How to Clean Dry Erase Boards: 10 surprising tricks.

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It is the bane of every teacher and public speaker’s existance– dry erase marker stains that won’t come off your dry erase board. EXPO & Quartet make  great dry erase board cleaners that get rid of stubborn stains, but if you don’t have any on hand, there are a surprising number of products found in nearly every home and maintenance supply closet that should do the trick.

Clean dry erase board marker stains with:

  1. Isopropyl Alcohol
    Make sure you are using the 99% or 90% solution. The 70% stuff doesn’t work nearly as well.
  2. Peroxide
    No 99% Isopropyl alcohol on hand to clean your dry erase board? Try peroxide.
  3. Hand Sanitizer
    Alcohol-based hand sanitizers are better than “natural” sanitizers at cleaning your dry erase board — better at killing germs on your hands too.
  4. WD-40
    At this point, I want to know if there is anything WD-40 can’t do. (Answer: yes.)
  5. Hairspray
    Spray on, wipe off, then get rid of the sticky residue with soap and water.
  6. Toothpaste
    Actually, toothpaste removes stubborn stains from most smooth, non-porous surfaces.
  7. Ben-Gay
    Slightly abrasive like toothpaste, and contains alcohol for added cleaning power.
  8. Comet
    Abrasive with proven cleaning power. Your dry erase board will look brand new.
  9. Coffee Grinds
    Of course, once you’ve used coffee grinds to scrub off dry erase marker stains, you have to turn around and clean off the brown coffee residue. Still, works in a pinch!
  10. Vinegar
    Should probably list this first, since vinegar and water are my go to solution for most cleaning projects.

Do you have any tips and tricks for keeping your dry erase board looking new? We’d love to here them. Share your advice in the comments.

Sources: WikiHow, Gizmodo

447 comments on “How to Clean Dry Erase Boards: 10 surprising tricks.

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  • Toilet bowl cleaner with bleach put directly on the white board wipe with hot wet washcloth when done with that wipe with hot soapy cloth rinse wash cloth and wipe with just water all the stains will be gone, just tried it worked wonderful

    Reply
      • Ellie Sanders says:

        We found my Mom unconscious on the floor several times because she kept insisting on mixing bleach with toilet bowl cleaner, luckily for her, she always fell out of the bathroom and got fresh air or we would have lost her right the. Do not mix these ingredients!

        Reply
          • i dont think shes going to listen. besides, the problem her mom was probably having was the bleach smell itself, not the mixing of the two. if it was the toilet cleaner it was probably a specific kind (might have had amonia or there was a window cleaner that was used in the vacinity)

    • We just had to wipe a white board to change menu prices, it had been a few years since it was done and we found that clorox wipes worked really well. No mess and no mixing of any chemicals.

      Reply
  • Marsha Mellow says:

    L. A.’s Totally Awesome, undiluted, available at Dollar Tree takes most of it off. Follow this with a coat of car wax. I use liquid or paste Turtle wax. It is amazing. Plus the wax seems to seal out future stains! I also use a car buffer after the second coat of wax. Only because I clean a lot of square footageof white board as a school custodian.
    Smaller white boards I polish by hand.

    Reply
    • Aileen Frye says:

      LA Totally Awesome is my #1 for 98% of everything I clean in my house. Even parts of my car! Works perfect on my new board and is onoy cleaner I have used, seems to be lasting longer than past boards of smae type. Also quility pens are a must for the best use and performance of any quality dry board.

      Reply
    • Going through the cleaning closet for various products mentioned here and elsewhere, I found a green spray bottle that says “LA’s Totally Awesome All Purpose Cleaner,” but then says “Rust, Lime, Calcium” in a larger font. Is this the stuff you mean? If it is, would you recommend it over CLR, which I also found?

      Reply
      • Marsha Mellow says:

        Not the right stuff. The awesome we speak of is either a yellow liquid in a clearish bottle or awesome orange in a white bottle with an orange label. I am unsure how the calcium/ lime remover would work, but it probably won’t hurt.

        Reply
      • Neethu Mohan says:

        Mam try to clean ur board with liquids I mean liquid used for cleaning vessels .. add small amt of water to it dilute it and make a try … I think it works

        Reply
      • If you accidentally wrote on it with permanent marker you can get the permanent marker off by coloring over it with a proper white board (dry erase) marker and then wiping it off.

        Reply
    • I agree, L.A.’s Totally Awesome is the best thing ever. I then followed it up with spray on Superior NanoWax from Eagle One. Quick and easy!

      Reply
    • Hi, Desperate to be able to clean whiteboards easily – and keep them clean. Could you enlighten me…What is L.A. ?
      Thanks,

      Reply
    • I agree – toothpaste! I tried nearly everything on the list, and the toothpaste took it off in a snap! Vinegar, alcohol & peroxide did nothing to remove the stains.

      Reply
  • I tried 90% Isopropyl Alcohol, hand sanitizer, nail acetone, WD-40, vinegar, hairspray on a 2 year old marks in my whiteboard and it did NOT worked. Tooth paste on the other hand worked perfectly. Thank You!

