whiteboard vs chalkboard

[lotsofpumpkins]

After 7 years of homeschooling, I've decided it's finally time to hang a larger whiteboard (or chalkboard) on the wall. We've used tiny whiteboards here and there through the years, but I really want a larger surface to write on. Dh and I are thinking about 4' x 3'. We will probably end up getting tileboard (or showerboard, or whatever it's called) from Lowe's, but I got to thinking about chalkboards. A decent chalkboard cleans up SO nicely with a wet sponge. Remember that from your childhood? I do. I can't stand how whiteboards get yucky after a while and it's hard to get certain colors of markers to come off. This will be hanging in my dining room and I'm concerned that it will become an eyesore after a while. A decent chalkboard is much more expensive than what we were looking to spend. But it might be doable.

 

What else should I be considering when deciding between a whiteboard (either pre-made or homemade) and a chalkboard?

 

ETA: We bought the supplies for the homemade whiteboard (48"x32") at Lowe's today. The board, wood trim, and nice brass screws came to $28 total. Dh and I glued the whiteboard to a piece of plywood we already had, and then he cut the trim to fit around it like a frame and we glued/nailed that on. Then he used the nice brass screws to hang it to the wall. I love it. I just need to get some good dry erase markers now; that's one thing I didn't get today when I was out. I'm waiting to get all of our school supplies once they go on sale. Dh wrote on the whiteboard with an old expo low-odor marker, and it did ghost, but came right off with rubbing alcohol. I've heard the low-odor ones are bad about ghosting though.

[Cheryl in CA]

I can't stand chalk dust (that is what I remember from my childhood, LOL) so I never considered a chalk board.  White boards aren't without mess but doesn't create the floating dust like chalkboards.  I used shower board to make a huge white board (framed it with trim) and had it up for about 10 years and it still looked great (I took it down because I was painting the walls and we didn't use it anymore).  I always used white board cleaner to clean it and never had any problems with ghosting, even when things were left up for a long time.  I think I saw someone on here say they did something to theirs before using it (waxing it with car wax?) that made it clean up easier.

 

If you end up preferring a chalk board, you could try using chalkboard paint to make your own and save $. 

[lotsofpumpkins]

I forgot about chalkdust. A couple of my dc have allergies. I wonder if that could be an issue.

 

It's nice to hear that the homemade whiteboards will clean up fine with the cleaner. Even if it gets yucky after a while, we could replace a homemade whiteboard quite a few times and still be cheaper than a quality chalkboard or ready-made whiteboard.

 

 

[lotsofpumpkins]

BTW, does Lowes still carry the showerboard? I've been searching for it on their website using different terms (showerboard, tileboards, etc) but it's not coming up. We bought a piece of it a year or two ago for church, and I remember it took a while for the employee to figuring out what we were talking about. What is it actually called?

[Heathermomster]

We used to own a chalk board which we hung in a hallway nook outside my kid's bedroom door and office. Visiting children loved it, and it was great for handwriting practice and spelling. My problem with it was the dust getting ground into my carpet and discoloring it. We replaced the chalkboard with a whiteboard. My only issue with the white board now is keeping up with the wb pens and ensuring little visitors don't mark up my house with the pens. My own children have never marked walls.

 

I would not want a white/chalk board hanging in plain sight, but they are very useful for school.

[Cheryl in CA]

I'm having a hard time finding it on their website but that doesn't necessarily mean they don't carry it, just that it's hard to find.  I did find this, which may work well for you.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_61082-46498-31023248_0__?Ntt=marker+board&UserSearch=marker+board&productId=3042205&rpp=32

[lotsofpumpkins]

I'm having a hard time finding it on their website but that doesn't necessarily mean they don't carry it, just that it's hard to find.  I did find this, which may work well for you.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_61082-46498-31023248_0__?Ntt=marker+board&UserSearch=marker+board&productId=3042205&rpp=32

 

Thank you!

I really can't beat the price, even with having dh add some wood trim. I'm thinking this will be what we go with.

