Use replace
with correct regex would be easier:
In [41]:
import pandas as pd
pd.set_option('display.notebook_repr_html', False)
df = pd.DataFrame({'text':['test','%hgh&12','abc123!!!','porkyfries']})
df
Out[41]:
text
0 test
1 %hgh&12
2 abc123!!!
3 porkyfries
[4 rows x 1 columns]
use regex with the pattern which means not alphanumeric/whitespace
In [49]:
df['text'] = df['text'].str.replace('[^\w\s]','')
df
Out[49]:
text
0 test
1 hgh12
2 abc123
3 porkyfries
[4 rows x 1 columns]