I bought this adorable little "picture/frame" (for lack of a better word for it) today at a resale shop. It opens like a book, has a beautiful picture on the left and a lovely saying by Emily Dickinson on the right. Well, someone marked the cost of the item on the back in permanent marker. The backing is some type of heavy gold-tone metal and I thought I'd never get it off. I read this forum and first tried the Swiffer wet cloth. It got 99% of the marker off. I then used hairspray which got the remainder off. Thank you all soooooo much! Christina Here is a link that might be useful: Stevens Mom

Companies such as Guardsman do sell an ink remover which would take the marker off your leather sofa. The only problem is unless your sofa was previously treated with a leather conditioner it will tend to remove some of the surface finish to the leather. For example if your leather had a slight sheen the sheen will be somewhat altered making the area noticeable. If you had treated the sofa with a conditioner prior to marking the sofa then purchase Guardsman ink remover and carefully rub the area with a clean cloth using as little as possible. You might want to try this in a hidden area first. Although I have never tried this I have also heard the silicone spray applied to a clean cloth will remove marks from leather. It also depends on the type of leather it is. If it has a "painted" surface, a "protected leaather" it will more likely come out. A more natural leather with less surface protection will be more difficult to remove. You could try these methods but you may want to call a professional leather repair company who could easily remove the stain and refinish the surface if needed.

PG once again speaks wisely here...! Also consider the Scotchbrite pads that come with a handle on them for "shearing-thru" the paste/stripper gunk! If PAINT is still trapping wallpaper?! * Keep the stripper-solution wet on the wall. * NOW...get some light plastic and press onto the walls...the ENTIRE wall. * This keeps solution wet and dissolving paste! Now go out to eat, come back, and start scraping. Only peel back plastic ~1' at a time, while you're moving along the wall. * Rinse/rinse/rinse this paste off, let dry, and prime EVERYTHING with BIN, Cover-stain, or Odorless Oil...all from Zinsser. Faron

Shelly, I believe "conversion varnish finish" means that a special process that may include a catalyst is used to make the finish. I believe this is not something that can be done at home. I think it must involve some serious solvents, and this is why it is not available in California, with their stricter air quality laws. How does this affect you? Not sure, but at least I gave you something else to read while you are waiting for an answer. If you want to learn more, try a wikipedia search on "conversion varnish." Generally, not all finishes adhere to all other finishes. Be sure to research before you try any repair.