Quick and Easy Magnetic Dry-Erase Board

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Introduction: Quick and Easy Magnetic Dry-Erase Board

If you are like me and need a brain bubble on the wall to clarify all the to do's of the day, this is a very easy and quick way of making a magnetic dry-erase board to organize your thoughts. It is non-permanent, so it can turn any wall into an office space, and then be removed easily.

It is also great as a kids chores and homework wall, for daily to do's, lunch menu, or hung on the door memo's.

Supplies

3 Baking Pans (do a quick test with a magnet to make sure they are magnetic)

1 Pencil Organizer

8 Command Damage-Free Medium Hanging Strips (hook velcro like strips)

Permanent Markers

Ruler

Crayola Window Markers or Crayola Washable Gel Markers (I go further into why I prefer these to standard dry-erase in step 7)

Magnets

Step 1: Place Hanging Strips

Remove the backing and stick a hanging strip on each handle of the pan. Stick two hanging strips on the pencil organizer as well.

Step 2: Draw Out the Calendar

With a permanent marker and ruler, draw out the lines and the days for the calendar. I tried using tape before but the marker tends to get in the edges when it is erased so permanent marker worked better for us.

Step 3: Stick to the Wall

Remove the wall side backing of the hanging strips and press against the wall to adhere.

Step 4: Breath, You Now Have an Organized Space!

Step 5: Don't Like Square? No Problem!

Use a stainless steel pizza pan or stainless steel cake mold instead.

Step 6: The Marker Test

I have always had a problem with ghosting on standard dry erase boards, and this board was no exception. If marker was left written for a long time I kept having to use isopropyl alcohol to wipe it clean. On the stainless steel, the alcohol would eventually clean it 100%, like it would on a standard dry-erase board, but I wanted to avoid having to use it. So I tested 4 different markers to see if I could find a better solution, and yes! There are much better markers to use on dry erase boards! These worked on both standard dry-erase boards and on stainless steel.

Crayola Window Markers & Crayola Washable Gel Markers worked best. It easily comes off with a dry kitchen sponge and if there is ghosting, comes off 100% with a bit of water on the sponge.

Crayola Ultra Clean Washable Markers - These also worked quite well, but ever so slightly less than the above options. I would still choose these over dry-erase. It feels so good to remove it so easily with no ghosting with a bit of water on the sponge.

Dry-erase markers - Initially easy to clean with a finger or dry eraser. After a few days it was still cleanable with very minimal ghosting with fingers and dry eraser. To remove ghosting, I would need to use isopropyl alcohol.

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    4 Comments

    0
    kenyer
    kenyer

    2 years ago

    Great project, but stainless steel is not magnetic, so better to use steel pans.

    1
    Unbottled
    Unbottled

    Reply 2 years ago

    Hi Kenyer,
    I looked it up because magnets shure stuck to mine and it says they are stainless steel. I'm not a metallurgist, but from what I read, there is a big family of stainless steels out there and I guess mine are the basic kind that is magnetic. I can edit the instructable to advise to check with a magnet to see if that pan works. Thankyou for your advice!

    Reference article:
    https://www.physlink.com/education/askexperts/ae546.cfm

    “As for whether they are magnetic, the answer is that it depends. There are several families of stainless steels with different physical properties. A basic stainless steel has a 'ferritic' structure and is magnetic. These are formed from the addition of chromium and can be hardened through the addition of carbon (making them 'martensitic') and are often used in cutlery. However, the most common stainless steels are 'austenitic' - these have a higher chromium content and nickel is also added. It is the nickel which modifies the physical structure of the steel and makes it non-magnetic.

    So the answer is yes, the magnetic properties of stainless steel are very dependent on the elements added into the alloy, and specifically the addition of nickel can change the structure from magnetic to non-magnetic.”

    0
    Unbottled
    Unbottled

    Reply 2 years ago

    thank you robojune!