November 28th, 2007 in Featured, Productivity

10+ Things to Do with Dry-Erase Markers

As both a teacher and an office supply junkie, I always have plenty of dry-erase markers handy. Which is a good thing, because I use them all the time — usually without a white board anywhere in sight.

Here’s just some of the things you can do with dry-erase markers:

Label your frozen foods: Use a dry-erase marker to write the contents and date on the lid of your storage containers when you put stuff in the freezer. This way a) there’s no more guessing what this frozen lump is meant to be, and b) you can tell at a glance if food is way past any reasonable use-by date. Check for erasability by marking one piece and freezing it overnight — try erasing with a paper towel and, if any mark is left, see if it comes off in the wash. Some containers have textured lids that make erasing a pain.
Make notes on your bathroom mirror: Dry-erase markers write beautifully on glass. The bathroom mirror is usually one of the first things you see in the morning, so it’s a great place to write reminders, jot down quick notes, or send love messages to your partner. Or, of course, you can draw devil horns and a goatee around your face — that’s good too.
Make a dry-erase card: Cover an index card with clear 3″ packing tape and voila! A pocket-sized white board. Use it to brainstorm on the go, erase, and use it again.
Map your mind: If an index card isn’t enough to contain the contents of your mind, try sticking a sheet of paper in a plastic sheet protector and writing on that. You can even print out templates for different styles of mind-mapping or brainstorming, and quickly erase or edit your thoughts.
Label file drawers or shelves: Metal file drawers and shelves with smooth finishes (e.g. formica) can be labeled with dry-erase markers and re-labeled with ease.
Write vocabulary words on your glass shower door: If you have a glass shower, you can write lists of words or other information you want to learn on the outside and read it while you shower. Of course, you need to write backwards. This works best if there are light-colored walls in your bathroom.
Mark miles or date of next service inside your car’s windshield:A lot of service shops put a little plastic sticker with the date or mileage when you’ll need your next oil change or tune-up; if yours doesn’t, use a fine-tip dry-erase marker to write it yourself in an out-of-direct-sight corner of your windshield.
Write on your desk: Get a glass or acrylic desk pad (you may have to put a sheet of poster board underneath if your desk isn’t light-colored) and write notes, todo lists, phone numbers, or anything else directly onto your desktop. As you finish tasks, simply wipe them away.
Remove permanent marker The solvent in dry-erase markers will dissolve many permanent marker inks — just scribble over the permanent mark and wipe away with a paper towel. You may have to do this more than once to clean it off entirely.
You can even write on a whiteboard! No kidding — you can use dry-erase markers on whiteboards, just like they were intended to be used. Here’s a few ideas:

Time/work tracking: Set a small whiteboard next to your computer or workstation and mark down the time you spend working on each task, or the amount of work you’ve done each day. I use this for writing: each day, I write down how many words I’ve written that day on whatever major project I’m working on at the moment.
Goal tracker: Write down mileposts and erase them or check them off as you finish each one.
Grocery lists:Use permanent marker to list your most-used items and make a dry-erase check next to them as they run out. Make check-boxes out of black electrical tape cut into thin strips.
Your morning routine: Write down the things you need to do to get out the door in the morning (e.g. brush teeth, shower, shave, eat, iron pants, dress, etc.) and how much time each task should take. Use it to make sure you’re running on time as you get ready to face the day.

Be sure to test your dry-erase marker on any new surface you intend to mark with it — some surfaces don’t erase very well (our 5-year old and his friend from across the street demonstrated this nicely on our latex-painted kitchen wall…). Likewise, some brands of marker erase better than others — I’m not usually a “brand whore”, but I always use Expo brand markers because I’ve been burned by other brands and generics that leave permanent or semi-permanent marks.

What else do you use dry-erase markers for? Let us know in the comments!

