Battlemap Stain

[Scooby]

My Chessex battlemap was mapped using a Vis-A-Vis® Wet Erase Overhead Projection Marker. It was put away for a year without being wiped off. Most of it came off, but there is still a light stain. Any ideas on how to remove it?

 

[Umbran]

My DM forgot to clean his battlemat, and that very same red marker left a stain only after a few hours. He's tried just about every cleaning product he can get his hands on. As far as I know, there's no way to get the red out.

 

[Palskane]

Believe it or not, alchohol will remove it. Not the rubbing kind, the drinking kind. And I guess that liquor would be a better term.

Try a small dab of Jim Beam or some other whiskey.

No, this is not a joke. I had a friend, and when we started to play a new campaign, he pulled out a battlemat that had been in storage for a few years. Black Vis-a-Vis was all over it, and he took a paper towel, soaked it, and squeezed it out over the board. He let it set for a few minutes, and then wiped it up. We've used that trick several times since then, since it seems that some colors are much worse than others.

 

[Kaptain_Kantrip]

You should never use red markers on battlemats, as they stain worse than any other.

 

[LightPhoenix]

Believe it or not, alchohol will remove it. Not the rubbing kind, the drinking kind. And I guess that liquor would be a better term.

Try a small dab of Jim Beam or some other whiskey.

No, this is not a joke. I had a friend, and when we started to play a new campaign, he pulled out a battlemat that had been in storage for a few years. Black Vis-a-Vis was all over it, and he took a paper towel, soaked it, and squeezed it out over the board. He let it set for a few minutes, and then wiped it up. We've used that trick several times since then, since it seems that some colors are much worse than others.

Ethanol in the drink, especially drinks with higher proof, is what got it out. Ethanol is very good for getting out marker stains, it's what we use all the time in the lab.

Acetone would probably work too, except you need to take special precautions when disposing of it, and it could damage the mat.

 

[hong]

Believe it or not, alchohol will remove it. Not the rubbing kind, the drinking kind. And I guess that liquor would be a better term.

Try a small dab of Jim Beam or some other whiskey.

Now you have to ask yourself whether a spotless battlemat is really worth a shot of Jim Beam or some other whiskey.


Hong "MY battlemats are worth only the finest single malts" Ooi

 

[Painfully]

Does anybody know how to get out a PERMANENT marker stain without effecting the grid lines?? Then again, I suppose I could just redraw the grid lines with permanent marker

 

[LightPhoenix]

Does anybody know how to get out a PERMANENT marker stain without effecting the grid lines?? Then again, I suppose I could just redraw the grid lines with permanent marker

Ethanol will remove permanent marker - simple poor a little on and wipe it off. It may not get it ALL off, but it will get most. Anything stronger (ie, acetone) and you risk ruining the mat.
I don't know if ethanol will remove the grid lines, I think it would depend on the quality of the mat.

I'm not sure where you would get it commercially - we usually order it out of a catalog.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Do not drink any ethanol that is not in beer, wine, or booze - it is mixed with methanol, which causes serious brain damage. Yes, people do it.

 

[ThomasBJJ]

yup, I've got 12 year old red marking on my battlemap. It's very light though. I'll try the Jim Beam.

 

[Mark]

Are we all reasonably sure that the stain isn't actually blood?