Thread: Cleaning vinyl?

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I decided to try and make my own seat covers and theyr'e not too bad, but I had sharpy marker on my fingers when I put it together and it rubbed off and stained the vinyl. The vinyl is from yourautotrim.com and it's white. It's had some time to soak in and now i have to get it off. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas on what I could use to clean it off.

i personally have never had any luck with getting sharpie off of vinyl or leather stuff. just have to be carefull!!!! *not saying that there isnt anything*

I'm thinking of trying laquer thinner. Do you think that would work or just trash my vinyl?

if you have any scraps of that same vinyl laying around, mark em a little bit then try it! ive never tried laquer on vinyl but hey, it might work!! let me know!

you could try goop. never had to deal with sharpie marks but it works great on my vinyl.

i was just curious so i looked up some tips on this, and some said fingernail polish remover, and some green clean?

Lighter fluid on a cotton swab might work also.

The big problem with vinyl is the elastizers that are in the vinyl itself, that is what keeps it soft and flexible. It also allows petrolium based products to penetrate into the vinyl. The ink is no longer on the surface, but 'tattoed' into the plastic. Sunlight and the heat will only make it worse. Using 'hot' fluids such as acetone, varsol, paint thinner, etc. will dissolve and evaporate the elastizer in the vinyl and cause it to get hard and crack before it's time. Sorry, but you might be to late. Sniper

I just got done trying some laquer thinnner and mineral spirits. They didn't do squat. They just changed the color to purple. I've had better luck with fingernail polish remover and I may try that again. The company I got the vinyl from also makes spray paints that are supposed to work on carpet and fabrics as a tinter. I'm thinking that if nothing else I may have to try that. Anyone think that would work, or would it just rub off over time?

Might try bleach on a cotton swab. There again I would try a scrap piece first.

i have never had any luck with spray on dyes for vinyl. they fade badly or rub off.

Originally Posted by NTFDAY

Lighter fluid on a cotton swab might work also.

I agree with NTFDAY, we use lighter fliud ( yellow bottle) in our shop to remove unwanted chalk,pencil ,or blackmaker marks on our pattens.

i have gotten out permant marker with rubbing alchol on cotton balls by blotting the area, dont smear. jonathan

I think I remember appling some armor all on my dads vinyl, then rubbing vigorously "but lightly" with my fingernail and It came right up.Try it on an inconspicuous area first!

I was able to remove some silver sharpie ink from my white vinyl with Goof-Off