How to Revive Dry Erase Markers
Oh, the woes of having a marker-friendly office space. From windows to whiteboard walls, this place is littered with handy dry erase markers to jot and draw. But we found out the hard way that storing these bad boys incorrectly leads to a premature draught.
After conducting a little experiment, we’d like to pass along the wisdom, even if just to save you a few bucks and frustration.
Wrong: Tip up
As gravity would have it, keeping dry erase markers in a vertical container with the tip facing upward drains the ink in the undesired direction. Symptoms of this are streaky, colorless marks. And lots of sad faces.
Wrong: Tip down
Conversely, propping the markers up on the lid, tip down, will cause a soupy pool of ink. In these cases, you’ll notice excessively juicy blots. So what’s the solution?
Right: Horizontal
Expo recommends storing dry erase markers horizontally — on their bellies, if you will. This prevents draining and pooling in any one direction.
So, if the damage has been done and they’re in need of revival, here’s what to do:
- Dried out? Simply store the them on the tips for 24 hours, then horizontally for the rest of time.
- For the pooled markers, flip and do the opposite by storing on the butt end for a day.
We gave this a shot, and saw a nearly perfect success rate. For those that are still misbehaving after this quick ritual, you can always:
- Flip the tip with a pair of pliers
- Tape string to the bottom end and swing it around your head to let centrifugal forces do the work for you.
Keep in mind, Expo dry erase markers can generally last about 2 years with regular use. In an agency setting such as ours, this time can be accelerated, but it serves as a fair ink performance gauge. We made the mistake of storing them vertically in pen holders, and eventually realized the ink should have a much longer lifespan. So try these tricks, and avoid the trash.
Physics, man.
Expo’s got some handy FAQs if you need further guidance.
