Originally Posted by ArchaicArcane

Please be very careful with the Mr Clean Magic erasers. They're actually abrasive, it's how they "magically" remove things. I learned the hard way with the Teak table we got from DH's parents. There were sharpie marks on it from the kids, so I thought, hey these new Magic Erasers seem like just the thing....

It took the sharpie marks off, along with part of the finish. I had to re-oil the table and it still didn't ever quite match. Luckily, I'm the only one who knew where the marks were.

If you use one on a shiny surface, and look carefully, you can see the scratches it leaves, making the surface dull where you use it. They're great for some things, but I wouldn't use them on a sewing machine bed myself

Other than really porous surfaces, I usually use a dry erase marker to remove permanent marker. The solvent in the pen dissolves the "permanent" marker as well, then you wipe it off. I do this on all of my rulers when I use permanent marker and get some on it. I've done it to the tops of laptops, dry erase boards, desk tops, all sorts of things. It's worked on almost everything. The surfaces where it's "pitted" (like the finish on a early 90s Pfaff for instance) it doesn't work as well on, but with more elbow grease you can get even most of that out.