Combat Tough Marker Stains On Fabric Furniture With This Medicine Cabinet Staple

Marker stains are one of the toughest and most frustrating stains to deal with, particularly when they're permanent. Permanent marker is good at doing what it says it will — good news for your project, but maybe not so much for your sofa. Luckily, there is a way to remove the ink. If you have a sofa, chair, or another piece of fabric furniture that has been affected by a marker, try the following method that uses medicine cabinet staple hydrogen peroxide to banish any trace of ink.

To carry out this easy hack that will get rid of marker stains, you'll also need hydrogen peroxide, a few cloths, and rubbing alcohol you can use for cleaning. Don't waste your time on specialist cleaners or scrubbing the piece of furniture for hours. The ingredients in this hack are tough on marks but shouldn't damage your fabric (though this will depend on the specific fabric). Plus, as it's likely you already have these ingredients in your home, you can try out this hack right away. 

This trick works best on microfiber furniture, though you could try it on other types of fabric. Firstly, pour a small amount of hydrogen peroxide onto one of the cloths and then rub at the stain firmly. When you feel you have scrubbed enough, grab the other cloth and this time add a small amount of the rubbing alcohol onto it. Repeat the above rubbing step until you can no longer see the stain.

This combination of ingredients should be more than enough to banish any pesky marker stains from your furniture. For extra scrubbing power, you could swap out one of the cloths for a sponge. However, this only applies to fabric furniture that can handle a bit more abrasion, as you don't want to end up damaging your furniture. When done, you might want to dab at the previously stained area/s with a clean cloth and water to ensure no rubbing alcohol or hydrogen peroxide remains.

Though the above method should work on the majority of fabric furniture, we always recommend carrying out a spot test when using stain removal ingredients like hydrogen peroxide and rubbing alcohol. While only mild, hydrogen peroxide is still considered to be a bleaching agent. This means it could cause fading and discoloration to your fabric furniture. 

You should also think twice about using rubbing alcohol on furniture that's a bright color, as, once again, it could lead to fading or a bleached effect. Performing a spot test is easy. You simply need to pour a very small amount of both hydrogen peroxide and rubbing alcohol in separate inconspicuous areas of the stained item of furniture. Leave for a few minutes and then come back and remove thoroughly with water. If there are no signs of damage like discoloration or fading, it should be okay to proceed with this marker removal hack.