Whiteboard culture represents a spirit of openness.
It means that everyone is equal, that everyone’s ideas can be spoken and written boldly, and that mistakes are allowed because the words on a whiteboard are easily erased.
It also means a team spirit where everyone is not closed off and your ideas can be built on the inspiration of others.

The service life of whiteboard is limited.

It will naturally age even when not in use (no wear and tear), so new whiteboards are easy to erase, and old ones become less and less easy to clean.
Definitely, the ink formulation of the whiteboard markers has a lot to do with this, as good ink may wipe off easily after a few weeks of writing, while poor quality may not wipe off after just an hour or two.
It can be wiped off with pure alcohol (or high concentration), nail polish, and other oil-based solvents.
Detergents are less soluble and less effective in removing more firmly adhered lettering.
Definitely, you can also use powerful solvents such as petrol, banana water, and thinners, but these solvents are dangerous and too soluble to easily corrode the board surface.
Also, as ink formulas vary, it is possible that some lettering will work well with detergent, while others will have to use a stronger solvent such as alcohol.

Once the whiteboard is difficult to erase, if it is not because the ink of the pen is too inferior, it means that the surface of the board has aged, even if it is wiped clean, it will not work well, because every time you write, you have to remember to rush to erase, it is very troublesome.
PS: Poor quality ink also contains volatile toxic substances, so if you are a frequent user of the whiteboard, or if it is used by children, you must buy a good whiteboard pen.

There are four surface materials of whiteboards popular in Market:
Coated steel whiteboard, Melamine MDF board whiteboard, enamel steel whiteboard, and tempered glass whiteboard.

Let’s see how to replace the surface on different boards.

Coated steel whiteboards
The surface is steel with painting. The steel coated with white paint and then baked at a high temperature.
Generally speaking, the service life is 2-3 years. The glossy layer of the surface will be worn off after many erasures. Then the writing marks will not be erased clearly easily.

To save and protect the environment, replacing the surface material would be an option.
A small amount of lacquered steel is not easy to buy and can be easily damaged during transportation.
The operation process of replacement is also very complicated.
If the surface is smooth and flat without any tears or dents, you can laminate the surface directly with a PET whiteboard film.
There is glue on the back of this kind of whiteboard film. First, cut size according to the whiteboard, then it can be easily pasted to the old whiteboard surface.
There may be some air bubbles after lamination, just use a cloth to slowly squeeze the bubbles out of the film, so that it is a new whiteboard again.

If the surface of the whiteboard is damaged and not smooth and flat, I recommend buying a new one.

Melamine non-magnetic whiteboard

This type of whiteboard use melamine MDF BOARD. It can be single side writing to double-sides writing.
The technology is a melamine paper stick on the MDF board. The service life is 2-3 years too.

If the melamine whiteboard surface is scuffed, people cannot press a new melamine paper. Because the melamine paper is heat pressed onto the MDF board.
You also can stick a PET whiteboard film on the surface.
Same progress as an above magnetic whiteboard.
First, cut size according to the whiteboard, then it can be easily pasted to the old whiteboard surface.
There may be some air bubbles after lamination, just use a cloth to slowly squeeze them out on the surface.
If you prefer a magnetic whiteboard, just cover a soft magnetic whiteboard film on the surface, the board is a magnetic whiteboard.

Enamel whiteboard

Enamel steel plate is made of a high-quality steel plate and special functional inorganic non-metallic materials by a new electrostatic dry powder coating process and high-temperature firing.

This material surface of enamel steel is very hard and generally lasts 10-15 years, so there is no need to consider replacing the panel.
It is the best whiteboard, but the price is more expensive than the others.
It can be wiped clean with the usual whiteboard cleaner.

Glass whiteboards

The raw material for glass whiteboards is toughened glass.

Tempered glass is obtained by cutting ordinary annealed glass to the required size, then heating it to a near softening point, and then cooling it quickly and uniformly.
There is considerable compressive stress on the surface of toughened glass, so it has high mechanical strength.
When the surface of tempered glass is scratched, the ink will remain inside the scratch.
The glass board is usually frameless, the touch feeling of writing is completely different between glass and PET film.
So it is best to buy a new glass board.

A few final points on maintaining whiteboards.

1. When using the whiteboard for the first time, remember to tear off the protective film attached to the board surface
2. Use a good quality whiteboard pen to write on the board, otherwise, it will not wipe clean.
3. Use a soft, clean whiteboard eraser (if it has dirt on it, wash it with water and cool it off before using it again), otherwise, it will easily damage the surface of the board when you erase it.