I'd like to put some kind of easily removed clear (or semi-translucent) material on my large windows so I can use them as a dry-erase surface without blocking out the light. Any suggestions on what to look for? Cheaper is better : )
Home Improvement Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for contractors and serious DIYers. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this communityI'd like to put some kind of easily removed clear (or semi-translucent) material on my large windows so I can use them as a dry-erase surface without blocking out the light. Any suggestions on what to look for? Cheaper is better : )
You can write on glass with a dry-erase marker and it will come off with a paper towel. (Try it yourself if you don't believe me!) I've never left it on glass long enough for it to need any sort of solvent to remove, but I'd think that normal ammonia-based window cleaner would work OK; if not, you could always use dry-erase cleaner as a last resort.
The reason this works is that dry-erase boards (the rigid kind at least) have a thin ceramic coating to prevent the ink from penetrating pores in the white plastic substrate, and glass is a ceramic.
If there are any stubborn dry erase marker smudges left over, a sharp #9 razor blade will easily remove them.
Don't know about windows, but the shower backer board you can get in 4' x 8' sheets a most home improvement stores will work well too. Pretty much the same material and really cheap. We used these at a company I worked for previously and then cut and attached molding around them as a frame to dress them up. HTH.
Window glass is an ideal surface on which to use dry erase markers. It is very non-porous and you don't want anything with pores that the ink can sink into.
A great way to get a whiteboard cheaply is to visit your local recycling plant and get yourself a glass door or window. If you want it to be white, paste paper behind it.
I use the Pomodoro system of time management, and for that I have a table which I fill in each day. I made the table on white paper, and covered it with clear Contact (the self adhesive stuff you get to cover school books). Then I painted it with car polish to fill all the pores.
I use Wrightmarkers markers for that. If you search for wrightmarkers markers you'll find details. Writing on windows needs particularly intense colors, and these meet the bill. If you have any difficulty at all cleaning them off, they are washable in plain water, so you can give your surface a quick wipe-down with a damp cloth. I also rinse my eraser every few weeks when the dust builds up in it.
Windows are not the only glass surface either. You can write names on wine-glasses before a party, or use blank CDs as place-mats with names written on them. You could even use the CDs for recording after you've erased the names, or re-use them for your next party.
Glass is great for writing on with markers. When I worked in a lab, we used to write on the fume hood sashes and glassware all thetime, with permanent markers, that way they wouldn't smudge. Erasing was as simple as wiping it with acetone, alcohol, or MEK, which, fortunately, were in plentiful supply in that lab, but can also be found at the hardware store. Actually, fingernail polish remover works great as well.
Dry erase markers work great on Windows and mirrors. I've actually found that the BiC brand magic marker "window marker" which is used a lot on car windows at dealerships to mark the sale prices etc, work fantastic compared to regular dry erase markers. They are much brighter and thicker than the regular dry erase, so it's much easier to see; and they clean up very easily··· just a little water on a paper towel and it comes right off. I used them to write all over my car (the body and Windows) for my nieces graduation, and on my drive home (5 hours of driving in it) it rained super hard and the marker hardly even smudged; but when I wiped it down with a paper towel all of it came off with no problems at all. Both types of markers are labeled "conforms to ASTM D 4236", so they're the exact same; the magic marker one is just thicker like I said.
Magic Whiteboard and Wizard Wall sell clear dry-wipe sheets that stick on to windows and walls by static, so you don't need to clean the window afterwards. They are also available in white: Magic Clearboard and Wizard Wall.
Unfortunately they seem to be expensive in the US (but are more reasonably priced in the UK).