Once in a while, the dry scratch of a dry marker can interrupt your writing or drawing process. Markers don’t last forever but it is good to make them serve you for as long as possible.
So, before you throw your dead marker away, remember that there are ways in which you can bring it back to life.
It doesn’t matter whether it is a water-based marker or an oil-based marker.
Not all Markers are Refillable
Refilling or reviving a dead marker is the best way to save you some money. However, it is worth noting that some markers are not refillable.
So, before you attempt to refill a marker, find out whether it is the refillable type or not. If yes, follow the procedure below to refill your dried-out marker.
Dripping Ink onto the Nib
Buy ink refills in desired colors to ensure you refill each pen with the same color it had before drying out.
Use several layers of newspaper or plastic sheeting to protect your work surface. Also, protect your clothes and hands by wearing gloves and rolling up your sleeves.
This is because as you overfill the marker, some ink may leak out from the other end.
Remove the caps from the ink container and the marker. Remove the caps from both ends of the marker to balance the pressure within the marker.
Drip the ink slowly onto the nib of the marker until you see some ink dripping from the other end of the marker. You can then replace the lids.
Using a Booster
You should have the refill ink and the refill booster. A booster is a special tool that has a needle which makes it easy to use in refilling marker pens.
Protect your workplace and also put on gloves to protect your hands. You can put some old newspapers over your working area to protect it from any spillage.
Use metal tweezers to grab the nib on the wider side of the pen then pull it out carefully. Screw the booster onto the refill container.
The needle of the booster should go into the hole that remained where you removed the nib. The booster should be vertically over the marker.
Add about 2 cc of ink into the marker then remove the booster and put back the nib.
Finally, clean the booster using some alcohol. Put some drops of ink cleaning solution or rubbing alcohol down the opening of the needle of the booster.
You can then remove any remaining ink by swirling a cotton swab inside the booster. Repeat as necessary.
Conclusion
Refiling markers is a good way of saving but you should not do over and over again. This is because the nib of the pens wears out with time and this may lower the quality of your artwork.
Once you notice that you are not getting the quality that you want, you can buy a new marker.
