ink on a drum head!

Help! my 3 yr old grand-daughter got ink from a permanent marker ("Marks-A-Lot" brand) on the natural skin drum head of an African drum ...

Also on the painted walls and carpet in the apartment, and the surface of an acoustic (wood under varnish) guitar

anyone got any suggestions?

thanks!
RebDeb

although they are permanent the ink is made from something, usualy some form of alcohol, so the alcohol evaporates at room tem, leaving the ink, so it follows that most alcohol will "lift" the ink, try methelated spirits.

It is also why people suggest hair spray or some deoderants, its because f the alcohol content

Thank You! My daugter-in-law didn't tell me what color the ink was, I'm hoping not red! I read about trying alcohol & hair spray from other postings on this site. So thank you. I told her they may need to contact a specialist in instrument repair & restoration. She's going to try the hair spray thing first.

I wonder if any one knows anything about using mineral oil on the leather (skin) drum head?

Thanks for your replies,
RebDeb

Take it to the dry cleaners

Believe it or not, I tried ... but because the drum head is attached to a drum shell of synthetic material they were afraid to mess with it. I couldn't even convince them to try and "spot" clean the head.

But thanks for the suggestion, anyway ... if it was serious - I wasn't sure with that little laughing emoticon, and after all the American-bashing I've read regarding us clumsy colonials and our ink



thanks again,
rebdeb

Umm I recon you need a different cleaners ............. You might have to talk em "Up" a bit first...... Find out how dry cleaning is done .......... Spot cleaning isn't a exact science by any means ....... The litigus nature of the US makes people unwilling to go that extra few yards ...... Talk em up ....... You can do it

Then put the markers on either the top shelf, in the bin or down the kids throat, pending on your mind scape

Ok i know you may feel i'm winding you up but get a cotton bud , dip it in break fluid and gently dab it in a tiny area of the stain to firstly check for colour fastness.

If it disapears, ( it should do ) treat the rest of the area.

Brake Fluid?! ... really? OK, will tell my son to give it a try

most interesting, thank you
RebDeb

You might find something useful in this lot...
http://www.google.co.uk/search?as_q...ny&as_dt=i&as_sitesearch=&as_rights=&safe=off

First thing I'd try is going over the marks with the pen that made them. Reapplying the solvent in this way takes the marks back up into solution and you can usually wipe the surface clean. Note, though, that this only works on hard, impermeable surfaces; with something permeable like your drum the pen will have penetrated the material and going over it again will only make the mark worse.

Was the pen solvent-based? Sniff it (carefully!) - if it smells strongly then it's probably solvent-based. If it doesn't smell much, chances the solvent is water or some other non-volatile liquid. If it's solvent-based, you could try rubbing alcohol, available from your local pharmacist. Or even something like tape head cleaner (for audio tapes or video cassettes), which is usually alcohol-based.

Trouble is, whatever solvent you use is likely to cause some damage to the underlying material - particularly that African drum. I guess it depends on how valuable the item is to you. As they say, "Try with caution on an unexposed area first".

Mineral oil on leather. A quick Google reveals a wide range of opinions - some swear by it, some at it. As a motorcyclist I treat my leathers with neats foot oil - although again, some folk reckon that's bad for leather, but after two decades I've never had any problem with it.

Do you know who made the drum? They might be your best bet for advice on care and maintenance. Or a shop that sells similar items, perhaps.

sf

_____________________________
Lynda, moderator

please note forum rule 7

Thanks ... Yours is the first response to my question about mineral oil (we did not try it) but I'd never heard of "neat's foot oil" (interesting name) No response from the drum manufacturer - REMO percussion, and the guys in the percussion dept. at the store are clueless, well ... they're drummers!

(I can say that because I've raised 2 drummers myslef)

again, thanks for your input! The ink came off the sides of the drum fairly well with plain old rubbing alcohol, but the head is still pretty darkly stained. I suspect my son may just have to live with it and learn to consider that the story behind the stain lends the drum "character"

peace,
RebDeb

Neats foot oil:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neatsfoot_oil

You can buy it pure or mixed with all sorts of muck, particularly petroleum. I use the pure stuff on my leathers, bought from our local saddlers. There's also a vegetable-oil based variety which may suit those who prefer not to use animal products.

The "added muck" varieties are, I understand, used more for preserving leather - I've seen references to its use in the tanning process and in taxidermy.

sf