removing pen line stains from a chessex mat

[Kichwas]

Made the mistake of using purple last night - which seems to have stained my mat.

The pen in question is a 'dixon' VIS-AID overhead projection marker - wet erase.

The other colors of this brand come right up, but this one only faded a bit.


Anyone had success with techniques to remove stains from these mats?

 

[Ferox4]

dilluted vinegar

clorox spray cleaner

elbow grease

 

[diaglo]

dilute the chlorox at least 1 to 10 if not 1 to 50

dilute the vinegar 1 to 5.

 

[Softwind]

I'll assume you would be adverse to sandblasting, so...

Try using a different color marker over the purple lines, then wet-erase them. (this works sometimes with dry-erase, it's worth a shot)

Anything you use on vinyl, make sure it's either a) meant for vinyl or b) diluted.
Perhaps some of those automobile-interior wipes? Like Armor-all or something similar.


BTW, don't ever use dry erase markers on vinyl. It's just like a permanent marker. (sigh) I scrubbed off the pre-printed hex lines before the DE marks even began to fade.

Good luck!

 

[CanadienneBacon]

To a certain extent, the battlemat (we have the same kind) will get inked up over years of gaming, no matter how much due care is given it. That said, don't use dry erase markers on a chessex vinyl battlemat; whoever said they work just like permanent markers was right on with that comment. I know that isn't the case here, just thought I'd forewarn others.

Wet erase markings are best removed immediately after the gaming session. Even colors that normally wipe entirely clean will leave light stain marks if left for 2-3 days or longer.

I use overhead projector pens on our battlemat and have found that stubborn marks often come off or are lightened with Windex, which contains ammonia. Diluted bleach (1 part bleach to 10 parts H2O) also works. I haven't tried vinegar, but vinegar would be the mildest option of the three. Diaglo recommened it and he's a great source since he's been playing since the time of dinosaurs.

Certain colored overhead projector pens leave stubborn marks even if erased immediately after play: green, blue, purple and sometimes black (depending on which dyes were used).

HTH.

 

[Zappo]

When it happened to me, I cleaned it very easily with alcohol. It didn't erase my printed lines, but I make no guarantees on yours, so be careful.

 

[Ferox4]

If you want to extend the life of your battlemat just get a sheet of acetate and place it over top of the mat and secure it down. Our group did this until we made a great big grid on a 4x8 sheet of plywood and covered the whole thing with acetate. BTW, dry erase markers work great on acetate - except purple and blue.

 

[bolen]

I had some luck with fingernail polish remover

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

I had some luck with fingernail polish remover

Ditto. Just make sure you wipe it up quickly, don't let it soak. We've used nail polish remover to get red sharpie ink off our battlemat.

 

[diaglo]

nail polish contains acetone...a hazardous chemical. be very careful when using this.

also i know this doesn't need posting for most posters, but don't mix your ammonia and bleach solutions.