Saturday, July 7, 2012

Permanent marker and quilts. Don't mix them!

I almost feel a blockage in my creative endeavors, just when I feel so excited to get started with my blog.
First, I haven't been able to see anything in my Design to Layout section, so there hasn't been any way to add gadgets and design! But I guess it takes a few days for things to process in the digital world, occasionally, because my layout just showed up tonight!

Second, I got out of the shower and dressed, to find that my three year old, once again, had been climbing on chairs and getting in things while I'm occupied....this time I followed the wall trail of permanent marker lines, to find him scribbling with that permanent, chunky-sized marker on the microfiber recliners, the entertainment center, and his big brother's quilt! This quilt is the first quilt I ever completed, and is almost completely hand-quilted! It took me almost two years to complete this quilt! It was his baby quilt but he didn't get it until nearly 2 1/2 years old!
I was yelling before, but when I saw the quilt, I started bawling. I think that scared the little perpetrator more than the yelling! He asked "mom ok?" and I answered between hiccups and gasps for breath, "no, mommy's not ok. Mommy's sad and angry because you made a mess and made S.'s quilt ugly!"
I tried the hairspray and rubbing alcohol trick, but found that only works on regular ink. I tossed the quilt in the wash. No luck.
So after posting a frantic "help" on QCA's forum, and a trip to the store, I found the Woolite Oxy Deep Carpet Stain and Odor Remover. It worked great on the microfiber recliners, but the spots heavily saturated with the permanent ink aren't quite completely gone. It barely worked on the quilt, even after several saturations and rubbings. I'm so thankful that it was near an outside border, that the border is a variegated dark blue, and only two yellow star points were colored on.
After alcohol and machine washing.

After first saturation of Woolite.

After second saturation and longer soak time. The quilt is still very wet from machine washing, too.
Oh, and incendentally, the marker on the walls didn't quite come off, either. I used a store-brand version of the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, which works great for crayon and regular markers on walls. It only took off the first layer of permanent marker on the wall.



And here's the last one on Sunday afternoon, 24 hours after the scribbling. I took the advice from a comment on QC of A forum and used some acetone nail polish remover. Took off another layer. Then I rinsed it out really well in water. I'm not sure there's much else I can do.

1 comment:

  1. UGGGG! So very sorry for this marker mess. I for one have worried about that kind of thing myself and therefore have all the markers out of little hands reach unless I am right there. Better safe than sorry I guess.

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