However, the whole thing isn´t airtight. Would be interesting what kind of ink one should use for it. There is no brand name on the box, but I think it´s the “METO Jet 4000 Schreibgerät”. According to the company´s homepage they use solvent-based dye type ink.

These kind of markers are used mainly in supermarkets or other kinds of stores to write large posters and price tags. It seems to be more common outside Germany to use hand written posters. I remember that the price tags in a Spanish supermarket I had once been were all written by hand, in four or five different colors. Looks more warm and closer to the people, unlike these printed stuff that only seems to be hand written.

The four markers are 53x29mm, 37x17mm, 23x15mm and 11x9mm wide.

I don´t have any use for it, but it´s just nice to have one of these things…

If your markers are just empty and you don´t have a refill ink or there´s no refill ink available for that kind of markers you use, you can also just “refresh” them. In that case, that willl lighten the color compared to its original tone. If you got more than one marker of the same color, you can easily create nuances of the same color. I´ve made several experiences with refreshing markers and in most of the cases it worked. But I won´t guarantee 100% success since there are too much different brands, inks and so on.

Old style permanent marker refill ink containing toluene and yxlene

First, make sure to get the adequate solvent fluid for the type of marker you want to refresh. Both layout markers and permanent markers are either based on a solvent like toluene and xylene (especially the old ones, like the old letraset pantone markers and some of the AD Chartpak markers) or alcohol. For markers with solvent-based ink you´ll need a solvent like toluene or xylene; for alcohol-based ink you´ll need alcohol. I started refreshing my old layout markers when I discovered that the original refill ink, or more correct the refill ink in its former solvent-based formula, wasn´t available any more. Since the early 1990s, harmful solvents based on toluene/xylene weren´t used any more for marker inks. The formula switched to alcohol based ink. Well, that’s nice, but I made the experience, that the “new” alcohol based ink doesn´t fit in most cases with the “old” solvent-based ink. Some brands offer a thinner for their marker inks and one my find special solvent-based marker ink thinner somewhere left over. So, first, make sure to get the adequate solvent. Ordinary paint thinner that is available in every hardware store contains in most cases toluene and xylene. However, often some paraffin derived additives like white spirit are in it and that may – that’s my experience – being incompatible with the marker ink in the marker. And don´t use turpentine or acetone, the latter make some inks agglutinate, turpentine may hamper the ink to dry completely (it´s a cleaning tool for paint brushes or a thinner for oil-painting, not for permanent marker inks or layout marker inks). And, never use water for refreshing solvent-based markers, that won´t work.

Pure Toluene from a pharmacy

1.)    Solvent-based markers
Try to get toluene or xylene in it´s pure form. In Germany, most pharmacies have these two substances. But be careful! Toluene and xylene are highly harmful! For that reason they may ask you for what do you need it. Whenever I explained them the purpose, they gave it away in small amounts for cheap, sometimes even for free. Ask them for a medicine dropper (it must be glass or a solvent resistant material). Well, if you got the stuff, do use it only – and I mean ONLY – in a well ventilated area. If you could unscrew the marker you like to refresh – fine. If not, you have to be a little bit more careful. Avoid contact with your skin since the solvent dries the skin. You may use rubber gloves (also to keep the ink off your hands) . And make sure to keep the solvent far away from children!

Medicine dropper

Okay, in the unscrewed marker, drop the solvent several times onto the wool-filling inside the marker. The ink color will immediately fade. Don´t overfill the marker! It´s better to repeat that step than to overfill the marker and risk a mess. It depends on the dimension of the marker how many solvent you´ll need, try two to three drops first. Screw and close the marker. Store the marker vertically with nib/cap up. Wait a while. Then store the marker upside down, also for a good while. It may take some time until the dried marker ink and the solvent mixes in a matter, that the color doesn’t look faded. If you store the marker upside down, it´s good to put them in a glass jar or on tissue for if you put too much solvent inside the marker, ink may flow out – so don´t overfill!) If you can´t unscrew the marker, remove the nip carefully, put it aside and drop the solvent through the opening into the barrel. Also, be careful not to overfill. Take care when replacing the nib, the ink/solvent may spurt out – replace it slowly. Follow the same steps as with an unscrewable marker.