    Reply
        • The bubblegum flavored ADA-approved toothpaste works best, but remember not to use more than a glob the size of a grain of rice if the marker is fewer than 3 years old and no bigger than a pea if it’s more than 3 years old.

          Reply
        • LOL…..Crest Pro Health did the job. It initially smeared everything, but with a little elbow grease and a rinse with a damp paper towel, my white board is sparkling.

          Reply
          • Kevin Malone, thanks for starting a thread answer that made me grin! Also to those who continued it. I get you people.

      • Katrina Nichols says:

        Colgate gel did it for me! I rubbed it on the board with a dry washcloth and then used a wet cloth to get it all off. A dry paper towel dried the board nicely and I was back in business!

        Reply
    • I tried baby oil as recommended elsewhere online and it only cleaned the easy bits, not the tough-to-erase stuff. Toothpaste worked immediately!

      Reply
  • Just used 91% Isopropyl Alcohol and it worked like a charm! The stains were years old but it worked! Thank you for the advice!

    Reply
  • Okay I had like a huge problem because my little sister had stuck contact papaer on my whiteboard and it than had pink marks on it but hand sanitizer works like nobody’s business. It works wonders thank you

    Reply
    • And if you’re using toothpaste, it’s abrasive, so while cleaning your board, you’re also putting fine scratches in the plastic(?) surface that will make it even more difficult to clean in the future. Same problem with using Comet (type) cleansers on non-porcelain (bathroom) surfaces.

      Reply
      • That’s where car wax comes in. Apply car wax and it will level and seal those cracks making it easy to erase marker until the wax needs to be reapplied.

        Reply
  • After you cleaned it, apply caranuba wax (the one you use on your car) over the board and let it dry completely, then wipe it off (that'll be some work).

    That'll keep the board to gunk up so fast. For the whiteboard to work it needs a hydrophobic coat, the wax takes care of that.

    Reply
  • Vinegar didn't work at all for me. I think older boarrds that lose their smooth surface become harder and harder to clean, especially if the marks dry for several days or weeks.

    Reply
    • that sounds like it might be the case, while vinegar is a great cleaner and defenitely gets rid of some smells, its not that great for harder to get stains from being left there for so long.

      Reply
    • Hand Sanitizer for the win! I had games with dry erase marker that had been on them for 4 years in storage. Alcohol wipes were a disaster but hand sanitizer worked perfectly!

      Reply
  • Uncle of an aspiring artist says:

    Used toothpaste after I noticed my niece's art pieces on my fridge. Spread the paste on and rub it in with your fingers then wait a minute or two. Scrub away with a damp towel. Then wipe a few times afterwards with a damp rag/towel.

    Reply
  • Lisa Nedreski says:

    Hand sanitizer worked beautifully on our floor to ceiling, 20ft white board that had not been cleaned in years. (Hospital psychiatric unit). Thanks, it looks brand new. The patients are going to be thrilled!

    Reply
    • Ya next time you tell ppl the magic eraser worked wonderfully, you might want to also mention that it strips the coating off and marker doesn’t erase off anymore! Thanks a bunch!

      Reply
      • I’m not sure what kind you’re using, but that didn’t happen to mine when I used a magic eraser. Did you wet the eraser first?

        Reply
      • Hit it with carnauba wax (car wax); follow the instructions you would with a car and see if that helps. Mr Clean probably abraded the surface, allowing the marker to sink into the porous areas. Always test a small area first with those things – they can cause all sorts of problems!

        Reply
  • Vinegar?! All it did was make my room smell like vinegar. It didn’t make one iota f a difference. How about deleting this one from your list. It doesn’t work.

    Reply
    • Brenda Bodiford says:

      Vinegar worked just fine for me. It looks brand new again. I’m going to put some wax on it as suggested.

      Reply
  • Rozanne Pate says:

    go over old dried d.e. ink with a fresh marker and it will wipe right off! Works of permanent marker ink as well.

    Reply
  • Tried everything on a whiteboard that had had ‘permanent marker’ on it for 10 years. Toothpaste did the trick!

    Reply
  • whiteboard_obsessed says:

    So I had this purple dry erase marker and now it won’t come off my board. I tried EVERYTHING and only the toothpaste worked, but it took a really long time, a ton of toothpaste, and a lot of scrubbing. Is there an easier, more efficient way?

    Reply
    • Marsha Mellow says:

      Yes! Completely scribble over the old markings with a new dry erase marker, then simply erase. It seems to loosen the old.
      The other way is to use car wax. Apply just like you wax a vehicle, then polish. Leaves a protective finish and doesn’t scratch up the white board. I have used both Turtle wax liquid and paste. I am pretty sure other brands of car wax will work too.

      Reply
    • And if you’re Comet it’s very abrasive, so while cleaning your board, you’re also putting fine scratches in the plastic(?) surface that will make it way more difficult to clean in the future.

      Reply
    • Seal it with carnauba wax after or you’re going to end up with worse issues due to the glossy surface now being porous. The wax will reseal it.

      Reply
    • I tried the peroxide, alcohol and toothpaste but none of them worked. Does the comet really work on red marker? And how long do I need to let it set for?

