Easily Remove Marker From Your Wood Floors And Furniture With This Bathroom Staple

Little ones love whipping up creations with markers, and while it's great to receive a masterpiece on a piece of paper, it's not so great when the market ends up on your hardwood floor or antique wood coffee table. But if they get a little carried away with their scribbles, fear not. There's an easy way to remove marker stains from wood — especially if your kid grabbed the permanent marker by accident. And all you need is some toothpaste.

Rather than worry that yet another furniture piece got ruined, erase the marker mess in a few quick minutes. And since everyone has toothpaste in their house, you don't have to run out to the store to buy a specialty product that you'll only use two to three times a year. Not only is this home hack frugal, but it's super convenient, too. Mild abrasives are key to toothpaste's effectiveness.

Seeing marker doodles all over your hardwood floor or solid wood dining table is bad, but realizing it's permanent marker is worse. However, rather than thinking you'll need to refinish the piece to bring it back to its original state, all you need is a little toothpaste.

Grab the bathroom staple and apply a few dots onto the scribbles. Then, with a soft bristle brush (you don't want to scratch the surface with a stiff brush,) work the paste into the wood. It might take a few passes, but the marks will begin to lift. You can then wipe it clean with a microfiber cloth saturated in warm water.

This works because toothpaste has a mildly abrasive quality, which helps remove the stains from your tooth enamel. That same quality can be applied to wood. The toothpaste gently pulls at the particles of the marker ink without dissolving it, which could otherwise soak into the wood and permanently discolor it.

It's best to use a baking soda-based toothpaste rather than a gel one for this hack. But if all you have is a gel toothpaste on hand, you can sprinkle a pinch of baking soda on top to get the same results. You also want to go with the grain of the wood when scrubbing for best results. If the kids went wild and created a large mess, you might need to wipe and reapply a few times to get it totally clean.