making a personilzation go away

[thecatspajamas]

Just removed a long-present "Best Wishes" from this Paul Mitchell signed photo. I'm not sure how long the signature has been on there, but I've had the collection this came out of for at least a year, and don't know how long before I purchased it the previous owner got it signed.

As shown below, the original signature was in blue sharpie. I covered over "Best" with blue dry erase marker, wiped it away, took another scan to show in-progress, then removed "Wishes" as well. No residue, and no indications in reflected light that the "Best Wishes" was ever there.

This was done on a modern glossy, matte-finish photo. I did test it on a couple of other materials as well, including a semi-gloss card stock, and photo paper like you would run through your printer, and in both cases the dry erase failed to wipe off on its own, let alone take any sharpie with it. So I would caution you to use this method on full-gloss surfaces only, and test it before you risk anything permanent. Also, it probably goes without saying, but be sure to wipe AWAY from whatever writing you are trying to preserve.

[dgo71]

I think the dry erase trick works on photos only. Not 100% on that as I've never tried on cards. For glossy cards, an alcohol prep pad works fine, just be wary of the "excess" alcohol from the pad, especially if the inscription is close to the signature. Additionally, be careful not to spread the ink to the sides of the card. The sides are NOT coated with the gloss and the ink/alcohol combo will bleed into the edge and this cannot be removed.

[thecatspajamas]

Tried it with a glossy card and it worked. Again, I've had this signed card for at least a year, and don't know how long before that it was signed. I feel pretty confident at this point that this method would work with any "glossy" surface where the sharpie ink sits and dries on the surface rather than soaking into the substrate.

It's probably also worth noting that in this case, after the first wipe-off, a faint haze and much lighter number remained, but after a second application of dry-erase ink, the haze and remaining number came off cleanly.

[milkit1]

Wow lance! Great work! I can't tell if these mo ty python cards are full gloss but I'm going to try one tonight. Ill keep ya posted

[thecatspajamas]

As Jon suggested, just be sure to try it on a spare card first. If the dry erase just "sorta" wipes off, don't count on being able to scrub it enough to get it off. The ones that I tested, if it worked, the dry erase would wipe off cleanly and easily.

[milkit1]

Did you literally mark over what you wanted to erase or trace it?

[thecatspajamas]

Just colored over the entire area I wanted to "erase" with the dry erase marker. I suppose you could also trace what you wanted to erase with it, but if it's all wiping off cleanly anyway, no need to be that careful.

In the sequence of 3 scans above, the first shows the unaltered "19" below the signature, second scan is with dry erase marker completely covering the "19" (but not the signature area), and the third is after wiping the dry erase marker blob (with sharpie "19" underneath) off completely. The darker "blob" in the middle of the dry erase blob in the central image is where the dry erase ink "pooled" because I was making such a thick layer and had to allow a few extra seconds for that portion to dry. None of the "19" was visible through the dry erase layer after I applied it.