Best Type of Sharpies for Tile?

There are soooo many kinds. Could someone please tell me the best type of Sharpie to use on ceramic tile? Thanks!

I canā€™t imagine there being any that are bad. Even dry-erase markers work fine.

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I use plain sharpies which are alcohol based. Most alcohol markers will work similarly.

Some people swear by oil based sharpies. I found them hard to clean up.

Others have tried paint pens or paint sticks and gotten good results.

Go try all the stuff!

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yeah, there are no ā€œbadā€ answers, per se. only what gives you the result you like. iā€™ve even used highlighters on a tile to get more of a pale pastel look.

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I use oil based ones so that in the event someone uses it as a coaster for an alcoholic drinks I donā€™t have to worry that spills will re-dissolve the pigment and wash or dilute it out.

I clean it off using a damp magic sponge.

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While Iā€™m not ruling out that the problem could be me, or some of the images Iā€™ve chosen to engrave, I must dissent. While I have no best sharpie to suggest, I will recommend you not buy the Bic line of sharpie equivalents. I bought a large set of the Bic ones two Amazon Prime days ago and I think they provide a very uneven result compared to the sharpies I have.

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In case anyone is curious how the highlighters looked.

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Thought I would get your take on this as well. Any tips for getting the oil-based sharpie to not rub off so much. Do you let it dry completely before wiping ? Mine seems to rub off more than I was hoping (was using a paper towel and some saliva) and I tried doing a second coat ā€¦

I let it dry for about 5 - 10 minutes then rub it off with a magic sponge (I use the generic version not the Mr Clean name brand ones).

I very lightly dampen it with tap water & squeeze it out. Then rub the excess off - lots of back & forth strokes, not heavy pressure trying to get it all at once in one stroke.

Beyond precious!!

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I bought a black pack of sharpies and went to do a fill on a ceramic tile engrave. I did the usual of wiping it straight off (like I do for my other sharpies) to find that it wont come off with water! I am now trying to find a way of clearing up the areas outside of my engrave ā€¦ anyone any suggestions?

Magic eraser

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Alcohol - Sharpies are alcohol ink based.
Dry erase markers also work for non-porous surfaces.

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I suddenly realised that the engrave included a very slightly engraved background! I only realised this when the light hit it from the side. I had assumed that it had only engraved the project item. I had scribbled the sharpie roughly over it but of course the colour adhered to ALL the engraved parts. No wonder I couldnā€™t wipe it away! I eventually colored the faintly engraved background area & it looks fine now. Something I will be aware of in the future

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This is the ā€˜hiddenā€™ background I didnā€™t take into account when colour filling earlier - another lesson learnt

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this will often be a problem with JPG files. they tend to have a little bit of noise in what looks like a white background. i always go into what looks white areas, select them, and fill in with pure white.

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Ok, while it might not be what you were expecting - that looks great with the background!

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Thank you. I cant help wondering what others do with their tiles. Without some kind of ā€˜framingā€™ or something they canā€™t go on walls. To display them flat seems pointless as they can only be seen from above ā€¦ there must be some way of ā€˜showing them offā€™. I had an idea of using some sort of ā€˜metalā€™. A square for the back with leaves protruding out each sideā€¦ sort of folded round the tile so that the leaves were almost hugging the corners of the tile (without hiding the engrave detail)? Any metals we can use in the GF?

You canā€™t engrave or cut any metals. Long ago, I bought a wooden frame designed to hold a tile. Iā€™ve actually never used it, but I think the tile just gets glued into itā€¦it looks really nice.

Ceramic tiles have had lots of exposure here in the forum. People have framed them, displayed them, turned them into coasters and used them for trivets. Framed Ceramic Tile

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