Taylormade Qi10 Driver - Sharpie pen marks won't come off - Any advice?

[newyorker]

I've had a Taylormade Qi10 for about 4-5 weeks and mark my ball with a red sharpie (single dot and a small line for putting). I've noticed the Sharpie pen marks have transferred onto the face (see attached pics). I've tried the obvious, warm water and soap, even a little surgical spirit but can't shift the marks.

 

I don't want to use anything stronger due to not wanting to damage the carbon face.

 

Going forward I'm switching to a blue sharpie so it's not as noticeable 🤪

 

Marking with a Sharpie is quite common so others may have experienced the same issue. Does anyone have any ideas how to get rid of them please?

[discover-it]

Goof Off

[newyorker]

Cheers. Is that available in the UK?

[Socrates]

Likely absorbed into the pores of the carbon.  Not going to be easy to make that disappear.  Might be better to just let it fade away over time.

[kmay__]

I guess going forward you can position the ball on the tee in a way where the face doesn't contact your line or dot. I hate when my putting line gets smeared... and off the tee is the only time you are in control of where the line is. 

[AdamMH]

Sharpie ink is mostly alcohol based, so an isopropyl alcohol should take that off rather quickly.

[newyorker]

2 minutes ago, AdamMH said:

Sharpie ink is mostly alcohol based, so an isopropyl alcohol should take that off rather quickly.

I've tried that mate, didn't touch it unfortunately 😒

[Archimedes65]

Are you sure that’s Sharpie ink and not marks from your tee?  That’s an awful lot of ink to be transferring.  I mark my balls with Sharpie’s and I’ve never noticed any transfer to the club face of any club.

[newyorker]

18 minutes ago, Archimedes65 said:

Are you sure that’s Sharpie ink and not marks from your tee?  That’s an awful lot of ink to be transferring.  I mark my balls with Sharpie’s and I’ve never noticed any transfer to the club face of any club.

Yes 100% sharpie. I use white wood tees.

 

No I've not noticed anything like this before but it's the first time I've had a carbon face driver. I had a quick fling with a Stealth but never noticed probably because of the red face. 

 

[WilliePPQ]

I've had great success using acetone (nail polish remover) to lift Sharpie marks. Not sure about the effect of the acetone on the carbon fiber laminate though. Maybe try a very small amount on a Q-tip and brush the marks lightly in a small space to see how it works? Sorry to see that it would bug me as well!

[newyorker]

6 minutes ago, WilliePPQ said:

I've had great success using acetone (nail polish remover) to lift Sharpie marks. Not sure about the effect of the acetone on the carbon fiber laminate though. Maybe try a very small amount on a Q-tip and brush the marks lightly in a small space to see how it works? Sorry to see that it would bug me as well!

Thanks for your suggestion. I’ve tried a tiny bit of acetone on a Q-tip and it didnt work. Not even a hit of red on the Q-tip at all. It’s as if the sharpie has engrossed into the coating on the laminate. 
I’ve  sent photos to TaylorMade customer support and they replied saying it wasn’t a reported issue but I may be able to get the head replaced under warranty (I bought it in April). 

[T2WIN]

I'm not sure why they'd replace the head under warranty since you caused it, lol. Try a dry-erase marker. Rub it over the spots and then try to wipe them off. You can also try rubbing alcohol the same way. Maybe even hair spray? 

[Nickb333]

Grip tape solvent? Or is that just alcohol?

[srooch2]

1 hour ago, T2WIN said:

I'm not sure why they'd replace the head under warranty since you caused it, lol. Try a dry-erase marker. Rub it over the spots and then try to wipe them off. You can also try rubbing alcohol the same way. Maybe even hair spray? 

I was gonna suggest this, take a dry erase marker and write over the sharpie and then wipe away. It usually works unless the ink is embedded pretty deep. Cheers

[newyorker]

1 hour ago, T2WIN said:

I'm not sure why they'd replace the head under warranty since you caused it, lol. Try a dry-erase marker. Rub it over the spots and then try to wipe them off. You can also try rubbing alcohol the same way. Maybe even hair spray? 

I have caused it lol. They said it wasn’t an existing issue but maybe there’s a flaw with the coating that’s over the carbon face? Who knows but it’s not as if there’s only me marks my ball with a sharpie. No one else seems to be concurring that they’ve had the same thing happen to them though. 
Seems strange that not even anyone on here has heard of the issue though?

I’ll try a dry erase marker though and hair spray 👍🏻

[T2WIN]

I always try to make sure that when I tee the ball up I won't be hitting the area on the ball where I marked it—just a thought. 

[newyorker]

2 minutes ago, T2WIN said:

I always try to make sure that when I tee the ball up I won't be hitting the area on the ball where I marked it—just a thought. 

I’ll deffo be doing this going forward. I’ve even changed to a blue sharpie from my always used red 😆

[Phireside]

I was going to suggest nail polish remover too. Works for on my Stealth 2 to get my blue sharpie out.

[Archimedes65]

I looked at my driver face today and no marks.  Sim2 Max.  As a last resort, try a Magic Eraser.  Those things have removed stains for me that nothing else could touch.

[jll62]

9 hours ago, Socrates said:

Likely absorbed into the pores of the carbon.  Not going to be easy to make that disappear.  Might be better to just let it fade away over time.

 

7 hours ago, WilliePPQ said:

I've had great success using acetone (nail polish remover) to lift Sharpie marks. Not sure about the effect of the acetone on the carbon fiber laminate though. Maybe try a very small amount on a Q-tip and brush the marks lightly in a small space to see how it works? Sorry to see that it would bug me as well!

 

2 hours ago, Phireside said:

I was going to suggest nail polish remover too. Works for on my Stealth 2 to get my blue sharpie out.

 

It's worth pointing out that there's a nano texture coating that sits on top of the carbon face. That's what the Sharpie marks are being absorbed into. The carbon layer itself would be too smooth and have terrible performance in wet conditions without this thin surface layer.

 

Personally, I would not use acetone to clean the face of these drivers because it's likely to have an adverse effect on the nano texture coating.

Edited Friday at 12:00 AM by jll62

[iclypso]

Shouldn't need anything more than IPA and a brush. Carbon fiber + resin won't absorb sharpie but paint on the face may be stained by it