate!

Try highlighting the marking with a washable and wiping it off, it should work nicely.