I've had no problems using a Sharpie on clothing. I have used them to label face towels too (used in the gym to wipe sweat). The ink has not "transferred" to sweaty skin. It stays permanent in the wash too, although every once in a while I trace over the original writing if it starts to fade. I've had to do the same with a laundry marker though.

Sharpies work beautifully and in my experience don't run at all once the ink is dry (a matter of seconds).

The only issue you might have is how absorbent the material you are writing on is. If it is more porous/thick/absorbent, your letters will bleed and you'll need to write bigger, so make sure you have plenty of space to ink his name in clearly. I've had great luck writing tiny on tags within the clothing, but the letters need to be quite large to be legible on toweling (I found that out when I labeled the towels we use for the dog so they don't accidentally get put back in the linen closet). Hope that makes sense!

Thanks for the testimonials--and tips on watching absorbency. I'm sure I would have learned the hard way otherwise, when his name became a blob! LOL

good tips, all--

I have had some fading on some much-washed stuff--not a lot, but a teeny little bit.

I find the stiffed, tighest-woven part of a towel to write on, if I need to.

I bought the fabric tape for my P-touch, and I'm anxious to try it.

The tags are sometimes too small. I've found the inside of the neck band works well. Doesn't show on the outside and gives me more space to write. It never washes out, from what I can tell.

Gloria