How To Remove Highlighter Marks From Paper: Ways to Remove Highlighter Stains

Highlighter pens are like little neon superheroes, swooping in to save the day by marking up important text with vibrant colors. They’re like the flashy, attention-grabbing divas of the stationery world, ensuring that nothing important goes unnoticed. 

So, if you want your notes to be as fabulous as a disco party, grab yourself a highlighter pen and let the highlighting magic begin!

Ah, the joy of erasing ink! It’s like trying to undo a mistake, but with a side of chaos and potential disaster. Who needs a simple fix when you can create even more damage in the process? It’s like playing a game of “Oops, I made it worse!” with your precious documents. Good luck, brave soul!

But fear not, my friend! We have a few tricks up our sleeves that won’t make your document cry or leave any sticky surprises behind.

Alrighty, folks! 

In this article, we will explore How to remove highlighter marks from paper, allowing you to salvage your important documents without any trace of the mishap

A Little Precautions Before Working With Highlighter Stains

There are a few things that you must remember before moving on to the topic. For example, you need to erase some highlighted parts from the paper. And you somehow managed an eraser for that ink stain.

But trying to erase it without knowing the paper type won’t be a good decision. Because not all erasing methods work effectively on all papers. 

What’s worse is that if you use the wrong method, you’ll have a high possibility of damaging the document. Hence, knowing which type of paper you have and what works on that is a must.

Usually, there are two types of papers out there that we find in our day-to-day lives: Glossy and Matte. Removing marker ink from a matter paper is a bit trickier than the other. You need to start with a smaller surface first and then do the whole procedure slowly and gently. Otherwise, you’ll damage the paper.

Also, not all pens are erasable highlighters. In this case, no matter how much you scrub, dye, or dab, you won’t be able to remove ink stains. Hence, know that you have an erasable highlighter in the first place.

The Best Ways to Remove Highlighter Ink From Paper

Okay, we had enough talk about what not to do in a highlighter-removing project. Now, let’s get back to what we were seeking in the first place: the step-by-step guide. 

We’ve selected three of the most used and easiest tricks. So, without further ado, let’s see those.

1. You Can Remove Highlighter Marks From Paper Using Lemons

See, highlighter ink is a chemical substance. Hence, we need to understand the science behind it to know how lemons can do the trick. Marker or Highlighter inks are mainly made of an element called “Pyranine.” 

It decides which color the pen will be. Hence, you need to find a way to affect Pyranine. And this is where lemon juice comes into play.

The substance can be deeply altered by pH. The Citric Acid in lemon juice is a perfect candidate to do it. For this reason, upon applying the lime juice, your highlighter ink will start to fade away.

It’s because the element responsible for color is actually disappearing from the act. This is how lemons can be useful to remove highlighter marks from paper. Now, let’s see how you can do it.

Step 1: Storing Lemon Juice

Take a lemon and cut it in half or quarters with a knife. You don’t need much lemon juice to remove the highlighted text. Son, one is okay.

Now, just squeeze the lemon and store it in a small bowl, bottle, or something like that. Remember, you mustn’t apply the juice just like that into the paper to erase highlighter.

Doing it will wrinkle or somehow damage the document. Also, there is a possibility of spreading the ink everywhere. So, avoid squeezing lemons directly on the paper. You need to work with a small amount if you want to remove it. 

Step 2: Applying Lemon Juice

Now, dip a cotton swab in the stored lemon juice. Don’t dip it fully, ensure you have a dry side too. After that, dap the swab onto a smaller surface of the paper to see how it behaves. If you find it too strong, use a bit of water to tame it down.

Before rubbing the paper, make sure you’re working with one page at a time. To ensure that, use a hardboard beneath the page. It prevents the lime juice from damaging other pages.

You can also use a paper towel underneath the stain to prevent damage to the paper. Moreover, gently rub the marks less than three times and let it sit for some time. Don’t rub the stain vigorously, it’ll make things worse for you.

Step 3: Check Everything 

After the ink is gone, soak up lemon juice with a paper towel. Cover the wrinkle with printed paper. Carefully iron it many times on low. This step is optional if the pages are wrinkle-free. If your paper wrinkles, this will repair it.

2. You Can Use to Get Rid of Ink Marks Using Nail Polish Remover

It’s an effective tool you can use to get rid of ink marks. Acetone is the main ingredient in most nail polish. Another great thing about this method is that it can also remove marks or inks from clothes. With that being said, let’s see the method briefly.

Step 1: Testing Phase

The user guide of this method is quite similar to the first one. Hence, at first, you need to try a nail polish remover on a small piece of paper to see if it works or not. But you shouldn’t do it on a cheap piece of paper.

Step 2: Rub It On The Highlighted Area

Now, put some remover on a cotton swab or cotton ball and gently wipe over the spot. When you rub it, the light glowing color will show up. And soon, the color will go away as well. The ink from a normal ballpoint pen can also be removed this way.

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3. You Can Use Baking Soda Paste to Get Rid of Highlighter Marks

Baking soda is something that you’ll find in every household. It has similar properties to bleach. For this reason, you can also use it to get crayon marks off of walls. In the same way, you can make baking soda paste to remove highlighter marks from paper as well.

Step 1: Make A Paste

Put some baking soda on top of a small bowl. Then add a little warm water to make a thin paste. You can also use normal water too. But don’t use boiling water in the mix.

Step 2: Rub The Paste

Now, put the paste on the highlighter ink with a clean cloth and gently rub it. You can also rub the spot with a soft bristle brush that doesn’t have any frayed edges. It is important to use a soft brush to rub the paste onto the paper, so as not to damage the paper.

Step 3: Check Everything

After a while of rubbing, the highlighted stop will start getting lighter. It’s because when you rub baking soda over a marked spot, it creates heat. And later, the heat dissolves highlighter ink. This is how this special eraser gets things done for you.

You need to check frequently whether you’re getting results or not. If yes, go for the next step. If not, stick with the second step. 

Step 4: Important Things to Remember

When the process is done, the water will drain on its own. And finally, the baking soda will also fall off. Then you can clean the area with a paper towel if you want to.

Remember that this method is only good for shiny coated papers that look like magazines. Since the method uses a brush as a rubbing tool, it’ll damage papers of lower quality.

Okay, other than the above three methods, some people like to use a small amount of rubbing alcohol, hand sanitizers, and other fluorescents. Yes, you can use rubbing alcohol on a cotton swab as a photocopy method of lime juice. But it’s not good for all paper types, such as matte papers. 

Can Hand Sanitizers Erase Highlighter Marks From Paper?

To be honest, you can’t use hand sanitizers as magic erasers. Using lemon juice and other methods is okay because these are strong substances. On the contrary, sanitizers aren’t strong enough to make the ink completely gone. Hence, you can’t use it as a marker eraser. 

The Final Words

Highlighter pen gives us the joy of making documents more colorful. It’s a great way to mark important spots to see later. However, it’s possible that we somehow overdo the “Marking” thing. And that’s what the article is all about.

If you go through the whole article, you’ll find three important and useful methods on how to remove highlighter marks from paper. All of the methods are super easy to do. And you’ll find the ingredients in almost all households. I hope this article has been a big help for you. 

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