Help! Sharpie on Leather Sofa!

The type and quality of the dye on the leather may be your determining factor on whether the dye is affected by whatever you use to get it off and the rubbing. One tip was to use q-tips and minimize the area touched in the cleaning process.

Some solutions say alcohol based products will take off the ink, others say alcohol products will strip the leather and discolor. (Be careful!)

Check out this link: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf102564.tip.html

1.) Ok. Mr. Clean Magic Erase is the devil! Sharpie mark on my Tan leather sofa... Left the marker and just stripped the tan color and finish.

2.) I tried: baby wipes; sunscreen, magic eraser, saddle soap and WD40. None of them worked. The eraser was taking the color off along with the marker. The others did nothing. So, I used Avon's Skin So Soft body spray. I put it on a cloth and rubbed lightly until it all came off. It was like magic. I thought these sofa's were ruined. Now, they are as good as new. You can't tell the red marker was ever there.

3.) I had a very large blue sharpie stain on my tan leather couch. I tried leather cleaner spray cleaners and everything I could think of. I finally used Hawaiian Tropic sunblock spf 45 and it finally came off with no discoloration. Do not use alcohol based products; it will cause discoloration!

1 mom found this helpful

Hi M.,
I would try a magic eraser in an inconspicuous spot and see what it does to the leather. If it doesn't discolor it, I would try it on the marker areas. I know that rubbing alcohol will take it out of fabric. Maybe you could try it on the leather. Again, try it in an inconspicuous spot first.
Good luck!
A.

I have no idea how to get out ink...however, if you do get the ink out, dont forget to give your leather a good rub down with a real good lotion from time to time, ie, Neutrogena, Bath and body works...essentially anything that is low in alcohol and high in cream. My leather couch is almost 9 years old, it looks as good as the day they delivered it. Leather, after all, is a skin.

M. :)

Certainly test whatever you do first. The Magic Eraser is fantastic, but also mildly abrasive. I would be very careful with using it on leather. Try calling the store that you got it from, or a professional. You will mostlikely need to use some kind of oil based cleanser to avoid loosing the dye. Chances are that if you get the ink out, you will end up taking some of the dye out too. I would spring for a professional for leather, myself, then I would lock all perm markers in a lockbox. lol. Much cheaper than replacing it. Good luck.

Have you tried a magic eraser? My daughter got sharpie all over the top of my brand new dresser & I used a magic eraser & it came right off. I havent used it on leather but its worth a try! Good luck!