Quick Tip - Making Black Whiteboards White Again!

 

Quick Tip - Whiteboard Cleaning

If your class is like mine, I find several whiteboards at the end of the year with the learning still firmly imprinted on whiteboards.  For a variety of reasons, some children never clean them!  UGH!  There aren't too many school districts that will shell out the cost of a new class set every year and I do buy lots of things for my classroom but new whiteboards every year is not my idea of good bang for my buck!

So, I introduce The Magic Eraser!  Don't be fooled by the less-expensive variations as they don't work as effectively.  For the smaller student-use whiteboards, there is a "sheet" version that works quite well.  For the larger whiteboards or really black whiteboards, I suggest the full sponge.  Get it a little wet and have some paper towels with you for constant clearing of the damp ink.   

On my second summer day in the classroom (after organizing all the materials that were left behind for me), I started out the cleaning.  This was the state of my class whiteboard that is mounted to the wall.

Not wonderful by any stretch!  I wondered if there was any hope even though I had cleaned many a student whiteboard before.  I took out my Magic Eraser sponge and some paper towels and went to work.  It was a bit of a workout but here is the progress that I made!

It isn't perfect and I'll go back and get it again!  The black splotches that are left are from tape (a little Goo Gone will take care of that) and the big spot is where a well-meaning whiteboard cleaner rubbed the whiteboard right off!  

I do offer a caution though!  The Magic Eraser will take the finish off the whiteboards with continued use.  Having said that, I kept the same whiteboards for 8 years and while I just passed them on and bought a new set, they were still useable (but not sparkling anymore).

Stay tuned for the finished product when I do my decorated classroom tour!

#magiceraser