[slufan83]

This is a little off topic, but this forum gets the most traffic. Is there a way to safely remove a sharpie in-person autograph off of a card? I collect cards of a local athlete so I can acquire in person signatures of him with a decent amount of ease. I picked up a card of him that someone had signed in person with a silver sharpie, but it's a somewhat hard card to find and I don't really want the signature on it. Is there a way to take it off without damaging the card?

[bonds20001]

I think it depends on the surface of the card...shiny, plastic, paper..etc..

I searched a while ago about restoring/removing things like marks etc and I found no good way to do it without leaving a trace..obvious damage..or destroying the card..

[djohn]

It depends on the surface material of the card. If it is an acetate card, then it's much easier than an old cardboard style card. You might be able to get it off a glossy card surface, but my concern would be damaging the gloss. You can always experiment if you have cards from the same set or similar surface. Alcohol wipes may work or you can try sunscreen, which has a chemical that can remove permanent marker from surfaces.
Personally I wouldn't risk it, as unless the card is a 1/1 you have a chance of eventually finding another one.

[slufan83]

It's not acetate and it's not a papery/porous type surface. It has a refractor look but it's not like a chrome card so I'm guessing the rainbow effect comes from a film over the surface. It's not a 1/1, it's from 2010 and a UFC card so it doesn't pop up for sale too often.

[zeprock]

I've heard that fingernail polish remover is somewhat effective but have never tried it. Can anyone else confirm?

[djohn]

It's not acetate and it's not a papery/porous type surface. It has a refractor look but it's not like a chrome card so I'm guessing the rainbow effect comes from a film over the surface. It's not a 1/1, it's from 2010 and a UFC card so it doesn't pop up for sale too often.

How about telling us exactly what card it is, and maybe one of us could either find another copy for you or possibly be of more assistance with figure out a possible way of removing the signature.

[DrMitchJ]

Duct tape?

[animie67]

WD-40???

[jonathani]

Wow. That's a tough one. I'd be wary of any liquid touching the card surface, personally. May we can find another one for you, though.

[DrMitchJ]

Seriously, there was (is?) a product called Goof Off and it was designed to remove many different substances off of many surfaces while leaving that surface unharmed. I used it on book covers to remove glue from price stickers and the covers look fine afterwards. Never tried in on baseball cards, but you can easily experiment on a worthless card before you try it on the card in question. I think it's a naphthalene based solvent and they've used Naptha on dry cleaning stain removal for years.
If not that, some art stores sell markers that have no pigment, just the marker solvent, used for blending marker colors. It might lighten or remove a signature if done in marker.
Not positively sure about either, but they seem like a logical approach and experimenting might yield a positive result. Good luck and please let us know the outcome.