Along with my web design job at T&S, I’m also the Apple Campus Rep at Oklahoma Christian University. I receive some interesting questions from students regarding their computers, with the most recent problem being an ink catastrophe.
Three weeks ago, a student received her brand-spankin’ new, sparkling white MacBook from the OC program, and just other night I get a call as a result of her nephew scribbling black ink all over the base of the laptop.
Her first attempt to clean it: Clorox Wipes. No luck. Second attempt: rubbing alcohol. Still no luck. Third attempt with little hope: Soap and warm water. Unsuccessful.
Trying to keep in mind the worth of the computer and safe cleaning products, I searched online for some possible rescue tips.
The safest route I stumbled upon was, iKlear, which is a cleaning product sold on the Apple website for $19.99 and up. A cheaper route: Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. I gave her both options with a disclaimer about the risk in using the non-computer compatible cleaning product (quite the alliteration): she chose the cheap route.
In all precautions, we made sure she unplugged her laptop from any power source, turned it off, and took out the battery. She wet the Magic Eraser with warm water and wrung out all water possible. She proceeded to barely scrub the surface of the computer followed by a clean wipe with a dry towel. Wa la: it cleared all remaining traces of the pen marks.
Thanks Mr. Clean!