WRITER'S BIOGRAPHY

Dustin Wax

Dustin M. Wax is a freelance writer and project manager at Stepcase Lifehack. He is also the creator of The Writer's Technology Companion, a site devoted to the tools of the writing trade. When he's not writing, he teaches anthropology and gender studies in Las Vegas, NV. He is the author of Don't Be Stupid: A Guide to Learning, Studying, and Succeeding at College.

Follow him on Twitter: @dwax.

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Shana Albert says on November 28th, 2007 at 11:13 am

Great Post. I love, love, love office supplies. It works that I run a business out of my home…. that way it just looks like I always have plenty of supplies on hand, but truth is many times I am buying items that I’ve never tried b/4, but don’t need just to try them out. It’s just my thing. ;-)

Anyway, I love your ideas with the Dry Erase Markers. I am not crazy about Dry Erase Markers due to the fact that they tend to wipe off with a brush of anything coming against it. But, I do LOVE Wet Erase Markers. Did you ever try them? They are just like Dry Erase Markers, but they dry to the surface you wrote on fairly quickly. The Marker stays put until you wipe it clean with a wet cloth. :-)

Great Post. I’m always thrilled to see that there are others out there that enjoy office supplies as much as I. :-)
Jenika says on November 28th, 2007 at 12:52 pm

You can get a 4″x8″ tile board from Home Depot for about $15. A whole wall of my office is practically covered by one of these. It’s not -quite- a whiteboard… the markers don’t erase perfectly, but a tiny bit of WD40 cleans it right up. =)
Jan says on November 28th, 2007 at 2:26 pm

Don’t write on your refrigerator!
It will leave traces, believe me I tried.
Matt says on November 28th, 2007 at 10:18 pm

11. Locker doors.

Why bother with a white board in your locker when you can leave notes on the locker door?
A. Mercer says on November 28th, 2007 at 11:58 pm

There is this idea called “poor man’s” white board that another teacher introduced me to that is better than a regular dry erase board. You put white cardstock in a heavy duty high quality clear sheet protectors. This is the beauty of it, you can insert graphic organizers and other aids, like coordinate planes, so they can do graphing on the dry erase, or place value charts to help them work out place value problems or Venn Diagrams.
Those are classroom applications, I’m sure there are many things adults could use (shopping lists?)
Danielle says on November 29th, 2007 at 3:07 am

It’s true that some marks stay behind on refrigerators, but I’ve found that a paper towel with water or a little all-purpose cleaner gets the marks right off again.
Marc Sketchler says on November 29th, 2007 at 2:20 pm

Poor man’s GPS:

Before I had my portable GPS unit, I would get directions from Google, but rather than wasting paper to print them on, I would commit them to short-term memory and then write the streets and turns on the windshield. Safer than using paper, too–closer to line of sight!
Steve says on November 29th, 2007 at 2:35 pm

For the refrigerator.. some have different surfaces than others .. It took me more than a week to get it off.

Windows and Mirrors are great though :)
Jonathan J says on November 29th, 2007 at 7:37 pm

Write messages on office windows…I use my dry erase markers to leave notes for coworkers who weren’t in their office when I stopped by, give directions to people who stop by mine when I’m not there, or even just doodle for fun. I find that most victims of my doodles leave them up for quite a
while, and even enjoy the humor I am free to change at my whim.

Things that have stayed around longer than I expected:

- Smilies or stick figures doing random things

- Fish in a fish tank

- Landscapes with odd things in them

“DO NOT TAP ON GLASS”

“DON’T FEED THE DEVELOPER”

“THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE 127.0.0.1″

“I’M NOT HERE…GO AWAY” (even though I am)
Tim says on November 29th, 2007 at 10:52 pm

My bathroom mirror almost stays covered with notes and to-do lists. I am glad to see others have the same idea. I also use mine to mark routes on the laminated maps I have in my car. Very handy. I use a wax pencil in the shower.
casieopea says on February 4th, 2008 at 8:02 pm

