Advice on how to remove "sharpie" writing on a guitar case please?

[Brig]

I've just purchased a beautiful second-hand bass, but the previous owner wrote the name of the bass on masking tape which he stuck to the case, unfortunately, the case is a light creamy colour and the sharpie has gone through the masking tape, I've tried white spirit but it hasn't done much towards removing the writing.

Any advice on how to remove the writing would be very much appreciated.

 

[Yojevol]

I've used cellulose thinner or acetone but I'd test it on the plastic first if possible.
Brian

 

[Brig]

I've used cellulose thinner or acetone but I'd test it on the plastic first if possible.
Brian

Thanks Yojevol, I might give that a try

 

[D_W]

I'd try denatured alcohol first. Pen and marker often respond to it.

Edit: it just occurred to me that cellulose thinner is probably what we refer to as methanol in the United States.

 

[Pedronicus]

I use isopropanol to clear permanent marker pen ink. May need a few tries if it's been on a long time though.

 

[Dionysios]

My first choice will be White Spirit, it usually works well on markers and it's less aggressive on plastics (but you have to try it first of course). If that doesn't work I would go with isopropanol.

 

[--Tom--]

Whatever is in Upvc cleaner sold by tool station/screwfix can be a handy solvent
Where it has soaked in its not just a case of wiping off though

If it were me I would try barkeepers friend powder -made to a paste and applied over the top and left for a few minutes- the oxalic acid can help fade the ink

 

[Sgian Dubh]

I'd try denatured alcohol first. Pen and marker often respond to it.
Edit: it just occurred to me that cellulose thinner is probably what we refer to as methanol in the United States.

David, in the US you'll know cellulose thinner as lacquer thinner, the stuff that's used to dilute pre-cat lacquer, for instance, so it's not methanol. What you described as denatured alcohol is ethanol or ethyl alcohol and more commonly known in the UK as meths (blue dye added) or industrial alcohol (clear).

As to shifting the Sharpie marks, I'd probably try ethanol as a first go. Not sure if it would work though, but I suspect there's a decent chance it would. Slainte.

 

[D_W]

Thanks, Richard. cellulose was a bad guess, but based on the production of wood-based alcohol here. Not sure what's used for the ethyl type, but there's no shortage of corn here.

 

[D_W]

Whatever is in Upvc cleaner sold by tool station/screwfix can be a handy solvent
Where it has soaked in its not just a case of wiping off though

If it were me I would try barkeepers friend powder -made to a paste and applied over the top and left for a few minutes- the oxalic acid can help fade the ink

that reminds me - peroxide bleach and what's sold here (but probably not there) as a dollar store cleaner called "awesome" are both good at dealing with ink. The former will fade it (maybe not as fast as liked) and the latter for some reason is excellent at things like dykem spills and markers in carpet and all kinds of stuff.

 

[Droogs]

nail varnish remover, brush on count to 20 and wipe off. repeat until gone and then a quick polish with brasso

 

[recipio]

I use Ney Panel Wipe for all stains and it works a treat. Nice citrus smell and it cleans up sticky tape residue as well.

 

[Brig]

I've now tried white spirit, meths, and nail polish remover, and none of them are getting anywhere close to removing it.
I guess I will have to come up with something to cover it instead.

 

[D_W]

if alcohol doesn't do anything to it, then mechanical is probably the next best thing in the short term, but it'll ruin the tolex. Do you have the very light abrasive sponge gimmicks there? (there's one called magic eraser here that will do very little damage, but it must be somewhat abrasive).

To see if it's on the surface, you could also find a bright polish compound and rub it very lightly in a small spot to see if anything comes off.

The suggestion above to try to fade it is probably the best if it's soaked in at the risk of fading something else.

The key to not caring too much about guitar cases is constantly buying and selling guitars. Then you never look too close at the cases!

 

[Brig]

if alcohol doesn't do anything to it, then mechanical is probably the next best thing in the short term, but it'll ruin the tolex. Do you have the very light abrasive sponge gimmicks there? (there's one called magic eraser here that will do very little damage, but it must be somewhat abrasive).

To see if it's on the surface, you could also find a bright polish compound and rub it very lightly in a small spot to see if anything comes off.

The suggestion above to try to fade it is probably the best if it's soaked in at the risk of fading something else.

The key to not caring too much about guitar cases is constantly buying and selling guitars. Then you never look too close at the cases!

The reason I want it removed is because I purchased a Lakland USA 44-51 Custom bass but the original case got damaged, so I managed to pick this case up second-hand but it was for a Lakland USA Bob Glaub.

 

[D_W]

Ahh....different deal if you're going so far as to get separate cases.

 

[Brig]

The cases for both models are exactly the same, but the model name that is written on this case is incorrect for my bass

 

[--Tom--]

Bleaching out the ink with something like oxalic is worth a try before resorting to anything more severe

 

[Droogs]

Have you considered fixing a brass engraved plate over it instead?

 

[martin.pearson]

If something like acetone or nail varnish remover doesn't touch it then you might be looking at some kind of mechanical removal, when you tried alcohol bit you leave it a while to soak in? sometimes you need to do that & give it a few tries.
You could try an acrylic scratch removal product, normally come in a set of 3 one is almost just a polish, 2 is a light scratch removal & 3 is for deeper scratches.
Other option as has been mentioned is to make a highlight out of it with something like a brass plate or even a printed sticker would do.