[Cheryl in CA]

You're welcome :)

[LuvToRead]

This is what we have.  It's located in the very  back of Lowe's with the beadboard and other wall board.  It's very affordable, and we've had ours for about 3 years.  I use Expo dry erase cleaner on it.  I've noticed that cheap markers don't erase as cleanly as Expo or Quartet markers.

 

http://www.lowes.com/pd_61082-46498-31023248_0__?productId=3042205&Ntt=wainscot&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNtt%3Dwainscot&facetInfo=

 

 

[prairiewindmomma]

I bought a Lowe's showerboard a few months ago. It does ghost; I hear that if you use turtle wax on it first that that helps. Dry erase spray does get the board to come completely clean. The price ($14?) makes it totally worth it.

 

Chalk dust is a problem for us--not a true allergy, but the amount generated from our larger Handwriting Without Tears board made it clear that dry erase was the way to go for us. Both of my boys prefer dry erase as it's less work for the hand. (One of those boys needs the drag from the chalkboard for his handwriting--but it sounds like you are just needing a larger space).

 

I haven't tried the magnetic paint, but there are times when I wish my dry erase board was magnetic. I have a corkboard, and a smaller magnetic dry erase board (wide enough for using my AAS tiles)...but having a very large dry erase board has been transforming. I can sketch out big concepts as we talk and leave it all up there so that they have a visual reference to the terms I am using.

[Guest]

My inexpensive whiteboards never lasted more than a year and I still have a zillion worn out ones (my older kids are 26-22 and haven't been homeschooled since they were 15) because they don't fit in my trash and I haven't had a chance to get to the dump.

I'm trying a chalkboard with the new first grader in the Fall.
 

[My3girls]

We got a $20 whiteboard from Walmart and an easel off amazon. It stays up in the corner of my dining room all the time, except when we have visitors. We then can easily take it down and put it in the closet. Just an idea.

[M&M]

I just discovered chalk markers. I used them to make signs for dd's graduation party. They are not cheap although I just googled and found some way cheaper than what I paid.

 

They wash right off with water. I really like chalkboard better, I may be painting some walls in chalkboard this summer and get rid my dry erase board.

[ktgrok]

You have a preschooler still. Can preschooler be relied upon to put caps back on markers? To never draw on anything other than the white board? Mine can't, So we have a chalkboard. No harm no foul if chalk gets on the wall or whatever (usually not, but I have a toddler too...so yeah, sometimes). When we had a white board I constantly had kids with marker on their skin. Marker everywhere. And no tops to be found, so they would dry out. And white board markers are way more expensive than chalk.

 

the key to a good chalk board experience is good chalk. We only use Prang chalk, this kind http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/779390/Prang-Hygieia-Dustless-Chalk-Assorted-Colors/

 

Fairly low dust, vibrant colors. The crayola kind writes well, but it gets dust EVERYWHERE. As soon as you touch it you are the color of the chalk. Yuck. This stuff doesn't do that, but writes well. Cheaper chalk doesn't write well and is frustrating. 

 

Oh, and my preschooler LOVES to clean the chalkboard. Favorite job ever.

[lotsofpumpkins]

My preschooler has colored some with dry-erase markers on some of those wipe-off books and he does a pretty good job not making a big mess. The markers I let him use weren't new though; they were getting close to going dry.

 

It looks like we are definitely going the Lowe's route, and I'm going to buy some good markers for ME to use on the board. They will be kept on top of the refrigerator. I told dh I don't want/need a tray for the markers right there at the board; that way the dc will be less likely to doodle on the whiteboard. (I want the Latin lessons I write on it to stay there for several days, not get scribbled over.) If my dc want to draw on a whiteboard, they can use one of our small ones like they've always done (using dollar store markers, so it won't matter as much if they leave a cap off!)

[foxbridgeacademy]

I've had cheap whiteboards that have the "ghosting" issue, the better made ones, never.  I also use whiteboard cleaner.  My problem with chalkboards is the chalk. It makes me sneeze and dries out my hands.

[shawthorne44]

There is also chalkboard paint if you wanted to go the homemade route.  

 

Our 4-year-old DD picked out light pink fabric with a really dark pink flowers on it.  One wall is going to be really dark pink chalkboard.  

