I’m installing oak wainscotting in my dining room and am almost done. Unfortunately, before I had a chance to stain and finish it one of the budding artists in the family (my 2 year old son) decided it would make a perfect coloring pad. My question is “How do I remove ink (from a ball-point pen) and crayon from unfinished oak?”. My main concern is if something I use to remove it will then affect the staining and finishing process. The ink and crayon are not over the whole wall, only a couple of small areas. Thanks for any help.
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Replies
Been there, the joys of parenting.
Unfortunately any kind of solvent will carry a certain amount of the ink and wax further into the wood and spread them over a wider area rather than remove them.
I'd suggest that you try scraping the surface with a sharp cabinet scraper, you should be able to remove the marked wood and feather the marked area into the rest of the panel so that it won't be visible. Once it is scraped clean, be sure to sand the repaired area to the same sandpaper grade that the rest of the panel was finished in so the stain will penetrate evenly.
I'm suggesting using a scraper rather than sanding to remove the damaged wood because the scraper won't pick up the ink and crayon wax and spread them around the way sandpaper would.
John W.
Thanks for the advice John! I tried this on a small area and it seems to be working well so far.
Why not turn a negative into a positive! Get some crayons and touch it up a bit then shellac and varnish over it. Would be a conversation piece! And, the kiddo's ain't going to be around as long as one might wish. You can always replace that section of wainscot later.
We have a poodle that likes to jump up to the window sill on the stairs landing, waiting for mama to come home. The sill is all scratched up. The source of the problem won't be around for to many more years and I will fix it when that time comes.
PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)
PlaneWood
At first this might sound like a good idea but the budding artist has a couple of younger siblings who might want their art work similarily displayed!! I think I might provide them with a spare sheet of drywall to do their art work on. Thanks for the thought though.
10-4, i hear what your saying!
We raided 4 kiddo's. One thing I will say is remember that toddlers are very inquisitive. Make sure you leave nothing dangereous laying around the shop that they can get into. We had a scare when our 1st child (3 years old) got into a can of gasoline.
PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)PlaneWood
believe it or not hairspray will dissolve a marker's stain on wood..........
So what do you use to clean up the hair spray...
Who ever invented work didn't know how to fish....
Make em an easel and reversible chalk board. Chalk board surface one side, white laminate the other. They can draw to their heart's content without marking the walls.
have a look at this thread http://forums.taunton.com/tp-knots/messages?msg=7513.2 and search over on Breaktime for POULTICE. Using a poultice may be a way. I think the bigger "problem" may be crushed fibres from the ball point pen, rather than the ink itself.
I used mineral spirits and let it dry real good.
Darkworksite4:
Estamos ganando detrás el estado de Calif. Derrotando a un #### a la vez. DESEA VIVO LA REVOLUCIÓN
Second the cabinet scraper (card scraper).
Clean the blade every couple of strokes to avoid spreading the wax from the crayon.
Be the cheapest and easiest option, and only you will be able to see the repair - it will be invisible to all except those that go looking for a panel that's about 5 thou thinner than the others. For those people, just tell yourself that life's too short - it's what I do.
Cheers,
eddie
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