Biro on vinyl flooring

Cif/Jif might shift it.

Olbas oil is great for removing biro (unlike stain devil). What effect it might have on vinyl I've no idea, so I'd test it somewhere inconspicuous, and wash any remaining traces off afterwards.

NT

Try hand cleaner but not Swarfega - one of those that has a slightly abrassive content - sorry don't know brand names. The stuff I use comes from Germany and is used in the printing industry. If your local to Surrey your welcome to sample

Phil C

Brasso and a bit of elbow grease removes biro from most hard surfaces.

John Schmitt

Meths gets it off cloths providing it hasn't been there for ages. (Don't try spinning your favourate shirt with a biro in the top pocket folks, although I did eventaually get it all off;-) However, it dissolves only slowly, so if it works on vinyl, I would expect it would still take much wetting and rubbing.

Erm! an ink rubber?

-- Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

Thanks for the replies, but I should have mentioned that the ink has

Bugger. Plasticiser migration by the dye. Looks like you will have to adopt a similar strategy to the FAQ's line on scratches in plastic. Abrade with coarseish until the colour is no longer perceptible then taper up through finer and finer abrasives.

John Schmitt

Can't do that, this is cushioned vinyl - I think the top layer is about 0.3mm thick!

that gives you a bit of abrasion room, if not a lot.

If the ink has really soaked in, youre not really likely to remove it. At best solvent pads under a brick might bleed at least some out, lightening it a bit, abrasion and repolishing may or may not remove it, then youre left with disguise, ie paint. Thats it. Oh, and lastly cutting and joining.

There aint nowt else.

NT

Yes. Has SWMBO found out yet?

Dave

Unfortunately it was S who discovered it.

I've played around with some scrap bits and have decided that acetone on a cotton bud is quite effective, and doesn't damage the surface if you are careful.

It would be :-)

Dave