I have an interesting problem. Someone took a perfectly good pair of bighorn sheep horns and marked them up with a red sharpie magic marker. I'd like to restore them to their original condition, but nothing I do will take off the marker. I tried soap and water, oxy clean and some other detergents and sandpaper, but the marks seem to be in the horn fibers. I thought about taking the sandblaster to them, but wanted to get some opinions first. Does anyone know what will take the marker out, or a suitable way to cover them up? Thanks.
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Sharpies are indelible(permanent). Your only option, which I mentioned a few weeks back is to dilute the ink that's soaked into the horns. I know Jim Marsico is going to faint when I tell you this, but the horns are lost as is.
You need to soak the horns in a light oil. WD40 would be a superior choice, but soak they must. What will happen is that the oil will permeat the horn as well and dilute your red markers. Leave them in there a couple of weeks. Then simmer your horns in a big pot. HOPEFULLY, the ink will have diluted and the hot water will release the oil and the marker at the same time.
What do you have to lose?
I know that Acetone will cut the marker but like you said it might be "in" the horn now. But might be worth trying. Good Luck
laquer thinner and lightly steel wooled, but the marks I had on some antlers wern't permanent marker, but worth a try.
If the ink isnt in that deep and the pen marks arent everywhere I think a little sanding wouldnt hurt.
I tried the acetone last night, with no luck. The red marks were rubbing off a little, but they are still very visible. I tried sanding too and that works some, but looks like it will take a lot of sanding to get them off. I have to locate my WD40 and try that tonight. I REALLY appreciate all your responses. I'll keep going and see what I get. Anyone think light sandblasting is a good idea? What about painting over the horns all together?
-Dave
The horn has absorbed the color and it goes as deep as the pressure might have allowed it. You could ruin your horns as you're eliminating part of them.
If it's a few marks, I'd put a thin layer of apoxy sculpt over them, and stain to match.
Try Methyl ethyl keytone (MEK). I just used it to remove sharpie on whitetail antlers. It worked great.
You guys are great. I'll work on it a bit tonight and see what comes out. I never would have thought about these things to try. Hopefully I can either salvage what's there or cover it up with apoxy. Great ideas!