Whenever you’re taking down notes or making your journal, you always want to keep your surface neat and organized. However, these activities can also be quite stressful if your gel pen starts to skip and fade out. That can ruin not only the paper you’re writing on but also your mood.
Gel Pens are famous for their silky ink flow. They are very comfortable to use and many people love them. However, since gel pens normally use water-based ink, they dry out easily, and worse, they become clogged when they’re carelessly handled.
This might not seem a big deal for some people, but for those who love to write, this problem can be irritating. Why is your gel pen slipping and not working? Is it possible to make your gel pen work again? In this article, you’ll know the answers to these questions and you’ll learn some ways on how to restore your gel pens.
What are The Reasons Why Gel Pens Sometimes Skip and Stop Working?
The air gets inside the ink cartridge: Once this happens, the ink will start to dry out and will immediately get clogged. It will then stop flowing correctly and stop working continuously. This will cause the pen to stop working, and it will begin skipping. This happens when the gel pen is not capped or removed.
The gel pen isn’t properly stored: Gel pens are very sensitive as the ink they use is much thinner than any ink type. Gel pens need to be stored upright, as ink can leak. The pen may leak, or it will stop working.
These are the main reasons gel pens quit working or skip. Thankfully, there are some easy ways on how to make your gel pens work again as nothing happened. There’s no need to buy new pens!
How can You Restore Your Gel Pens to Their Working Condition?
One common thing that people do whenever they’re experiencing pen skipping is that they continuously scribble random lines on a piece of scratch paper until the gel ink becomes stable again. Well, that won’t help your pen at all. It won’t restore the gel pen to its working state. How What can you do to restore it? Here are some steps to help you do this.
Shake the pen to get rid of the air bubbles inside the cartridge: This step should work on gel pens with mild ink issues. The air inside the cartridge prevents the ink from continuously flowing, that is why ejecting that unnecessary air is normally an effective way to make the gel pen work again.
Try pulling out the pen nib and soak it in warm water for a few minutes: Usually, the problem why your gel pen won’t produce ink is that it is clogged. There’s a very small amount of ink solidified inside the nib. However, soaking the nib in water will help the clogged ink to liquefy again. Once it has soaked, you can put it back in the cartridge and start scribbling on the paper.
Insert a safety pin inside the pen nib to remove the clogged ink: Sometimes, soaking the nib in warm water isn’t enough. To eliminate the solidified ink inside the nib, you can slowly insert a safety pin to grind it inside and unclog it. That should help the gel pen to work again smoothly.
You can also use warm or hot water to loosen the ink cartridge. Sometimes, the whole cartridge may dry out and become solidified. To liquefy it, you can try putting in a little amount of water using a small dropper to improve the ink flow inside the cartridge.
Try blowing the gel pen’s ink cartridge from its ventilation hole: This might sound ridiculous, but it actually works! Blow the cartridge from its hole until the ink starts to reach the nib. This will push the ink to help it flow properly.
Rub alcohol on the tip of your gel pen: This is an excellent solvent. It can be used to dissolve hardened ink. However, you should only consider trying this step just in case the water doesn’t work.
You can quickly soak the tip with acetone. Acetone has a higher melting point than alcohol. Just remember, if the barrel of your gel pen is made out of plastic, don’t let it touch the acetone as it might create some corrosions. You can quickly soak your pen’s metal nib. This should resolve any ink problems.
These steps might help your gel pens to properly work again. Just keep on trying each step and you’ll restore your gel pen to its working condition in no time.
How Do you Secure Your Gel Pens?
Gel pen are very convenient because they offer a smooth and unique writing experience. Therefore, they require very careful handling, otherwise, they’ll start skipping and might eventually stop working. So it is always important to take extra care with your gel pens.
Always store them in an upright position to prevent the ink cartridge from acquiring air. It prevents your pen leaking. Moreover, avoid them from frequently falling on the ground as this will create some air bubbles inside the cartridge, causing your pen to skip.
Your gel pen should never be left uncapped. If it’s retractable, make sure to regularly retract it. If the nib is always exposed, the air might access your cartridge, causing the ink to dry out and clog.
Conclusion
Restoring is always better than purchasing. You can save money by getting your gel pen to work again. Therefore, once you’ve restored your gel pens to their working condition, always remember to store them properly to prevent them from drying out and clogging again. Hopefully, you’ll find these steps helpful and effective!
