My husband has a saying: A clean car is a happy car and a happy car runs better. Applying the same philosophy to copic makers, I spent part of the day today cleaning my markers.
As you read this, please allow this disclaimer to sink into your mind. I am not a copic marker expert. I am a beginner. My advice is not worth the paper towels I used to blot the rubbing alcohol I used when I cleaned the markers.
I used two sources to design my procedure today. The first was Sandy Alnock's session in the Copics for Card Makers class (onlineclasses.com). The second was from a YouTube video on the Copic in the Classroom channel.
Why clean them? They were icky, that's why. All the ink that gathers in the lid and around the nib can prevent the lids from sealing well. And, well, they look so much prettier when they are clean.
How did I clean them? Sandy recommended using colorless blender solution. I don't have any of that, so I followed Colleen Shann's procedure pretty closely. I soaked the lids in 91% rubbing alcohol for a few moments in a disposable Dixie cup while I cleaned the gray plastic area around the nib with an alcohol swab. Once that area was clean, I dried it with a paper towel. This is where my method differed from Colleen's. She recommended a cotton ball. I used the swab, and was very careful to keep it away from the nib. My understanding is that you don't want rubbing alcohol or fibers to touch the nib. I would be a Bad Thing.
Once the lid had soaked long enough, I used a Q-tip to clean it, and then the other end of the Q-tip to dry the inside of the lid. I used a papertowel to dry the outside of the lid. If there was any ink on the body of the marker, I wiped it away with the swab. I made sure the cap was dry before I recapped the marker (important), and then it was finished.
Clean markers are happy markers, and I hope happy markers color better.
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