Remove Permanent Marker from Stained Wood

LESLIE: Marie in New Jersey needs some help with a cleaning project. What can we do for you?

MARIE: My children got over-rambunctious and they used a magic marker on a white oak kitchen table. (Leslie chuckles)

TOM: Ah, and you don’t like the distressed look, huh?

MARIE: Well, no.

TOM: (chuckling) OK.

LESLIE: The permanent artwork isn’t doing it for you.

TOM: What – so the table is natural wood? It’s oak?

MARIE: It’s natural wood and it’s really a white oak.

TOM: OK. So we want to get that marker off and you know it’s called permanent marker for a reason, Marie.

LESLIE: Yeah, exactly.

MARIE: I know.

TOM: But there is a solution. There’s a product called Goof Off which is very, very good. It’s a product that’s designed to clean off all sorts of things that stain surfaces, including …

LESLIE: Mm-hmm, and even sticky surfaces; sticky items as well.

TOM: Yeah. Sticker residue, crayon, tar, markers, ink, lipstick, scuff marks, stuff like that. It’s available at, usually, a hardware store or a home center; Ace True Value; places like that.

MARIE: Uh-huh.

TOM: And it’s made by the Barr Company – W.M. Barr Company.

MARIE: Yes.

TOM: And it works very well. I’ve got some Goof Off here because I have three kids (Leslie and Marie chuckle) and it’s a necessary part of the household arsenal of home improvement products to keep everything nice and clean.

MARIE: Right.

LESLIE: Mm-hmm, and you know what? Even when I was doing prop work for TV shows and you would never know; suddenly you would need a wine glass for a segment and the wine glass, of course, had the sticker on it that would never come off.

MARIE: Right.

LESLIE: The Goof Off was always in my kit and it really was a go-to for a lot of different uses. So I guarantee once you get it you’ll be cleaning a lot of things with it.

MARIE: Now that product is called Goof Off.

TOM: That’s right.

LESLIE: Mm-hmm. What your kids were doing. (Tom laughs)

MARIE: (chuckling) I think Mommy wasn’t watching. (all laugh)

TOM: Marie, thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.