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Cleaning plastic plant labels
Secret Squirrel
Posts: 533
Hi All
Quick question, can I clean plastic plant labels that have been written on with a permanent marker, with nail polish remover?
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Posts
Try it and see but it could get expensive if you have a lot to clean. Monty Don reckons a scrub with fine wire wool does the trick.
Think nail polish remover would dissolve the labels too - I'd try Monty's fine wire wool.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I have just washed mine, i put them in a bowl, sprayed a bit on bleach, left them overnight and then scrubbed with a green scotch brite. All clean,
OK, thanks. I'll go with weak bleach and fine wire wool.
Pencil is better to use. I find permanent pen is not that permanent in a damp pot or in the sun.
Dove is right the acetone in nail varnish remover will definitely damage the plastic, white spirit should be ok though. If you scrub the labels you will find that marker pen will bleed next time you use them. Pencil as suggested by Blairs would be better
Thanks Fleurisa and blairs (fit like! Aberdeen calling)
The pen came with the labels, I'll use it for something else and use a pencil
I cleaned loads earlier this week with a very cheap Brillo type pad Dipped in water. I usually use cream cleaner with a kitchen cloth but the pretend Brillo was better. Like other gardeners I find a pencil better for marking. I also have a simple Dymo tape machine that uses plastic tape. Looks smart but tape can become unstuck from the label so I use it more in the greenhouse for succulents etc.
I use 'write for all' pen on the plastic label. By the time I've used both sides and the labels have been out a couple of years the plastic has started to degrade and that's the end. My labels are just for me in the nursery pots, I'm quite happy to cross out and write something else. I don't label the garden
In the sticks near Peterborough
The 2,000 labels I just bought have to be rubbed down with wire wool before any pencil lead will stick to them. Doubles the work.