I had to run into my bosses office and write on her window with the erasable marker~!
umm, yeah – I am bored!!
SpaceMonky says on June 5th, 2008 at 4:16 am

re: #2
My college roommates and I had a giant wall mirror in our dorm that we wrote on with dry-erase markers. We used it to draw out our entire weekly schedules, so we’d all know what we had to do and where we had to be. It was a great way to keep each other motivated.

re: #9
An old professor of mine once spent 3/4 of a class unknowingly writing in permanent marker on the white board. She kind of flipped out until a couple of us told her about this little trick – us students then spent the rest of the class time getting it all off in time for the next class to come in.
Mike L says on July 22nd, 2008 at 9:47 pm

Your stove top is also a handy — and prominent — place to leave temporary notes as well.
Snider says on August 19th, 2008 at 12:16 am

If you happen to accidentally use a permanent marker on a dry erase board, just write over the permanent marker with the dry erase marker, and erase! It takes it right out!!!
Ryan says on September 18th, 2008 at 1:56 pm

For those that can’t find a good marker:

ALthough Expo will get it done, I recommend TUL brand markers. We have them at work and I now use them at home.

They are triangular instead of cylindrical so they don’t roll around on your desk, have a built in magnet, and a felt eraser pad on each marker cap so that you can erase like a pen without grabbing for the big block eraser!.

Also, seems to erase much nicer than others, doesn’t smear or leave residue behind.
John Andrews says on November 25th, 2008 at 11:22 am

I love the tip on removing permenant markers! Who would have thought to remove a pen mark with another pen!
The Shadow says on January 3rd, 2009 at 2:59 am

Or you could pop out both ends, put newspaper in it and turn it into a silencer!!!
CK Construction says on January 16th, 2009 at 2:20 pm

Some great ideas here. Really liked the part about using the markers to erase permenant. There are so many things (sadly, it like working with kids) around the office that have been marked by permenant markers. If this works that will be wonderful.
Monkey says on February 9th, 2009 at 3:10 am

i ran across the thread while i was looking for ways to REMOVE dry erase markers from a refrigerator..i tested the marker expo brand in a place not seen..and it came right off..so i started drawing away on the front of the door..after i was done it didnt come off..i tried everything from bleach to nail polish remover to soapy water..even gasoline..and it didnt even touch it..the last thing under my kitchen sink i didnt try was Repel bug spray..i didnt even think it would work so i didnt bother til the last thing..i tried it and it came right off..makes you wonder what kind of chemicals are in the bug spray we use during summer season..
H.Callahan says on February 18th, 2009 at 1:09 pm

I use dry erase markers all the time for marking CD-RWs and DVD-RWs all the time. When you burn stuff that will be on the disk temporarily, you can label with a dry erase marker and then wipe it off when you go to re-use the disk. Sometimes I have to use a touch of rubbing alcohol (diluted with water usually) to remove all the marker off of a disk that has been labeled for a longer period of time, but it always seems to come right off.
Will says on May 6th, 2009 at 2:10 am

I like using dry erase markers on clear plastic sign holders. I have some of the stand up ones that sit on my desk, and a few larger flat ones that hold two side by side pieces of paper, and were meant to hang on a wall.
I’ve put graph paper behind them to do some math homework, maps I needed to label for my history class. The larger flat ones fit nicely when held like a tablet, so I like to walk around with those and brainstorm.
And I’ll second liking wet erase markers, especially when I’m writing a paper.
I like to write the main topics in wet erase, and go back and forth, deciding on some branches of topics, and eliminating others.
Reecie says on August 24th, 2009 at 11:47 am

I use tons of dry erase markers teaching and have to trash 5 or more a week. Does anyone have any ideas on how to reload a dry erase marker?
Ruth says on September 29th, 2009 at 12:27 am

You are so smart! A clever mom gave me this idea to use my free behavior charts inside sheet protectors that can be used over and over again with dry markers. Check it out down this page here:
http://www.gomommygo.com/YourComments.html
Thanks for ideas!
Ruth