How to Get Permanent Marker Off Hardwood Floors

Yep. That's some good old-fashioned Colgate paste. Who knew?! Well, Google did. Naturally. :)




Excuse the craptastic photo. It was taken on Chuck's phone and I tried to enlarge it. Photographer extraordinaire, I am not. The pics below I took with my camera to document what happens when you leave a seven year old and her friend alone with some hi-jacked Sharpies from my office. No, they didn't exactly draw on the floor. Black permanent marker just happened to seep through the paper they were drawing their masterpieces on. Sharpies are cool like that.

To say I freaked is putting it mildly. Thank God Google came to my rescue. What on earth did we do before the Internet? I shudder to think...

Ahhh, more Sharpie loveliness. But, with a smidge of toothpaste (it HAS to be paste... no gel. Luckily we had some.) and a washcloth.... viola! Instant restoration with no damage to the finish.
Gotta love that. Just rub the toothpaste in with your finger and wipe the residue away. It doesn't get any easier than that.

And there's your "after" shot. I could hardly believe it, myself. Thank you, God and Colgate toothpaste!!! FYI...Chuck also said it will work wonders to get the stinky smell off your hands (like chicken smell if you work at a processing plant or garlic if you happen to use it on the chicken that comes from the processing plant). I sure love a good household tip, don't you? Hopefully you won't need this particular tip any time soon. Public service announcememt: Kids, Sharpies are NOT your friends. Oh yeah, and stay in school. ;) I'm gonna go stare at my ink free floors now. Catch y'all next week!