3 Ways to Keep Using Your Color Swell Markers After They’ve Dried Out

Color Swell markers may last a long time, but it is a fact of life that kids don’t always put the caps on their markers and they dry out before they run out of ink! This doesn’t need to be the end of the markers – you can still use the pigments even after the water has gone. Let’s look at three ways of squeezing every last drop out of your Color Swell markers.

#1 Bubble Prints
Bubble prints are a fun and messy way of using dried out markers. You will need: the dead markers; pliers; bubble blowing fluid for blowing bubbles; white paper; bubble wands. First use pliers to remove the tips from the old markers and then put the broken ends of the markers in the bubble blowing fluid and leave overnight. The fluid will change color and the next day you can have some fun! You can blow bubbles onto the paper and the ink makes nice patterns.

#2 Alcohol based ink for nonporous surfaces
Water based markers won’t mark things like plastic or metal. With your dried markers you can though! Get the following things together: medical alcohol; pliers; dried markers; small pots; paint brushes; and a nonporous metal or plastic surface.

Pour the alcohol into the small pots and then remove the ends of the markers using the pliers. Leave the open ends of the markers in the alcohol overnight at room temperature. The next morning you will find much of the pigment in the alcohol. A fun yet messy job will be to remove the cores of the markers and squeeze the rest out into the pots. Use alcohol to remove the stains from anything it gets onto. Then make your art on the your piece of metal or plastic as you want!

#3 Markers into watercolors
It is fun to turn dried ink in markers into watercolors. For this project, you’ll need dried markers, small pots of water, pliers, paintbrushes, and paper. Unlike the alcohol in the previous example, water is not as efficient as catching the pigment so you should try two markers per pot. Break the tips off and put the ends of the markers in the water for a day and a night. You can remove the cores and squeeze it out for extra messy fun (this is washable). Now you can use the watercolors as you normally would!

Use Color Swell markers

Color Swell bulk marker sets last a long time. Have a look at our range of markers and other art supplies!