Cleaning Palo Blue's NES cart! (removing marker from an NES cart)

THAT RASCAL! ‪@PalominoBlueGames‬ challenged me to clean a poor defensless Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt cart that he DEFACED AND DEFILED with sharpie!!
But hey, cleaning newer sharpie off of carts is a necessary thing. For some ridiculous reason more and more flea markets are starting to write prices on carts. THE NERVE.
Let's remove that sharpie, clean up that cart, and defeat this challenge!
Check out his channel too!
/ palominobluevideo
TOOLS I USED:
- All Purpose Cleaner
- Dry Erase Marker
- Heptane
- Paper towels
While this might not always be something you need to know how to do, the same rules and methods apply to older sharpie/permanent marker. Give this method a try before you crack out the big guns!
Thanks for watching!
-Eldoug
Tools I use! And affiliated links to buy them on Amazon!
(Let me know if you are outside of the US, I have suggested tools for most international countries too!)
Scotty Peelers-
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Heptane (Bestine)-
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My gloves! Cosplay as me!-
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Mini heat gun-
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Gamebit screwdriver-
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Thermal paste I use-
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Insepction loupes/magnifiers-
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iFixit Manta kit-
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Magnetic parts tray-
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Brayer/roller-
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Extraction fan for soldering-
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Hygrometer/Thermometer-
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The blue mat!-
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[@RestoreAndReplay]

kzbin.info If you'd like to see the LOSER and his interesting shorts that overview all sorts of games!

[@mitchellshelton7143]

I got a TIP for sharpie, if you use rainx water repellent, sharpie wipes off with 0 effort, it's like magic. You just have to be careful around non-glossy labels, but for glossy labels it works too.

[@goodall1bay]

I am hoping that one day I will find my old nes carts from childhood with my name on them. But likely a shop would have removed it at some time ago.

[@RestoreAndReplay]

If you do find those carts, and the names are gone, it wasn't me!! honest!!

[@NotoriousCIB]

Nice video. New marker writing is typically pretty easy to remove. It’s the stuff that has been on the cart for 25+ years that’s really challenging. I would be interested to see that.

[@RestoreAndReplay]

WELL WELL WELL. Don't you worry. I just filmed a video where I remove sharpie from 1996 using this same method. Just takes a few more passes and some cleaning of the surface in-between passes, but it still works! Just takes a little more elbow grease! That video will be up soon!

[@NotoriousCIB]

@@RestoreAndReplay 😂 perfect!

[@dd_zzero6827]

Just found your channel. This is really great information. Still have all my systems and games since the 2600. I am a clean person so no worries with my stuff. BUT, the stuff I get at garage sales and such, oye, it is another story. Thank you for your channel.

[@patrickgardner845]

Great video. Just want I was looking for. Thing I've used for label is school glue.

[@hardrocknguy]

So Informative. So Fresh. So Clean.

[@RestoreAndReplay]

Don't you think I'm so sexy? I'm just so fresh, so clean.

[@strohhuttv8848]

I never understood why people would draw anything on they games... Thanks for the video!

[@RestoreAndReplay]

I HAVE NO IDEA. The flea markets by me seem to think sharpie doesnt matter, or think that we all know how to remove sharpie? I have no idea. I can't stand it though. (Palo DEFACED this game as a challenge, knowing that I could most likely remove it. He's still awful for doing so....)

[@strohhuttv8848]

@@RestoreAndReplay Hahahhahaah true!

[@PalominoBlueGames]

A true master at work

[@RestoreAndReplay]

THAT'S THE GUY, OFFICER. ARREST THAT MAN.

[@joshgolladay]

The dry erase marker does contain solvents (Specially Denatured Alcohol-40 and Isopropyl alcohol are most common). So technically you are using something that the "Caution" label says not to use :)

[@RestoreAndReplay]

I absolutely am. In some cases the dry-erase markers are up to 30% alcohol too. You could use just 30% IPA to remove sharpie, but the inks and surfactants within the dry erase also help to swab up the now loosened sharpie marker. Still better than a magic eraser or 70-90% IPA in the long run, but not the most perfect option, just the best we have now.

[@binarystork7006]

Tbh I always love coming back to this channel, I am having to help clean up my friends' cartridges and there is a TON of carts with sharpie XD Drives me nuts and I had to tell them to please never do this again

[@RestoreAndReplay]

AND STORES CONTINUE TO PUT SHARPIE ON THINGS TOO. It kills me, I've been collecting a list of store's "methods" to remove sharpie, and once one guy brough out sandpaper and windex I realized we were in trouble! Hah!

[@binarystork7006]

@@RestoreAndReplay dhdfjeud SANDPAPER AND WINDEX!?!? WHAT!? I understand rubbing alcohol because people can be like that. I was like that. But SANDPAPER AND WINDEX!?

[@Mrdealornodeal618]

Good video! I am a reseller and this helps a ton!

[@RestoreAndReplay]

Glad it helped! I'm always shocked at how people will discount games heavily for the smallest damage that's easily fixable!

[@rockeryrocket8007]

I think he did the sharpie trick on purpose, because he was testing you to see if you can actually clean his NES Cartridge. Insane!! Who does that? LOL!

