"I am looking for a non-toxic product to temporarily mark out a path 

on some carpet we have here.   Ideally it would last a few months and 

would be able to clean up without a trace.  Any suggestions?"

Tim at a children's museum.

Tru Mark was able to come up with a couple likely solutions and provided the following response.

You pose a challenging problem.  

I would be hesitant to offer a strictly removable paint product like our TrailBlazer formulations such as Rally Day and Season Ticket, not knowing the reaction with the carpet and the ease of cleanup as you need to use a Trail Wash removing agent to help with the cleanup as well as some scrubbing action through manual brushes/brooms or mechanical devices.

Our aerosol chalk would be a possible solution but I’m little concerned it may stain the carpet due the use of the propellant used in aerosol can. It is temporary and performs much like a traditional powdered chalk product used for baseball and softball diamond, just less material applied. Foot traffic will remove it once it dries. A brush and water will help remove it.  I can send you a sample can to try out, $5.95 plus $8.95 S&H.


Another possible solution is our bulk liquid chalk, SwitchBack Double Play, diluted with water at a ratio of 1 to 1 and normally applied with airless line striper. It can be applied using a very short nap roller brush, approximately 1/8”.. Once it dries it performs similar to the dry powdered chalk, but without as much material applied. Cleanup is foot traffic, a brush, and water. We can sell this in one gallon cans, $24.50 per gallon plus $19.95 shipping and handling by FedEx or UPS Ground.

Here are two blog post on temporary line marking for synthetic turf surfaces and for natural grass surfaces.