The pattern marks that won't go away
 

I'm at a loss as to how to get rid of the pencil marks on this quilt. I used a Sewline Fabric Pencil that says it makes "Clean, clear lines, easily erased" or "remove by dabbing with a damp cloth or washing". I have tried them all and the lines are still visible. Any suggestions for removing the pencil marks?

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I'm sorry I don't have any ideas, but will be following to see what others say. Did you iron over the marks? Could that be why they won't come out?

I use this for removing stubborn things.....dab, let sit for a bit and wash.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/OxiClean-...3=2541&veh=sem

I don't know what you have tried and I have never used that type of marking pencil.. but I have luck with the blue dawn dish washing soap. Sometimes I use it straight and sometimes I mix water with it. Then let it soak on the quilt awhile before washing.

I've heard that applying Shout and then rubbing with a clean towel or cloth can sometimes get rid of the lines. It seems no matter what we use to mark, we take a risk of them not coming out. I've also heard of people using a white vinegar and water mixture to get stubborn lines out. I hope you find something....the quilt looks beautiful.

Yikes. I bought that green pencil last year, so I'll be interested in following this thread. So far I've only used it to mark diagonal lines on the back of pieces, etc.

I some OxiClean, I'll give that a try. Thanks.

I bought some blue dawn especially for this quilt, but it didn't work either.

I tried white vinegar and hydrogen peroxide mixed which has taken blood, grass and many other stains out, but it didn't even phase the blue lines. :(

At this point I'm thinking marking the back of the fabric is all these pencils are good for.

No, I didn't iron over the markings, which if I had I would just be saying "shame on me". Others I have talked to have said they used this pencil and didn't have any problems at all. I guess I'm just lucky, Not. It really is a nice looking quilt I hope I can find a solution so I can enjoy it.

Have you tried to contact with the company that makes it and see if they could help? The quilt is very pretty...

Have you tried an art eraser or the old pink school erasers????

Wishing you the best in getting those lines out!

Not sure this will help, but when I worked I was forever getting ink marks on my clothes I used hairspray and it came out.

Oh goodness.....this is discouraging. I'd be calling the company.. Not sure if you wash your quilts when completed but this may take them out. With tough stains, I dab dish soap, let soak thru a few minutes, then wash. Works well for me...good luck....

Are you wet blotting or soaking the fabric where the marks are? Sometimes intense wetting/soaking is necessary for these blue ink disappearing markers.

Janis I remember doing that a Lot. We used aerosol hair spray.....that tells my age. I don't know if the pump kind would work the same.
This could be quite an experiment using all the different marking tools and what actually worked on each.

I've had the same problem with the Sew Line pencil where I've sewn over it. I can erase it just fine on the fabric by itself, but once I sew over it, I can't erase it, and from your picture it looks like that's exactly what's happening. Kind of defeats the purpose if you ask me.

If you try the old white eraser and the old gum eraser and they don't work try either an Oxi-Clean or try Blue Line Eraser or my stand by is a tub full of warm water with Dawn dish soap. Soak overnight. This always works for me.

You hit the nail on the head Peckish, when I would wander off the blue line with the stitches the marks came out but when I sewed over the line then it stuck. I have washed the quilt 2 times letting it air dry each time. I haven't let it soak overnight, so I think I'll try that with the OxiClean. But first I will call the company and see what they have to say. I must say it is a real bummer but a good lesson to learn. Never use a new product on a whole finished quilt without having tested it on some scrap fabric. One lesson I don't think I'll forget anytime soon. :(

I don't have an experience with this marking product specifically but with other stubborn standard #2 pencil lines, I've taken liquid dish soap, thoroughly wet the area and then 'scrubbed' with an old toothbrush. Rinse and repeat as necessary.

Wishing you luck.

I hope you'll post any info from the company. Last night I went looking and found one of these markers in my marker drawer. I threw it away.

Two items mentioned (Oxi-clean and Dawn dish soap) have to be the best items to remove markings on quilts or stains on fabric. What would we do without them??

Try SewClean, it can be found at some Quilt Shops, I asked my local quilt shop if they could get and they ordered it for me, great stuff. You can tell your Quilt Shop that Checkers carry it. Checkers is a quilt store ordering house.

My go to spot remover is Grandma's Secret Spot Remover, which can be found in fabric shops, ei: Hobby Lobby. I use it on my quilts and laundry to remove all kinds of stains.. I will remove sharpie ink.

I second P-BurgKay's comment. I have had very good luck with Sew Clean for various stains, including pencil marks.

Hmmm, hard to tell for sure by the picture but it looks to me like you may have had transfer of the marking tool to your thread and the coloring is embedded in the fibers of your thread. To tell for sure is to take out some of the quilting and see if the mark is still on the fabric or there is actually color residue from the pencil in your thread. I had that happen to me once and nothing got it out until I ripped out all the quilting. Then the marks were gone because they were in the thread, not the fabric and I requilted.

I had dark mechanical pencil stains on a quilt (I thought that I couldn't see them if I did them lightly--Duh!). I was told to dab them with Lestoil (found at dollar store) and rub with a old toothbrush..It worked pretty well. If you Really look and know that they are there, you can still see some lines. Might be worth a try.
Otherwise, I would say that it was worth the few dollars that I spent.

You could try a Mr Clean Magic Eraser..dry.. if that doesn’t work, try wet

I finally broke down and looked up the company that makes the Sewline pencils. As fate would have it they are in Australia, so I had to just send them an e-mail. I'll let you know if and when I get a reply.

I don't have any suggestions. But I did a marking demo a couple of years ago and tried all kinds of making pens etc. I ironed over half of them and not the other half. Then I threw the whole bunch in the washing machine. Anything that was blue seemed to be the hardest to remove. I will never use blue marking methods again.

I did a real boo boo in marking my Avatar quilt and got blue dry erase marker on it. Solution turned out to be Murphy’s Oil soap. No residue and now I can’t even tell you where it was. Had tried liquid dishwasher soap among other things and none had worked. Good luck

Ps piece went on to win several ribbons and awards

I can't help with what you are going through but for future quilts, may I suggest trying

Crayola Ultra Washable Markers. They come with different size tips. I have been using them quite regularly with great success. Every color in the box washed out of the tests I made.

Sad to be disappointed after all the work that goes into making a project.

peace

I don't have experience with this marker but I swear by Shout ***wipes***. They get out most things. They were a Godsend when I wore white shirts everyday in a restaurant surrounded by drawn butter and cocktail sauce.

I agree on these markers. I too tested them. In addition I ironed a second test of them and they still washed out.

The one time I did this the only way I got it out was Dawn in the tub over night. I think it has to sink in past the thread. Might as well try some Oxi Clean. It gets rid of everything, glue, labels on jars you name it. Just be careful. Too much and you can hurt the colors.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]590371[/ATTACH] I used a white eraser, then dampened the cotton fabric, then scrubbed with a dab of DAWN dishwashing soap, added some rubbing alcohol and the pencil mark was gone, see my cotton sample.

d. all of the Sewline marks that had not been stitched over came out just fine with plain water and a little dabbing. It's just the marks that I stitched over that will not come out. I may have to do as feline fanatic suggested and take the quilting out of the white areas and requilt...or just give up and live with it.