Good morning all! Hope you are all in the the best of health and happiness and if your not, remember those in the Philippines, because they could really use all our prayers right now. Helping others is great medicine for the hurting soul. Hopefully today's post will brighten your day or at least your markers ;o)
I don't know about you, but getting ready to do art projects with the kids only to find that all your markers are dried out is such a bummer. Markers are not cheap and I refuse to invest so much money in them. So once upon a time, a few years ago to be exact, I experimented with water to see if I could revive the ink. AND IT WORKED! It's the most simple and cheapest way to get your kids' markers back in tip top shape! All you need is water (either in the sink or fill a small bowl) and a bucket/cup/holder for the markers.
Clockwise starting from top left photo:
First, test out your marker on paper to make sure it's dry.
Secondly, for only a few seconds either dip it and swirl it around in water or
Thirdly, test it out on paper to make sure ink is nicely saturated. Don't worry if it's runny. If it still looks slightly dry put it back in the water.
Finally, place it upward to allow water to seep down and moisten the rest of the felt within the body of the marker.This will also stop the ink from being too runny.
TIP: Since the ink will be watery a bit make sure to handle gently so as not to get ink everywhere. Also I found that if you want your markers/pens to always be wet and smooth when writing, store them upside down. So after you've moistened your marker with water by keeping it right side up, store it upside down for the long term for consistent ink flow.
Wasn't that unbelievable easy? I've done this hundreds of times and saved so many markers over time. Unfortunately it does not work well with Dry Erase markers. I need to keep experimenting with those to work after they dry. Here are some more close-up pics of the rest of the markers I fixed.
You can see where orange, purple, dark and light blue were dried out, now they all work perfectly.
If you're wondering what the big red blob is, it's not marker.
Z3 (my youngest) insisted on "testing" out his paint brush lol.
If you look at the orange you'll see three marks.
After I dipped it in water it was still dry so I dipped it again.
I got every single dry marker to work properly again and didn't have to throw away a single one. YAY!! Remember, if the marker becomes too runny don't worry. Place it right side up for an hour or so and after all the dried felt absorbs the liquid, the marker will work perfectly. You've got nothing to lose, other than an already dried marker lol so give it a try! Hope this will save many-o-markers in your home! Thanks for stopping by.
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