STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
How does washing a Sharpie mark with different kinds of
common household cleaning solutions (bleach and
detergent) effect how well the Sharpie comes out?
PROJECT OVERVIEW
For my project I made Sharpie marks on 12 pieces of
cloth and washed them all in different cleaning liquids
(water, bleach, and detergent) and then I dried them.
RESEARCH
 Discover how permanent Sharpie markers are
 Find out how well detergent removes stains
 Test to see how well bleach actually whitens
VARIABLES
Independent Variable: Kinds of Cleaning liquids used
Dependent Variable: How well the Sharpie comes out
Operational definition: gray scale (1-6)
Constants: Type of Sharpie, color of Sharpie, type of cloth,
color of cloth, size of cloth, size of Sharpie mark, amount of
cleaning material (mL), washing machine, setting, time
washed, types of cleaning liquid
Control Group: Cloth washed with water
HYPOTHESIS
If Sharpie is washed with detergent then it will come out
more (based on the gray scale) then with just water
because detergent is made to get stains out.
MATERIALS
 Cloth (cotton) 12
 Sharpie (black, fine point)
 Detergent (59 mL)
 Bleach (59 mL)
 Washing Machine
 Water
 Gray scale (1-6 1=most change 6= no change)
 Ruler
 Scissors
 Measuring cup (metric)
PROCEDURE
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Get white fabric (cotton)
Cut fabric so that each piece is 15.3
cm by 15.3 cm
Get fine point black sharpie
Draw square on fabric that is 3 cm by
5 cm and label for test
Fill washing machine with 4 pieces of
fabric and wash for 40 min. in water
(control)
Put fabric in dryer for 36 min.
Check mark against gray scale
Record data in graph
Fill washing machine with 59 mL of
detergent and 4 more pieces of
fabric
Wash for 40 min
Put fabric in dryer for 36 min
Check marks against gray scale
Record data in graph
14.Fill washing machine with 59 mL of bleach
and 4 more pieces of fabric
15. Wash for 40 min.
16. Put fabric in dryer for 36 min.
17. Check marks against gray scale
18. Record data in graph
PHOTOS
Bleach test after wash
Water (control group) after wash
Detergent test after wash
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OBSERVATIONS
 None of the liquids had any significant effects on the Sharpie
 Bleach only made the Sharpie go away by about 1 degree on the gray scale
 Detergent had the same effect on the Sharpie as the bleach did, reducing the
stain by about 1 degree on the gray scale
 Drying the fabric had no effect on reducing the Sharpie stain on the gray scale
CONCLUSION
My hypothesis was correct because detergent got rid of the Sharpie better than just
water. I also found out that bleach can be used to get rid of Sharpie stains and it
works as well as the detergent. If Sharpie gets on your clothes I would
recommend using bleach or detergent to get rid of it, based on my tests.
POSSIBLE ERRORS
 Variations of tone in the Sharpie marks
 Measurements (mL or cm) could have been slightly off
 Size and placement of Sharpie mark
 Temperature of water could have been different in the different loads
APPLICATIONS
One of the ways this experiment could provide better results could be to wash the
fabric more than once and with more cleaning liquid. I would also recommend
using a wider selection of detergent or bleach so that possibly more amount of
Sharpie would come out. In everyday life I would recommend keeping a wide
selection of detergents and bleach available to be used in different situations.
WORKS CITED
No works cited