removing black permanent texta from whilte labcoats

[Ocean Breeze]

We have student lab coats that have been written on with black textas.. permanent! I mean like full on graphiti! Nothing rude, just everywhere!
There are around 12 coats.. so would love to clean them up so we can re-issue to new students.
I know this is Mission Impossible .. but thought I would ask anyway

[Sassi]

Hairspray (need to be aerosol can) is really good for removing permanent marker on walls, bench tops etc. just spray it on and wipe off, but I have never tried it on fabric before... If you have some handy it might be worth a try. Otherwise, I know my dad sometimes soak his dirty 'working on the car' clothes in chlorine bleech, it may or may not work. Let us know if you manage to get it out!

[Ocean Breeze]

worth a try in bleach... tried the hairspray... not a hope!

[nickyw]

You could try metho as alcohol is the solvent for permanent texta.

Perhaps try dabbing the texta first with a clean rag dipped into the metho to see if it will work.

Good luck with it,

Cheers Nicky

[Slartibartfast]

Soak in Metho for 15 - 20 minutes then rinse. Repeat if there are still signs of the marks there.

[Ocean Breeze]

great guys.. thanks.. need to put this one on my job description list....page 57

[Jazz]

Hi,
I know it sounds weird but I use Toothpaste, (Colgate, blue minty Gel). Apply over the writing leave it for 15-20 min, little bit of elbow grease and voila, it is gone (sometimes you may need repeat procedure)

[Sassi]

And I thought my hairspray was weird!!! If you try the toothpaste please let us know if it works, you know so I can make sure I stay away from that particular brand

[Ocean Breeze]

Ok gang... heres the latest on my efforts.
Hairspray didnt work
Toothpaste also failed the test
The one soaking in bleach is fading a bit. Maybe I will keep soaking
Metho seems to be moving the ink... unfortunately its also bleeding the ink all over the lab coat. I am thinking that once I spot treat with the metho.. I need to wash in metho/detergent soln? I have already used up a years supply of metho on the things... and have run out.

Some of the textas are not responding at all to the treatment. Maybe I should try acetone.
I did notice that when we did chromatography, some of the pens that we used were not soluble in my standard water/metho mix. So I chucked in a dash of acetone into the mix as well ... and worked a treat. Only have 500 ml acetone at the moment though.

I will keep going.......

[rp]

Have you tried dyeing the coats black?

[Slartibartfast]

Rhonda! That's asking for all sorts of trouble with Liquid paper! How about using liquid paper? It's great as a cheap teeth whitener too!

[Sassi]

I used liquid paper!!! I was tutoring at uni and lost my lab coat, so had to borrow my partners... Well he had Luke written with permanent marker on it and well I didnt feel like being called Luke so I took my liquid paper and covered it up! Worked a treat, cant tell at all, although I havent tried washing it yet...

[Ocean Breeze]

Well, I am getting desperate enough to try liquid paper or dye them black!!!!!
As soon as I added water to the soak mix, the whole removal process stopped
The bleach soaking one didnt do anything to speak of either, and thats after nearly a few days.Just made the scrawls dark grey rather than black. Maybe I should resoak in more bleach.

There is SO MUCH scribble on the coats, that I would be forever white-outing over it. Dying them black actually seems like a good option.... however, not sure the uniform committee would approve?

I would LIKE to chuck them, but at $20 per lab coat x 12 coats = $240. And that was the 2nd hand price..... they are the oversize ones, and really good quality.The largest size that I buy from Serrata are XL (new). Some of these ones are up to XXXL

[Sassi]

I feel for you... I am lucky enogh that our lab coats ar navy blue and no graffitti at all Can I just ask what your teachers are doing??? Dont they notice the students writing on the lab coats , I mean its kinda obvious, isnt it? If you manage to get it out somehow, you should definetly tell the teachers to keep a better eye om the students!

Best of Luck

[Labbie]

I have not tried this, but have been told, rubbing alcohol, make up a paste of nappy san, and soak over the weekend, in nappy san, putting the paste onto the stain. On the Monday morning, rub with the rubbing alcohol, and finish off with a warm wash. Not a cold wash, or the whole thing may set.

I have a few old ones with ink on them, so I am trying this out, but I believe yours was permenant markers??

[franco]

I use lemon essence (Queen's) for removing graffiti/scribblings from the lab benches. It removes pencil, texta, liquid paper, biro and just about anything else the students can come up with. May be worth a try on a small patch of labcoat. Great thing about it is it's cheap, smells good and is non-toxic.

Cheers,
Fran

[rae]

What about eucalyptus oil?
It works on permanent maker and sticky labels etc.
Lorrae

[Ocean Breeze]

yep Pemanent Laundry Grade markers!
Certainly some good options mentioned in these posts. I am now getting annoyed!
As to the question of what were the teachers thinking. My reply, on such a public forum, has to be. "I don't know".

[Slartibartfast]

If you cannot remove the ink after applying reasonable effort, seeing as they have offensive material on them, your in for some new lab coats. No if's or buts. You didn't write the material and you shouldn't have to wear ones that have been adorned in that way. I did have a lab coat that had written on the back of it 'bastard' but it was on a sticky label and easily removed a week or so later.

[J]

Who wrote that, Richard?

Was it Brian?

Julie