2.)    Alcohol-based markers
If your markers are alcohol based make sure to get pure alcohol like isopropyl alcohol. You may also use rubbing alcohol for cleaning, but it often contains a small amount of water. However, for refreshing the marker there won’t be a difference, but if you work on paper, the paper maybe will wave a little bit according to the water. The water may also cause the marker ink not to dry completely if applied on other materials than paper, like plastic or metal – so far my experience. Some brands like copic have a special thinner. It´s isopropyl and you may use that for all kinds of alcohol based ink. Follow the steps from 1.).

This works only with permanent and layout markers. I never was successful to refresh paint markers or gouache markers (markers with a water-based pigment ink, like the Artline Poster Markers). Once, the paint or gouache is dry, there isn´t much to do as far as I know.

A last advice: avoid mixing alcohol-based ink and solvent-based ink or filling alcohol into solvent-based markers and vice versa. This may lead to a chemical reaction that will cause aluminum barrels to corrode. In the below picture you can see what I mean… I refilled an old edding 500 solvent-based marker with the alcohol-based edding refill ink of today, and some weeks later, it started to corrode…

Corrosion on an edding 500 marker

The edding 800 “extrabreit”: Some weeks ago I found a bunch of vintage edding 800 markers in a sellout, which seems to be much older than the edding 800 markers I already have in my collection. To my surprise these edding 800 markers were also labeled “extrabreit” and even the rest of the labeling was the same like on the old edding 850. It may be that when these edding 800 extrabreit markers were sold in the 1970s, these ones were the widest markers on the market. After the edding 850 was launched, they simply put the labeling on the new wider marker. Doesn´t make much sense to label two different markers the same way. The other vintage edding 800 markers bear the text “in 10 farben”/”in 10 colours” instead of “extrabreit”. Also the other labeling changed a little…

However, either the edding 850 extrabreit or the edding 800 extrabreit inspired a German band to adopt the name “Extrabreit” in 1978. I don´t know if they choose this name for this reason, but “breit” is a synonym for “to be drunk” in German… so you can guess what “extrabreit” may mean.

What´s going on there? Don´t they have real problems over there? I mean, mankind has a bunch of serious problems – war, famine, oppression, murder… but some people make problems where no problems are. Won´t imagine what would happen to that boy if he had one of the markers we used to possess with 13 – and we didn´t write just on a sheet of paper.
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The new ones...

On the way from the local graffiti store back home I passed a stationary shop and find there the up to date version of the Staedtler Permanent Marker. It was cheaper than expected and I bought it. The marker has a 12 mm wide nib, a very dark black color (much darker than the old Staedtler or the On The Run One Inch), and it is dry safe, what means, that the marker can be left uncapped for several days without drying up. It´s also refillable.

Cut-away view of a magic marker | Schnitt durch einen Magic Marker (Monahan, P; Powell, D.: Advanced Marker Techniques. Mcdonald & Co Publishers Ltd. 1987, p. 14)

Permanent markers belong to over half a century to the daily lives of many people. Whether in the office, at school, in warehouses or used by graffiti writers, permanent markers are now an indispensable part of everyday life. The common name for a permanent marker in Germany is edding, according to the famous German manufacturer of writing products of all kinds. However, many people just call them felt pen when speaking of permanent markers.

