# \[Getting\] "m" OFF \[an M&M\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 21, 2010, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-m-off-an-m-m/554585 "2010-09-21T22:26:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ABareBear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3bc359/32.png) [@ABareBear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ABareBear)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-m-off-an-m-m/554585/1 "2010-09-21T22:26:23Z")
How can I get the “m” off of an M&M without any trace of the shell? ---
**Author:** ![Amblydoper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@Amblydoper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amblydoper)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-m-off-an-m-m/554585/2 "2010-09-21T22:45:08Z")
Nuke it from orbit. Its the only way to be sure. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-m-off-an-m-m/554585/3 "2010-09-21T23:23:14Z")
Rock tumbler, precise timing, and lots of T&E. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-m-off-an-m-m/554585/4 "2010-09-21T23:29:41Z")
I’d imagine the ink for the ‘m’ and the color of the shell are both soluble with the same things, so I’m not sure it’ll be possible. Having said that, my thoughts would be Vodka (just to avoid using rubbing alcohol) or mineral oil. Have you considered going to the store and buying some “Candy covered chocolates” AKA generic M&M’s? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-m-off-an-m-m/554585/5 "2010-09-21T23:33:13Z")
Edited one of the more inscrutable thread titles I have ever seen to indicate subject. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![JFLuvly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac91a4/32.png) [@JFLuvly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JFLuvly)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-m-off-an-m-m/554585/6 "2010-09-21T23:35:28Z")
Lick it off ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-m-off-an-m-m/554585/7 "2010-09-21T23:40:10Z")
I once got a defective bag of M&M’s. They were misprints: half of them had W’s on them instead. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-m-off-an-m-m/554585/8 "2010-09-21T23:57:47Z")
Heat up the end of a fork, gently use it to melt the chocolate around the M, then smear over it? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-m-off-an-m-m/554585/9 "2010-09-22T00:00:09Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I once got a defective bag of M&M’s. > > They were misprints: half of them had W’s on them instead. I had the same problem with a box of nails recently. Half of them had the heads on the wrong end, so I threw them away. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-m-off-an-m-m/554585/10 "2010-09-22T00:01:46Z")
You could always order some [customized M&M’s](http://www.mymms.com/customprint/) with no lettering. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-m-off-an-m-m/554585/11 "2010-09-22T00:16:02Z")
It’s pretty hard to do and leave it looking untampered. The M’s are sprayed on the candy, then the whole piece is covered with a clear coat (that’s what keeps it from “melting in your hand”). So you would have to re-cover the candy with this clear coat after scraping off one M, to make it look the same as it was. Pretty hard to do, undetectably. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-m-off-an-m-m/554585/12 "2010-09-22T01:03:32Z")
Scrape the m off with a single edged razor blade. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-m-off-an-m-m/554585/13 "2010-09-22T01:15:21Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I once got a defective bag of M&M’s. > > They were misprints: half of them had W’s on them instead. I had a bag where a good portion of them had sigmas instead. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-m-off-an-m-m/554585/14 "2010-09-22T01:22:58Z")
A good portion of mine had 3’s on them. Also, some of them were brown, so I trashed my place. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-m-off-an-m-m/554585/15 "2010-09-22T01:33:57Z")
Just turn them over. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-m-off-an-m-m/554585/16 "2010-09-22T01:48:11Z")
Subtraction by addition. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-m-off-an-m-m/554585/17 "2010-09-22T03:00:21Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > It’s pretty hard to do and leave it looking untampered. > > The M’s are sprayed on the candy, then the whole piece is covered with a clear coat (that’s what keeps it from “melting in your hand”). So you would have to re-cover the candy with this clear coat after scraping off one M, to make it look the same as it was. Pretty hard to do, undetectably. Actually, the candies are stamped, not sprayed. The printing is done after the final glaze, which is applied in a traditional panning process. If you have confectioner’s glaze, it wouldn’t be hard to scrape off the m’s, then re-glaze the candies, but… WHY? More on the process is [here](http://www.madehow.com/Volume-3/M-M-Candy.html). ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-m-off-an-m-m/554585/18 "2010-09-22T03:43:22Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > You could always order some [customized M&M’s](http://www.mymms.com/customprint/) with no lettering. They’ll also print other letters for you (for some reason I’m picturing you trying to paint little “Q’s” on the cleaned-off M&M’s). OR they’ll print small phrases (I checked – you’ve got room to print “Need some zits?” or “Not fat enough?”) ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-m-off-an-m-m/554585/19 "2010-09-22T06:39:40Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > > > I once got a defective bag of M&M’s. > > > > They were misprints: half of them had W’s on them instead. > > I had the same problem with a box of nails recently. Half of them had the heads on the wrong end, so I threw them away. Idiot! Those were for the other side of the house. ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-m-off-an-m-m/554585/20 "2010-09-22T08:37:07Z")
Are you going to try to replace it with an S? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-m-off-an-m-m/554585.md?page=2)