The Popular Household Staple That'll Help Remove Pen Marks From Your Countertops

Uh-oh. Your hand slipped while you were writing out your grocery list, and now there's an unsightly pen mark on your countertop. How can you get rid of it? Let's hope you keep rubbing alcohol on hand — otherwise, you'll have to add it to your list! Generally made from isopropyl alcohol in water, rubbing alcohol is used for cleaning and disinfecting purposes. You may want to take a little extra care with this product though, depending on what material your countertop is made from.

First things first: ideally, act quickly! As with all stains, it's best to treat countertop pen marks as soon as you can. Try blotting up as much as possible with a clean cloth or paper towel. To clean up the ink, you'll put a small amount of rubbing alcohol on a soft pad or cloth and gently rub out the stain. You may want to let this cleaner sit for a bit on the stain before you wipe it away, allowing it time to penetrate. This should work with most countertops, but you'll also want to keep in mind your specific countertop material.

If your countertop is quartz, you should have a pretty easy time cleaning the stain away with rubbing alcohol. Make sure not to scrub too hard, though, as you could risk scratching the surface. A soft cloth and gentle motions should get out the ink. For laminate countertops, take care that the rubbing alcohol doesn't damage the finish. Make sure to wipe away any remaining rubbing alcohol after you've cleaned your pen stain, so it doesn't sit on the surface too long. You might also want to try first attacking your stain with mild soap and water.

In certain circumstances, marble or granite countertops are among the materials you don't want to clean with rubbing alcohol. However, it may be an option with a sealed marble countertop. Most commercially available rubbing alcohol has a concentration of about 70% isopropyl alcohol and should be fine. Again, wipe the rubbing alcohol off your countertop when you're done cleaning.

You can also use rubbing alcohol to clean granite countertops, with proper precautions. These include diluting it with water to a 50/50 ratio, testing it on an inconspicuous area first, rinsing the countertop with water when you're done with your rubbing alcohol solution, and drying your countertop. You'll also want to limit the amount of times you use rubbing alcohol on a granite countertop.