It happened just the other night. I had one of those classic jaw drop – what-the-heck-did-my-kid-just-do type of moments. I walked into the playroom and noticed three of my kids happily playing with trains. The fourth was suspiciously missing. “Where’s your sister?” I asked, as I began looking around the house. At just that moment, my little 21 month old comes walking into the house from the garage, covered in Sharpie markings. Every mother’s dream right?

I threw her shirt off, got it soaking in detergent, and grabbed some baby wipes to attempt to clean up her hands. About 15 minutes later, I went back out into the garage to grab something and saw it….

My husband built an INCREDIBLE custom wood desk last year. He designed it on his own, and spent all of his free time working on it. It’s amazing, and a true one of a kind piece. And, it just so happened to be covered in Sharpie.

I quietly slipped back into the house, not wanting to alert him to anything being wrong, and grabbed what I needed to take care of it. In less than five minutes, I had gotten EVERY BIT of that Sharpie off his wooden desk. EVERY BIT.

Want to know how I did it? (Of course you do….that’s why you’re reading this post!)sharpie

Okay ladies, prepare for your life to change. The world’s most amazing cleaner is sitting in your kitchen cupboard. I’ll bet ya a dollar you have it in your possession and don’t even know it.

To Remove Sharpie From Hard Surfaces You Need: (PS- this also works on removing crayon marks! Even from walls!!)

  • Baking Soda
  • Water or an all-purpose cleaner
  • a rag
  • a bit of elbow grease

And it works!!!!

I started by dumping a good amount of baking soda on the top of the desk. I then sprayed my rag with a bit of Mr. Clean. (Although, I’ve done it with water, and it works about the same.) I started scrubbing, working the baking soda into the stain. It may begin to make a light paste, and that is okay! Add more water/cleaner to your rag as needed. The key here is to keep working the baking soda into the affected area. You’re going to need to work it…this is not a job for the faint-of-heart, BUT, it will come out.

You’ll likely need to vacuum up the baking soda mess when you are finished, but the stain should be gone or mostly gone.

There is not a trace of the Sharpie on my husband’s desk. He never knew. (Well, he might know now….He’s pretty supportive and reads this thing….Oh well! Hi honey!) =)

*This does work on walls, BUT, you may end up taking some of your paint too. This solution will work best on hard surfaces like tables, counters, non-porous surfaces, treated wood, etc.

Want more cleaning tips? Click HERE to check out my “Cleaning” section. (Hey, I have four kids….I know about dirt!)