How to Remove Dry Erase Marker from Clothes

This cute little unicorn hoodie has caused a lot of weeping and wailing in our house this week. Against my better judgment, I bought this hoodie even though it was more than I would usually pay for a hoodie and even though it was white. (I know, WHAT was I thinking?! I can be such a sucker when it comes to my baby girl, and I just knew she would love it!) It will come as no surprise when I tell you that after wearing it 2 or 3 times, my sweet daughter comes home from school with a dry erase marker stain (black, mind you) right smack dab in the middle of the front of the sweatshirt! AAAARRRGGG!

In the past, I had had zero success in getting dry erase marker out of other items of clothing, so I was pretty convinced that there was no getting this black mark out and that the unicorn hoodie was ruined. But, since the hoodie was brand-spanking new, I had to try again.

Rubbing Alcohol, Hairspray, and Bleach Don’t Work

I Googled “How to get dry erase marker out of clothes,” and found several posts and YouTube videos that recommended using rubbing alcohol and hairspray to easily remove a dry erase marker stain. And my daughter assured me that her friend had told her that her mom had used hairspray on a dry erase marker stain, and it had come right out!

So, I watched a woman in a YouTube video use rubbing alcohol and hairspray to easily remove black dry erase marker and then followed the process she had so effortlessly demonstrated. To my utter frustration, the black mark did not budge! Like, not even a little bit!

Then, I thought “It’s white, so I’ll just try bleach. Bleach takes everything out, right?” So, I tried bleach. Nothing.

Sunscreen is a No-Go

At this point, I’m even more convinced that the hoodie is ruined. But I’m a pretty determined person, so I wanted to make sure I had exhausted all possible solutions. I did a little more internet searching and found a forum suggesting a mix of Murphy’s Oil Soap and sunscreen would remove dry erase marker stains from clothes.

My experience with sunscreen and white clothes is that the sunscreen turns any white clothing permanently yellow. So, I decided against using the sunscreen since I didn’t want to add a yellow stain to the black one I already had.

Murphy’s Oil Soap Does the Trick!

But another blog post suggested using just plain Murphy’s Oil Soap. I already had some in my cleaning supplies, and I thought, “What do I have to lose at this point?” So, putting aside my skepticism, I poured a little Murphy’s Oil Soap onto the black mark, scratched at it with my fingernail until it started to suds up, and then rinsed it under running water. To my surprise, the stain looked a little lighter!

I’m encouraged (and somewhat excited!), so I did the process again: add a little Murphy’s Oil Soap, scratch and rinse. After doing this process four times, this was the result:

I wish I had taken a “before” picture because the “after” results are truly amazing in comparison. I was so thrilled to save this hoodie and be a hero for my daughter (who cried herself to sleep thinking that her hoodie was ruined) that I had to share this tidbit of information in the hope that it might save other parents some tears and grief!