Dye family: alcohol or a long oxygen soak
How to get permanent marker out
Alcohol-based ink designed not to wash out. Rubbing alcohol is the solvent that undoes it.
Do this first
Lay face-down on a paper towel pad
Fresh stain
- Lay face-down on a paper towel pad
- Dab rubbing alcohol or hand sanitizer from the back
- Keep moving to clean pad as ink transfers
- Gently work in detergent and wash warm
Dried or old
- Same as fresh, more rounds
- Then an oxygen-bleach soak
- Fabric care
- Test alcohol on the garment's dye first, especially denim.
- Time
- 20 min, several rounds
- How to tell
- Look: dark, sharp lines; Feel: none; Smell: solvent if fresh
Where this fix comes from
We check every fix against these published guides. We do not run a test lab of our own.
Before you start
- Test on a hidden seam first.
- Never mix cleaners.
- Keep it out of the dryer until the stain is gone.