I’m in the habit of using water soluble pencil to mark vinyl for cutting. I marked some pink 3M 1080 with a black water soluble pencil. Normally I wipe it off once I make my cut. I forgot. The next day I noticed it. No problem. After all, it’s ‘water soluble’. Wrong. Nothing I have tried is removing it. Any suggestions?
-
I want to thank all the members that have upgraded your accounts. I truly appreciate your support of the site monetarily. Supporting the site keeps this site up and running as a lot of work daily goes on behind the scenes. Click to Support Signs101 ...
Water soluble pencil ??!?
- Thread starter travroy
- Start date
HA! You’d think.
Johnny Best
Active Member
Try Goop.
signbrad
New Member
Travroy, what is the pencil you are using? Is it the German-made All-Stabilo?
It was the go-to layout pencil in the years I was coming up through the sign painting trade and Stabilo marks usually didn't interfere with painted lettering unless you made the lines too heavy. But certain colors were harder to remove than others. Red and black were problems sometimes. Blue was the best. And white.
It always helped to remove Stabilo marks soon after the lettering was dry, or else the marks did try to bond to the background, especially if the background was fresh.
I found numerous ways to remove Stabilo marks: Waterless hand cleaner was my favorite, like Johnny B suggested, though I preferred GoJo to Goop. I've used various kitchen cleaners with success, though I found out the hard way that Simple Green full strength can remove painted lettering. A little linseed oil on a paper towel works and it doesn't leave a dull area on the background color like some of the cleaners. For a stubborn mark I used a little paint thinner on a rag wrapped around a fingertip. Then I rubbed the area with a dry rag or a rag with a little oil to remove the thinner residue and bring back the shine.
Of course, many sign painters used spit on a rag if there weren't a lot of marks to remove. One guy told me that Stabilo was specifically formulated to be removed with spit. When I questioned him about his source for this inside information, he got defensive. So, I dropped it.
This thread reminds me of a similar problem: removing errant paint marks when lettering. Sometimes an inadvertent touch of a wet brush, a little false start to a stroke or a small deviation, a drip or a sag; all these things could result in a bit of paint that needed to be removed. I found it best to remove a little holiday right away even if it meant getting up off the floor to fetch a rag when lettering a truck door. An annoyance, to say the least. I soon learned the benefit of always keeping a rag tucked under my belt, though it led to an occasional curious glance in a restaurant at lunch time.
During my son's baby years I discovered the beauty of cloth diapers, which was great while it lasted. My wife thought I was just trying to be more natural when I encouraged her to avoid disposable diapers. And I was usually good about not taking a diaper till it had outlived its intended usefulness, especially after I got busted (she spotted a smear of 102 Red on his diapered bottom once. I heard her in the next room say, "What the..." Though I was being very quiet she knew I was listening. "You know, diapers aren't cheap," was all she said.
A cotton diaper also made a good face wipe when your glasses started sliding down your nose, a nuisance made even worse when I started wearing bifocals. You can only tip your head back so far. (Ordering work glasses with the close-up lens on top instead of on the bottom solved a lot of my neck soreness. I overheard Kent Smith make this eyeglass suggestion in 1999 at the Mazeppa Muster letterhead meet. That tip alone was worth the trip to Minnesota). So it was common for me to wear a diaper around my neck when lettering in the summertime, which led to another discovery: nose oil.
A little nose oil on a rag wrapped around your finger could effectively remove a small paint holiday and it didn't affect a fresh stroke applied over the area. Nose oil is water soluble, right? Of course, if I wasn't careful to use a fresh spot on the diaper each time, I would end up with a smear of paint next to my nose. Once, a waitress looked at my face with a big grin. I said to my partner, "Did you see her flirt with me?" He said, "Dude, go look in the mirror."
It was the go-to layout pencil in the years I was coming up through the sign painting trade and Stabilo marks usually didn't interfere with painted lettering unless you made the lines too heavy. But certain colors were harder to remove than others. Red and black were problems sometimes. Blue was the best. And white.
It always helped to remove Stabilo marks soon after the lettering was dry, or else the marks did try to bond to the background, especially if the background was fresh.
I found numerous ways to remove Stabilo marks: Waterless hand cleaner was my favorite, like Johnny B suggested, though I preferred GoJo to Goop. I've used various kitchen cleaners with success, though I found out the hard way that Simple Green full strength can remove painted lettering. A little linseed oil on a paper towel works and it doesn't leave a dull area on the background color like some of the cleaners. For a stubborn mark I used a little paint thinner on a rag wrapped around a fingertip. Then I rubbed the area with a dry rag or a rag with a little oil to remove the thinner residue and bring back the shine.
Of course, many sign painters used spit on a rag if there weren't a lot of marks to remove. One guy told me that Stabilo was specifically formulated to be removed with spit. When I questioned him about his source for this inside information, he got defensive. So, I dropped it.
This thread reminds me of a similar problem: removing errant paint marks when lettering. Sometimes an inadvertent touch of a wet brush, a little false start to a stroke or a small deviation, a drip or a sag; all these things could result in a bit of paint that needed to be removed. I found it best to remove a little holiday right away even if it meant getting up off the floor to fetch a rag when lettering a truck door. An annoyance, to say the least. I soon learned the benefit of always keeping a rag tucked under my belt, though it led to an occasional curious glance in a restaurant at lunch time.
During my son's baby years I discovered the beauty of cloth diapers, which was great while it lasted. My wife thought I was just trying to be more natural when I encouraged her to avoid disposable diapers. And I was usually good about not taking a diaper till it had outlived its intended usefulness, especially after I got busted (she spotted a smear of 102 Red on his diapered bottom once. I heard her in the next room say, "What the..." Though I was being very quiet she knew I was listening. "You know, diapers aren't cheap," was all she said.
A cotton diaper also made a good face wipe when your glasses started sliding down your nose, a nuisance made even worse when I started wearing bifocals. You can only tip your head back so far. (Ordering work glasses with the close-up lens on top instead of on the bottom solved a lot of my neck soreness. I overheard Kent Smith make this eyeglass suggestion in 1999 at the Mazeppa Muster letterhead meet. That tip alone was worth the trip to Minnesota). So it was common for me to wear a diaper around my neck when lettering in the summertime, which led to another discovery: nose oil.
A little nose oil on a rag wrapped around your finger could effectively remove a small paint holiday and it didn't affect a fresh stroke applied over the area. Nose oil is water soluble, right? Of course, if I wasn't careful to use a fresh spot on the diaper each time, I would end up with a smear of paint next to my nose. Once, a waitress looked at my face with a big grin. I said to my partner, "Did you see her flirt with me?" He said, "Dude, go look in the mirror."
Last edited:
Gino
Premium Subscriber
Wow, you bring back some old memories. We've been using the nose oil trick, since the 70s. Like you said, you'd see some really funny designs around the nose area. Ya could tell who was making the most mistakes. Just down the road from the first place I worked was a diaper service company. We used to buy old diapers, by the barrel full. We even got to letter their trucks through it.. I still have some old diapers from back them. That's over 40 some years ago.
I love magic erasers! I get them at the dollar store, guess how much they cost? $1.00!!! : )
They are called "Quick Erasers" at Dollar Tree.
Gino
Premium Subscriber
Yeah, here's one of the first ones we did and got a little carried away with the knobs. Needless to say, we lost this one as a customer.
