Posted by Lisa (198.81.16.159) on May 03, 2002 at 04:10:41:
In Reply to: removing pen and marker posted by Linda on May 01, 2002 at 23:36:25:
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> Has anyone figured out how to remove marks on ducks made by pen or magic marker? I'm afraid I'm not very Heloise-inclined, so would welcome any suggestions. Thanks.
I can offer advice garnered from my experience with My Little Ponies, which are also made of vinyl, like the majority of 'rubber' duckies.
There are a couple options: the safest one is to just leave the mark alone. Put the ducky someplace warm and leave it there. Over time, (as in at least six months to a year) as the plasticizers etc in the vinyl migrate around inside the duckie, the mark will fade somewhat; sometimes marks disappear completely.
If that doesn't work, you have two other options, both of which I recommend only with hesitation as both methods have been known to remove the correct color dye from the vinyl as well as the stain.
Method A, and probably the safer of the two, is to apply a thin film of Oxy brand pimple cream over the mark, and allow duck to sit in sun. You may need to repeat this treatment a couple days. TEST THIS ON UNDERSIDE OF DUCK FIRST TO MAKE SURE THIS WON'T REMOVE THE YELLOW COLOR AS WELL. On no account should you *ever* use Oxy on a blue duck as it WILL fade the vinyl to white.
Method B: Talk to vintage Barbie collectors, I regret to say I cannot now remember the name of the product, but it's what they use to treat "green ears" on old dolls. AGAIN< TEST ON UNDERSIDE OF DUCKIE FIRST! This solution also takes time, anywhere from a couple weeks through six months, to work.
Green ear occurs when the dolls' earrings, which had brass posts, were left in over the years and the plasticizer caused the brass to corrode. The plasticizer drew the corrosion stain into the doll's vinyl, with the result that a lot of old dolls have a large halo of green around their earlobes. Some poor dolls' entire heads are green!