Nail polish remover works very well - it is a solvent which dissolves the permanent marker. I grow a LOT of cactus plants, and always have lots of outdated old labels, so this is what I use.
I find even with permanent pens they come off in the weather and I usually have lot# of unknowns but a bit of vim or the cream equivalent should get it off
DH writes on his labels with indelible pens and they fade rapidly, we have a couple of trays of seedlings with ‘either/or’ identities. He’s even tried lolly sticks.
I use a carpenter’s pencil but any pencil will do. Better than any marker pen and easier to clean off.
I use lollipop sticks too J52 and find they last well enough even in the garden. The plastic ones were a gift so I'd like to reuse them. I'll have fun trying out the suggestions above; it's just a question of what I already have as I don't really want to buy something especially for this. I'll write on them in pencil once they're clean so it shouldn't arise again! Thank you everyone.
I have very few plastic ones now, but write over mine with a sharpie, seems to work. Now I only buy wooden lollipop sticks, from the craft section, very cheap. This year I’ve found giant wooden spatulas from The Works. These are great, writing on them can be large and easily read. They are large enough to be broken into two parts, so economical. I was surprised to see Monty using plastic plant labels.
DH writes on his labels with indelible pens and they fade rapidly, we have a couple of trays of seedlings with ‘either/or’ identities. He’s even tried lolly sticks.
I’ve heard that if you go over the writing with a indelible pen, (eg a Sharpee) it will sort of ‘melt’ the original writing, and you can wipe off all of the ink.
I have inherited some white plastic plant labels that have been written on with a marker pen. I'd like to clean them so i can use them again. I've tried fairy which didn't move anything, White spirit has had a fairly good result but took quite a lot of scrubbing too and left a shadow on some. Any bright ideas anyone?