Note: this probably only works with Papermate Flair felt-tip pens.
When one of these pens runs dry, take a syringe with a tip that can fit (snugly) over the end of one of these pens.
Fill syringe with around ~20 drops of water (1 milliliter) or water mixed with food coloring (to better preserve color).
Fit tip of pen into the tip of the syringe. Press down, hard enough so that water leaks out of the hole (there is a small hole near the tip of the pen). After the syringe is empty, dry + cap the pen and put it cap up for a day or two.
After a day or two has passed, write with the pen. Too light to see? Place the pen cap down and wait another day or two. If the pen is still too light, you probably:
A) Used too much water
B) Had a light pen
C) Combo of both
You can throw the pen out now. No use trying to save it.
If a pen after this procedure is leaky (or was leaky when you got it) you can place it open, on a piece of cardboard or thick paper. Wait for an hour or two. Should stop leaking by then.
(Another, faster way to do this is just put your mouth over the tip and suck, but this is bad for you and leaves the worst taste in your mouth)
Another way to fix these pens:
1) Take the (dry) pen you would like to fix.
2) Take some food coloring of similar color to pen you are fixing.
3) Pour 1-2 drops of food coloring into a glass (if you're fixing more than 1 pen at a time, add an extra drop per 2 pens). Add 1-2 drops of water. Mix by swirling stuff together
4) Open pen. Place tip-down into food-coloring-water solution. Wait.
5) Put the cap on the pen. Place pen cap-up into a clean glass (or any way for the pen to stay up). Wait ~24 hours. The solution inside the pen should be fairly well distributed through the stuff inside the pen (it's some type of cottony fabric stuff that reminds one of the stringy fiber stuff in a plant stalk, except it isn't a plant stalk).
Extra: If the pen still doesn't write, keep in cap-down for another ~24 hours.
If this still doesn't work, throw the pen away. You've tried everything you could.
(Comment which way you used!)
(Vote if you tried this and it worked! I'm basing my "approval rating" on the amount of votes divided by the amount of reads times 100)
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Life Hacks: Tried and (maybe) True by Me Personally
RandomRead the title :) Also the photo is mine but slightly edited to add the stars on the branches :)