      Reply
  • The 70% rubbing alcohol works well! I used the alcohol swabs that come in small packets in first aid kits. The dry erase board I have had ink markings on it for 3 years and was removed immediately! Hydrogen peroxide did not work for me.

    Reply
  • Use a white board marker cover completely then wipe off!! use marker to fight marker works like a charm. No need for chemicals …

    Reply
    • It works well, but if the one being used to erase is a color other than black it will pick up the color. The other issue is if the staining ink is crusty at all it will gunk up the marker being used to erase. Something to be mindful about.

      Coffee stains work similarly. Use coffee to clean coffee. Many things operate in this manner, but coffee is the only one that comes to mind at the moment.

      Reply
  • NAIL POLISH REMOVER!! I tried a few of these and had to rub really hard with almost no result. Nail polish removed wiped it off in one swipe. Barely used any!

    Reply
    • A concern with the fingernail polish remover is it may also remove the protective layer that allows the board to be dry erased. If more staining is observed afterwards, try a layer of carnauba wax (such as Turtle Wax) to restore the coating.

      Reply
  • Amy Tyler says:

    I tried all of the suggestions before I looked online and found this site. I used a local store brand of 100% acitone nail polish remover. It came right off. Some of the more sunburn markings took a little bit of elbow grease, but looks like new with very little marks left. I used a lot of paper towels though. Then I cleaned it with 50/50 rubbing alcohol for the smell. Though this post was very old, I am glad I found it! Thank you to all of your comments and suggestions.

    Reply
  • None of these worked for me. Out of desperation I used Jif and a never scratch sponge, dry. Came straight off and hadn’t damaged the surface.

    Reply
  • “awesome” was the only thing that worked! I clean at a school in the summer and had tried just about every suggestion!

    Reply
  • I tried most of these and didn’t work. Read to try car wax. Does the trick but needs to be used every cleaning! Board is still shiny but the finish must be damaged. Am trying the dry erase marker to remove perm marker…didn’t work for me….

    Reply
    • Connie M Burkey says:

      Crest 3D white worked like a charm. Had old markers on an old dry erase easel. Crest removed all. Going to see how the car wax works for renewing the finish.

      Reply
    • Question – did you do it while the dry erase ink was still wet? That’s the only way that’s going to have a chance of working. The idea is that it will turn to liquid once more the permanent marker and then you can wipe it away. I have my doubts, but it’s worth a try. Dry erase certainly won’t make it worse. The age of the marking will affect results, the older, the tougher.

      Alternatively, a Lot of people are talking about the Dollar Store product, LA Awesome. For a dollar, why not?

      Reply
  • yolanda Vazquez says:

    This should be noted, if you are not cleaning your white boards with bleach/toilet bowl cleaner and a bomb, you are gross.

    Reply
  • I know this post is very old but since people are still commenting after all these years I want to pass along important information. I work with ink and marker formulations. Applying an acidic cleaner will only make the mark more permanent. Also the surface of the board is rather delicate. The more you use it and constantly erasing, the more the coating comes off. That is the main reason the dry erase marker doesn’t come off. That being said, do not use any type of abrasive. The toothpaste method seems to be popular on this post so if you’re going that route be sure to use a gel-type/sensitive toothpaste with no silica in the ingredients. Going over the mark with the same marker used makes the most sense to me. If your board is very old, I recommend giving it a good cleaning, then applying a thick coat of wax. Then depending on how much the board is used you must re-wax (just like your car). A good way to tell its time to re-wax is if you start to notice some “ghosting” that is when you erase you notice a very faint mark still left on the board. Most people ignore it, but it’s an indication your board is wearing away.

    Reply
    • Thank you, Mary! I’ve been wondering about the longevity of peoples’ boards after using acetone and toothpaste. I was reluctant to use 70% isopropyl alcohol myself. I think it’s important to note that a Black marker should be used, lest your gorgeous green, brilliant blue, or pretty purple be besmirched with another color. I appreciate your confirmation that car wax will “heal” the board.

      Reply
  • The best ting for getting off old dry erase text from a magnetic white board is…
    … re-applying the dry erase, right on top, and rubbing it off… it seems to bring the old dry erase “back to life”… works amazingly.. just completed the task… just do a little at a time and clean up any smudges right away!!!

    Reply
  • Skip everything and use toothpaste. Believe me. I’m you.

    – I used a damp microfibre cloth (old sock should work too).
    – Added a fingernail sized toothpaste blob to the damp cloth.
    – Cleaned the affected areas of the board in a circular motion.

    Stains disappeared. Sure I didn’t try “everything” on that list, tried a few. Vinegar was okay at best. I’m typing a review because this is mind blowing. Thank you all

    My markers: Studio dry-erase, Crayola dry-erase, Expo dry-erase

    If you’re using a glass-whiteboard (like the sliding privacy doors) this will work for you too.

    Reply
  • Lol not sure what toothpaste you peeps are using but mine did not work at all.
    I used a creme cleanser (mine was from Pro-Ma), damp cloth and it worked like a treat. Did the whole board in less than a minute.
    It’s just a smaller board 1500 x 1000.

    Reply

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