5. Copic Care

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Take care of your markers and they will last you quite some time!  As someone who uses their markers daily, you would think that I would be replacing tips & ink on a daily basis as well.  Thankfully, that’s not the case.  One of the many appealing factors to Copic markers is that you can refill them instead of using them and tossing them out.  Not only is it less waste but it makes for some “familiar friends” when creating.

Below are some tips to keep your markers lasting through many projects:

• Store your markers horizontally (laying down) to keep the ink from going to one end of the marker and filling the cap.
• Store your refills vertically (standing up) to keep the ink from leaking out the top (though might I add, this rarely happens but better safe than sorry).
• Whenever possible, store your markers & refills in air-tight containers to keep evaporation down to a minimum.  Perhaps not as easy with the markers if you use them every day but if you know you won’t be using them for at least a few days, drop them in a plastic container and seal the lid.
• Make sure you hear the cap “snap” closed when you put it on.  These are alcohol ink markers and will dry VERY quickly if the caps aren’t on properly.
• Just touch the marker to the paper without pressing down.  To keep the tips from fraying, don’t scrub the marker across the paper; instead, you sort of lightly press it to the paper and draw it across in one direction.
• Snip fraying edges.  Because the tips are replaceable doesn’t mean you have to toss them the moment they fray.  Instead, take a pair of precision scissors (small blades) and carefully snip the fraying tip off and reform a new point.
• Replace tips if too much ink constantly flows from it.  Once a tip starts to wear down, ink will pool more than normal as it has more surface space to fill.  Though you might get away with trimming frayed edges once or twice, once it starts to fill with ink too quickly it’s time to replace it.
• When mixing/blending colors make sure you use the marker on a scrap piece of paper to work out all the blended color.  Just draw gentle circles until the ink goes back to the original marker color.  This not only saves you from accidentally coloring something the wrong color, but also helps cut down on the tip from being stained.

That’s pretty much it.  Easy, right?