[OneStepAtATime]

My quality white boards clean up beautifully with cleaner and never have permanent ghosting.  Lesser quality ones sometimes do.  We had to train to keep markers capped when not in use but it worked out fine after a couple of weeks of consistent reminders (we made a game/competition out of it, not just me nagging).  DS had chalk board panels in his room and kids liked playing with those but the chalk dust got onto everything, wasn't great for his allergies and the panels weren't cleaning up terribly well after a while.  Guess we needed better quality chalk board panels.

 

I love our big quality white board.  It gets used all the time and the kids love all the colors for the markers.  It is easy to make precision marks, too, much easier than with chalk.

[Korrale]

I use the shop vac to clean the chalkboard. No more dust. As someone with eye issues I find chalkboards easier to read than whiteboards.

[Mom22ns]

Congratulations on your new white board. We have a giant one in our basement. My one piece of advice is buy a gallon of Expo marker board cleaner. It will be about $20 on amazon. I've had my white board 3 or 4 years now (I've lost track) and I haven't even gone through half the gallon, so this will be a lifetime supply. Fill a small spray bottle at a time. It does a beautiful job of cleaning your white board and the price per cleaning is negligible :). 

[lotsofpumpkins]

I turtled waxed the board before we wrote on it, and so far the markers are erasing beautifully. We're only 2 days into our school year though...

 

I LOVE our whiteboard. I don't know how we made it through 7 years of homeschooling without it! :)

[EmilyGF]

Where can one even buy a quality chalkboard nowadays?

[Korrale]

It is just paint.

[lotsofpumpkins]

Where can one even buy a quality chalkboard nowadays?

Office Depot has magnetic porcelain chalkboards (which I'm assuming are quality based on price and what I've heard about the brand they carry.)

 

A chalkboard might have been fun, but I couldn't beat the $28 TOTAL it cost us to make a really nice whiteboard with pretty wood trim. (If we hadn't cared about trim, the whiteboard itself was only $10.51.)

[Guest]

Where can one even buy a quality chalkboard nowadays?

 

I got mine at Staples:

 

http://www.staples.com/The-Board-Dudes-Chalk-Board-23-inch-x-17-inch/product_602148

 

and they have some other ones on the website for people in higher income tax brackets that might be better quality. If it doesn't work out for us this year, I've gotten a lot of great ideas from this thread.

 

Thanks for posting, OP, and thanks for sharing your experiences, everyone.

[claire up north]

I'm sorry if I'm repeating what has already been said, but I did want to mention that whiteboards clean up much better with no ghosting if you use real Windex. I have tried just water and also knock off brans, but now I just spend the $ and get the Good Blue Stuff.

[lotsofpumpkins]

I'm sorry if I'm repeating what has already been said, but I did want to mention that whiteboards clean up much better with no ghosting if you use real Windex. I have tried just water and also knock off brans, but now I just spend the $ and get the Good Blue Stuff.

Thanks for the tip!

[Pen]

Another option is chalkboard paint direct on a wall. Less expense, I am sure, than a large chalkboard...and you can do it in any color.  A black chalkboard makes colors look vibrant, especially lovely Waldorf type chalks--and if you always wet clean it you won't get tons of dust (I have chemical problems even from low-odor dry erase markers, so I'd rather have chalk). But also light colors can make a nice background to darker chalk.

[Dana]

If you have serious ghosting problems, coloring over the marks with a black Expo marker, letting it sit, then erasing it works well.

[Guest]

Another thing I wanted to ask:

 

Is there anywhere you can recycle all the plastic from the dried up markers or do they just sit in the landfill forever?

 

The smell bothers me too, but fortunately I don't have any bigger issues with chemical sensitivities and neither do the resident children.

The chalkboard is still in the closet and isn't as big as the markerboards I've needed to run down to the dump for years, so no updates yet. ds has his siblings' old HWT slate, so that will probably do for scratch work. The computers will be in a different room from the chalkboard and I'll be taking the cases off and cleaning them up with compressed air from time to time so hopefully they can handle this with just a singleton in a primary grade.