eli5: What makes ‘permanent’ markers more permanent than regular markers?

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eli5: What makes ‘permanent’ markers more permanent than regular markers?

In: Chemistry

13 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

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Anonymous 0 Comments

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Anonymous 0 Comments

Pigments that dissolve in water tend to wash away quickly due to the common availability of water. Even the water in the air causes them to break down and fade.

More permanent inks dissolve in alcohol or acetone, which aren’t in normal air and are harder to come across.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Nothing is truly permanent. The ink in permanent markers is typically not water soluble, and uses alcohol, or an oil based solvent. The ink’s lack of water solubility gives it resistance to wiping away, and thus the desired effect of “permanent”. However, paint markers, or sharpies, or any permanent marker can usually be dissolved using a paint thinner, or even acetone or alcohol may remove them.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Acetone. That funky smell you get when you open the cap? That’s acetone. And acetone is very good at soaking into or mildly melting certain materials.

Anonymous 0 Comments

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Anonymous 0 Comments

Interesting info here.
I simply assumed it was called permanent to distinguish it from “washable” markers, like Magic Markers.

Anonymous 0 Comments

As others have said, it really just comes down to what will wash it off. Permanent markers can’t be washed with water, but will easily come off with rubbing alcohol. I used to work in an organic garden and we’d use plastic labels for all our plants; we’d write in what we’d planted using permanent marker as it could stand up to the watering and rain. When we reused the labels for a different plant, they all got a bath in a tub of rubbing alcohol. Easy peasy.

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