I picked up a Boba Fett but didn't notice that some monkey  had inked in the soft plastic of the recessed parts of the jets with a sharpie or something similar. Do any of you have any experience with removing this sort of thing? any chemicals that remove ink but doesn't damage plastic?

Hey mat8yr,

There are two things that I have done in the past to clean up figures with ink on them...

First, believe it or not Magic Erasers are excellent at taking off ink depending on what kind was used... I would cut off a piece that is the right size, wet it, and stick in the area and rub with some real good elbow grease until it starts to come off... If you need help getting in there use the back of a paint brush, or the back of a plastic pen or something that you can hold and use to apply pressure.

If that does not work then I would go to a Hardware store and pick up a small bottle of Goo-Gone...

Go outside with it, and put some on the corner of a rag and get in there with it... Try a small amount first, and add a little more as needed... The stuff is nasty, but I have removed Sharpie marker ink and all kinds of nasty things with that stuff... Make sure you do it outside because the fumes from that stuff can be noxious... Also, be ready to run whatever you clean under some water to get the excess off. I may be wrong, but I think over time that stuff can eat away at the plastic if you leave it on there indefinitely...

Hope it helps man, let me know how it goes.

You won't believe this but WD-40 will take off darn near everything. I used it once to get permanent ink off of my dry erase board. I let my kid play with it. spray it on a Q-tip and wipe it off

WD-40 huh? Good one. Thanks Broke, I will have to try that one!

Thanks guys! I'll give it a go tomorrow and let you know how it goes.

Did it work?

good question... I've not tried it yet. I'll go and give it a go now

Yes the WD40 is doing the trick! It's taking a bit of elbow grease but it's working (and it won't squeak afterward either - Boba will be pleased about that!)

I also found some Krud Kutter Graffiti remover too and that's working a treat also. I'd forgotten we had that, we used it when the kids draw all over the walls in our rental house!

Neither product seems to be having an adverse affect on the plastic either - thanks for your help guys!

  Good as new! Thanks for your great suggestions!

Great job mat8yr!!

Looks like it never happened, and I am glad that no harm came to the plastic!

THIS WORKED????????????????? Holy cow I wasn't expecting that.

Just kidding. I knew it would work. WD-40 cleans most stuff wonderfully. Glad it worked.

I am unsure of the long term effects if any of using something like that on these plastics. Any chemical introduction to the plastic has the chance of altering its state, i.e. it could become brittle, change color, etc.

AJ showed a picture one time of a ship that had been hydrogen peroxide dipped. the pieces lost their discoloration and then subsequently all melted and deformed. As such, I want to make sure we tell any future readers use these things at your own risk and results could vary from one to the next since external factors are not identical. Also I believe many would advocate that the use of chemical products (outside of soap and water) might need to be disclosed to any future purchaser, this applies more to peroxide whitening in my mind, but just putting it out there as well.

I agree with all of that. I'm not trying to damage his stuff, just help him get it clean.

trappedtexan wrote:

I am unsure of the long term effects if any of using something like that on these plastics. Any chemical introduction to the plastic has the chance of altering its state, i.e. it could become brittle, change color, etc.

AJ showed a picture one time of a ship that had been hydrogen peroxide dipped. the pieces lost their discoloration and then subsequently all melted and deformed.  As such, I want to make sure we tell any future readers use these things at your own risk and results could vary from one to the next since external factors are not identical.  Also I believe many would advocate that the use of chemical products (outside of soap and water) might need to be disclosed to any future purchaser, this applies more to peroxide whitening in my mind, but just putting it out there as well.

Magic eraser works or for tough stains get some lemon essential oils, it takes off any stain possible on a Figure.

greatwhite24 wrote:

Magic eraser works or for tough stains get some lemon essential oils, it takes off any stain possible on a Figure.

Lemon essential oils? that's a new one to try... Thanks!