Can you believe that it was four years ago that I dreamed up the idea of velcroing a whiteboard calendar to the door to the garage, where I would be forced to look at the current to-do’s whenever I fly out to the car? The calendar idea came in handy, but ultimately I found that a blank whiteboard with a to-do list — no dates painted onto it at the factory — was a lot more effective in goading myself to get down to work on the tasks of the day.
One reason for that is that the little squares on a calendar just don’t have enough room to list the 87 berjillion things you have to do every day. And another: I don’t necessarily go out in the car every day, and so don’t necessarily look at that calendar. The office though? Yes, I go in and out of that place many times a day.
Whiteboards don’t last forever. What makes them erasable is a smooth, polished surface. And after you’ve scoured that surface clean often enough — whether with a special whiteboard eraser or a microfiber cloth or a Kleenex or a paper towel — you inflict a matrix of scratches that merrily captures the ink from a Magic Marker. Eventually the whiteboard becomes a ghost-catcher, and the to-do’s of times past take up permanent residence there.
Not feeling much in the mood to pony up God only knows how much and to traipse around the city or search Amazon to acquire a new office whiteboard, I decided to try to restore its surface. Some Web-surfing elicited a number of suggestions. A bunch came up, some of them conflicting. So I contrived to amalgamate the ideas that seem to make the most sense, and came up with this:
Erase everything, as best you can, from the tired whiteboard.
You will need to acquire:
- A bottle of 70% isopropyl rubbing alcohol, available in supermarkets and drugstores
- A can of Turtle Wax (carnauba wax for cars), which you can get in an auto supply store, a Home Depot or Lowes, or of course the ever-present amazon.com
First, wipe the whiteboard clean with 70% rubbing alcohol, easily available in any grocery store. This does get the marker residue off pretty well. I used one of those Mr. Clean wall scrubbers to facilitate the process, but on reflection suspect those things may be a bit harsh for the purpose.
Then, go away and let the surface dry completely.
Later, come back with a can of Turtle Wax. Slather on a generous layer of carnauba wax.
Go away again and let this stuff dry completely. I let it sit for several hours.
Now come back again and buff it shiny with a clean, dry, soft cloth.
Et voilà! Like new! No: BETTER than new!