[@dynamicdave5119]

Thank you for the education. I will put it to good use in Belgium. About the label, you said you was thinking about removing the excess to prevent further damage. Is there a way to reglue it instead in order to preserve more? If so, what type of glue would you recommend and do you have a video about that?

[@RestoreAndReplay]

I've been knocking around the idea of making a "How to Label swap" video. It's super easy to do, buuuuut could open the door to people making more convincing fakes. So it's a struggle. But hey as for the glue, I use a simple 3M spray adhesive on both sides (the cart and the label side), adhere and roll out the label right away. I want to get as much adhesive squeezed out of the edges as possible (which I then clean up afterwards). But if you take your time, protect the label, or practice cleaning a label carefully you'll end up with very similar results without having to risk removal and replacement of the label itself!

[@kbramlett6877]

Believe it or not, I have had pretty good luck with a Magic Eraser

[@RestoreAndReplay]

While I would believe it, Magic Erasers (officially known as melamine foam) are essentially just sand paper. So I don't recomment people use it on sharpie!

[@adamdorfner9787]

Can you make a video or show in an upcoming video why you don't recommend using rubbing alcohol specifically on the outside of NES cartridge plastic or on game case plastic? Thank you!

[@RestoreAndReplay]

Sure thing! It's more of a "big science meets long term polymer science" explanation, but I definetly have it in the works! In short I will say that alcohols of any kind reduce the strength of polymers in different ways. On some carts alcohol can remove the texturing, and on some plastics it can cause the plastic to become hazy and faded (polyethylene is particularly susceptible to this). But also a lot of my caution with alcohols on plastic has to do with how it impacts the plastics over their lifetime. While the damage might not be immediately evident, it's the long term effects that can be an issue. Weakened surfaces, more brittle structures, there's a ton of information we'll go over in the video!

[@McHaro0079]

Yes you can. I have no doubt about it even I am still watching as I am typing it. 😅

[@sir_i.p.freely3757]

Tried cleaning my n64 carts and some original gameboy carts with alcohol it worked in getting the smudges off and marker but I noticed the alcohol wiped off some of the texture off the back of the GBA game I cleaned but I’m not too mad at it since I’m not gonna be looking at that part of it for my first time I think I did ok but now that I see what you did I’ll keep these tips in mind I was definitely careful around the label cuz I didn’t wanna mess it up 😂

[@RestoreAndReplay]

Yeeeep. Alcohol will straight strip off the texturing (now yes, dry erase markers have some alcohol in them, but solvents in this case need pressure to remove texturing).

[@silas1414]

Will the dry erase method work to remove marker on N64 carts? i heard that N64 labels have a different gloss so that it wont be as effective. Thoughts?

[@RestoreAndReplay]

It will! Just make sure to use as little dry erase marker as possible, and clean and dry off between each application! Once I find an aged-enough N64 label with sharpie I'll do a video on that too! But people back then just didn't seem to write on the labels as much!

[@cheomendoza8622]

Can this method and produdtcs can be used on cds with sharpie ?

[@RestoreAndReplay]

Heck yes it can! You never want to use alcohol on the label of a disc anyway (it'll strip the labels art), but the dry erase marker method works wonders for sharpie/marker on discs too!

[@scott21889]

Where do you get theee markers? Can you do this on a vhs tape?

[@RestoreAndReplay]

I get them from any office supply store or any store that sells Sharpies and pencils. The brand doesn't really matter too much, but the process is what's doing the work!

[@thomashenry691]

Awesome I would never write my games but when i get them from stores they are wrote on

[@RestoreAndReplay]

I'd never write on them either! But Palo and I were joking about how flea market games always seem to have some sharpie name on them! Hopefully one day everyone will have collectively cleaned off all sharpie on all games!!

[@thomashenry691]

@@RestoreAndReplay they still write on discs

[@noahdecoteau6381]

Can I use dry erase method on gba game label?

[@RestoreAndReplay]

Yep! But! The GBA label needs to have a glossy finish on it (has to do with how the labels were printed). Try a tiny little area first, do a small dot of dry erase marker and wipe it off, see if you notice any color changing. On white labels, or lighter color labels, you can sometimes get some staining. So try to use a lighter color dry erase marker whenever possible, and use a higher quality dry erase (Expo preferrably) that'll prevent any possible heavy staining issues!

[@JornoTube]

@@RestoreAndReplay And what to do when a game boy (advance) label doesn't seem to have a glossy finish? I've tried this method for the first time on an old Toy Story 2 (Game Boy Color) game label, and it... didn't work. Sharpie barely came off and the whitening was quick to appear. Any tips? I want to understand this method before I try saving my Pokémon game labels which my mom plastered with my first name when I was 5. 😢 Also, no Expo available here in Belgium, but i thought I picked up a high quality one from the Bic brand.. Yet my dry erase markers seems to make the label's colour disappear too? Any things I need to watch out for when picking the "right" dry erase marker?

[@gregsimpson5737]

I bought a used cooler at a yard sale and there was peoples names all over it in permanent marker. I tried the dry erase marker, the wd-40, acetone. the only thing that would touch it was the magic eraser.

[@RestoreAndReplay]

In that case it likely would have worked, same concept as just sanding off the sharpie. Since magic eraser (melamine foam) is a very fine grit sandpaper!