Felt tipped pens

[Dunne E. Dawe]

Anyone know offhand what solvent can be used to rejuvenate old felt-tipped pens and hi-lighters that have dried out?

[Roger]

If this is *not* a troll, try misc.consumers.frugal-living

[Dunne E. Dawe]

On Tue, 08 Jun 2004 04:06:08 GMT, "Roger" posted:

Thanks Roger, not a troll, I guessed there had to be a more appropriate group. Thanks for pointing it out.

[Joseph Meehan]

Too much work for me, but try alcohol.

[VRadin]

Same thing that worked for typewriter ribbon and early impact printer ribbons... a small shot of WD40. Used to double or sometimes triple the life of those ribbon carts.

[Stormin Mormon]

Sounds like something I did when I was a teen ager.

I used to use Raesol denatured alcohol. Sometimes there is enough space along side the felt tip, you can get some alcohol in with a syringe.

Now days, I buy pens by the dozen (or in the case of the Bic Clic by several dozen at a time) and just pitch them out when they go bad.

[default]

Water.

[Minnie Bannister]

I see you've received several different responses, but I think the answer depends on what kind of felt-tipped pens or hi-lighters you have.

Some of the broad-tipped markers I have used smelled as though they used toluene or xylene (based on what I recall from working in chem. labs a few decades ago). The finer-tipped ones (e.g., Sanford "Sharpie" pens) have a smell I cannot identify, but rubbing alcohol does a good job of wiping the writing off non-porous surfaces -- which *might* (or might not) mean that rubbing alcohol would work for restoring ones that have dried out.

The stuff in hi-lighters could perhaps be water based, but I don't know for sure.

MB

On 06/07/04 11:51 pm Dunne E. Dawe put fingers to keyboard and launched the following message into cyberspace:

[Lost-In-Translation]

Buy a new one, they're cheap! (Which evidently. . .so are you!) Sheeesh!!

[Jeff Wisnia]

Whadda ya mean cheap! I'm just value oriented...

I'm still using the same refillable marker I bought over 50 years ago...All aluminum with a screw on cap, pocket clip, and an ink feed valve which opens when you press down hard.

Lots of places still sell refillable markers today:

Jeff

[Richard J Kinch]

Some inks polymerize on drying, which is irreversible. This is like asking, what can I use to remove paint, so I can paint with it again.

[RB]

Sorry but I've got to ask. Is the refillable marker still kept in the same plastic pocket protector. Perhaps, one of the pocket protectors they gave away at the Chinese laundry on Mass Ave across from Bldg 7?

RB

Jeff Wisnia wrote:

[RB]

I suspect the odor you're trying to identify is an alcohol/glycol admixture.

RB

M> I see you've received several different responses, but I think the

[Jeff Wisnia]

Jeeze, you sound just like my (first) wife!

I never got into the pocket protectors, but I must confess to briefly taking to a K&E Log-Log-Decitrig in it's leather case hanging from my belt. ("Izzat your slide rule or are you just glad to see me?")

Jeff (Who still grinds his teeth at a woman's voice saying, "Tech tool".)