I've never tried a sharpie, what do you do to get it off?
I've never tried a sharpie, what do you do to get it off?
I don't even know what a sharpie is. Anyone care to elaborate? :-)
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I've never tried a sharpie, what do you do to get it off?I don't even know what a sharpie is. Anyone care to elaborate? :-)
It's a brand of marker. See Sharpie Website.
For future reference, you'll probably want to avoid using pens that say "permanent" on them, just to save the hassle! :)
Chief Technical Officer
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The guy from Paizo said to draw over it with dry-erase and then it comes off. I wish it had said that somewhere....
When Steel Sqwire first released the Flip-Mat, it didn't have instructions, but when we repackaged it as part of the GameMastery line, we added that instruction to the new packaging.
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Chief Technical Officer
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For future reference, you'll probably want to avoid using pens that say "permanent" on them, just to save the hassle! :)
Sometimes that hassle's worth it! Imagine: You're at home, and you want to draw out the dungeon for your next session at the game store. If you use a Sharpie, you know that you can draw it out, fold up your mat, stuff it in your bag, and take it to the store—and when you unfold it, your map will still be pristine. If you did that with wet-erase or dry-erase, it might be smeared or partly erased.
Or imagine that you'll be adding and removing things from the rooms in your dungeon, but the rooms themselves won't change. Do the rooms in Sharpie, and the other stuff in dry-erase, and when you wipe off the mat, you've left the dungeon outline untouched.
Or you could get tricky and draw your dungeon in black sharpie and then use a black wet-erase to put in the secret doors so that it looks like a continuous wall, and when your players find the door, wipe the mat. Voila!
To clean off the Sharpie and other permanent markers, you should use acetone.
Eeep! Don't use acetone on a Flip Mat! It will seep through the super-nuclear coating and ruin the paper stock underneath! To remove permanent ink from a FLip Mat, simply trace over it with a dry erase marker, then wipe both inks off. No need for harsh chemicals!
(This message brought to you by the Paizo Division of Flip Mat Security, all rights reserved.)
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To clean off the Sharpie and other permanent markers, you should use acetone.
Eeep! Don't use acetone on a Flip Mat! It will seep through the super-nuclear coating and ruin the paper stock underneath! To remove permanent ink from a FLip Mat, simply trace over it with a dry erase marker, then wipe both inks off. No need for harsh chemicals!
(This message brought to you by the Paizo Division of Flip Mat Security, all rights reserved.)
Rubbing alcohol works very well also. That isn't to harsh is it?
Thanks Phil & Vic...
Sorry for spreading the bad word. Guess I'm glad I haven't yet gotten the one I just ordered, otherwise I'd have made a prime example for you.
Actually, I mistook this for the "Why is my flip-mat melting!?" thread.
Actually, I mistook this for the "Why is my flip-mat melting!?" thread.
Gods, I can just imagine what acetone would do to one. Hmmm.... I have a very tattered demo map in my office, and a bottle of nail polish remover with my paints (no,not because I look pretty in pink nails, but nail polish remover is basically acetone in a jug and is great for stripping metal minis.) Perhaps tomorrow I'll try that and see if it does indeed melt one...
(no,not because I look pretty in pink nails,
From what I've heard you could probably get away with that. ;P
I love my flipmats...I have three of them. A little squirt of windex and elbow grease always gets rid of sharpie marks, but of course now I will use the dry erase marker trick, since I'm assuming that windex is also too strong for the paper underneath and should only be used to soak elbows.
I found an interesting thing regarding both our Chessex Battlemat, and the plexiglass we laid over it (we have a cool coffee table with a four inch retaining wall around the edge, just a wee bit smaller than a full size battlemat. Been awesome for game.)
Blue dry erase markers dont. Ever. There are still stains on the battlemat, and the plexiglass takes a lot of elbow grease to get even a small mark off.
Anyone know why the blue dry erase markers (wet AND dry both) like to stick so hard?
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No, please! You shouldn't need anything stronger than a damp (not wet) paper towel.Rubbing alcohol works very well also. That isn't to harsh is it?
Hey Vic take a look at the Staedtler permanent universal pen, art. no. 317 or 318. I used these while in the service to mark acetate covered maps for the field. We used alcohol swabs to erase any marks, also a mars eraser would take the marks off. The only place I have found these is Ranger Joe's on the internet, they also offer a correction pen. I have ordered a set of pens, correction pen, and an eraser to test them out. If they work they might be a good addition to the Paizo product catalog.
I think you’ll find the blood of drifters contains just enough alcohol to remove permanent marker marks without unduly damaging the map’s protective coating.
As a side note, I really like my “Dungeon” flip-mat. The drifters thank you for the Dry-Erase trick.
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I think you’ll find the blood of drifters contains just enough alcohol to remove permanent marker marks without unduly damaging the map’s protective coating.
We don't have as many drifters in this part of the state as you do over in the D.
Matter of fact, I haven't seen a drifter since we moved out here.
I'm assuming the blood of belligerent youths (and I could be wrong here) does not contain enough alcohol to serve my purpose.
Question: Does it matter how long I leave the sharpie on the mat?
Let's say, for example, that I wanted to draw out the Glassworks for our first Pathfinder game in a little over two weeks.
Will the sharpie be any harder to remaove after that much time?
While I didn't try it on a Flip Mat, I did try it on a laminated piece of paper (same quality). The test subject was over a year old and came off with the dry erase just like on a lesser timeframe on a Flip Mat (in other words, no problem).
For the past few years we've been using plexiglass over our battlemats and maps. It works great. You can use sharpies on it and the ink comes off with rubbing alcohol (91% works much better than the 70%), or you can use dry-erase and take it off with a paper towel. I have half a dozen sheets of plexi so I can draw up dungeon maps a couple of weeks ahead of time and they don't smear, even if the kids are messing with them.
--Fang
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While I didn't try it on a Flip Mat, I did try it on a laminated piece of paper (same quality). The test subject was over a year old and came off with the dry erase just like on a lesser timeframe on a Flip Mat (in other words, no problem).
Thanks for the info. I figure it'll save quite a bit of game time to have the Glassworks drawn out in advance.
The flip-mat is almost the perfect size for it too. The Glassworks are 26 x 28, the flip-mat is 22 x 28.