The history of permanent markers dates back to 1910. At that time, Lee W. Newman patented the first marking pen; the first modern permanent marker should have been the Magic Marker, which was developed in 1952 by Sidney Rosenthal. According to other sources, the first marker was developed in the early 1960s in Japan and was initially made of bamboo and a piece of felt (see Monahan, P, Powell, D.: Advanced Marker Techniques Mcdonald & Co Publishers Ltd. 1987). The first commercial permanent marker – like the classic example of the Magic Marker – consisted of a small glass bottle with an upper part that held the felt nib. They were marketed in the 1960s. Later the body of the markers was also made of aluminum and plastic. The Magic Marker became popular for illustration in art studios and advertising agencies. The classic “glass bottle”- Magic Marker was, similar to other ones like the Letraset Pantone Marker (Letraset Tria Marker), the Chartpak AD Marker or the modern day Copic Marker range designed as a layout marker.

A typical permanent marker consists of a container (either glass, aluminum or plastic), which is filled with felt or some sort of wadding. This filling serves as a carrier for the water-proof ink. The upper part of the marker contains the nib that was made in earlier time of a hard felt material, and a cap to prevent the marker from drying out. Until the early 1990s the most common solvents that were used for the ink were Toluene and Xylene. These two substances are both harmful and characterized by a very strong smell. Today, the ink is usually made on the basis of alcohols (eg 1-propanol, 1-butanol, diacetone alcohol and cresols).

Unscrewed top of a marker and wadding inside the markers barrel

Example of a Paint/Gouache Marker: Parts of an Artline Poster Marker

Parts of the valve

In addition to the classic permanent marker there are also paint markers with a paint-like opaque ink, which could be also be water-based (Gouache or Tempera). Unlike the classic permanent markers the ink isn´t absorbed by wadding, it´s free flowing inside the marker. The ink flow is controlled via valve action. A paint marker contains in addition a tiny ball (either glass or metal) that mixes the paint when shaking the marker.

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Permanent Marker gehören seit über einem halben Jahrhundert zum täglichen Leben zahlreicher Menschen dazu. Egal ob im Büro, in der Schule, in Lagern und Versandhäusern oder bei Graffiti-Writern, Permanent Marker sind heutzutage nicht mehr aus dem Alltag wegzudenken. Die gängige Bezeichnung in Deutschland lautet nach dem gleichnamigen Hersteller von Schreibprodukten aller Art edding, wobei viele Leute einfach Filzer oder Filzstift sagen, wenn sie von Permanent Markern sprechen. Letztere Begriffe bezeichnen jedoch meist Fasermaler für Kinder.

Die Geschichte des Permanent Markers reicht zurück in das Jahr 1910. Damals patentierte Lee W. Newman den ersten Marking Pen. Der erste moderne Permanent Marker soll der Magic Marker gewesen sein, der 1952 von Sidney Rosenthal entwickelt wurde. Anderen Quellen zufolge wurden die ersten Marker Anfang der 1960er Jahre in Japan entwickelt und bestanden anfangs aus Bambus und einem Stück Filz (siehe Monahan, P; Powell, D.: Advanced Marker Techniques. Mcdonald & Co Publishers Ltd. 1987). Die ersten kommerziellen Permanent Marker – klassisches Beispiel ist der Magic Marker – bestanden aus einem Glasfläschchen, dass oben mit einem Aufsatz versehen war, der den Schreibfilz hielt. Sie wurden ab den 1960er Jahren vermarktet. Später wurde das Gehäuse der Marker auch aus Aluminium und Kunststoff hergestellt.

Ein typischer Permanent Marker besteht aus einem Behältnis (entweder aus Glas, Aluminium oder Kunststoff), das mit Filz oder einer Art Watte gefüllt ist. Diese Füllung dient als Träger für die wasserfeste Tinte. Das Oberteil des Marker enthält den Schreibfilz, der früher tatsächlich aus einem harten Filzmaterial bestand, und einer Kappe, die das Austrocknen des Markers verhindern soll. Bis in die frühen 1990er Jahre waren die gängigsten Lösungsmittel, die für die Tinte von Permanent Markern verwendet wurden, Toluol und Xylol. Diese beiden Stoffe sind sowohl gesundheitsschädlich, als auch durch einen sehr charakteristischen intensiven Geruch gekennzeichnet. Heute wird die Tinte von Permanent Markern meist auf Basis von Alkoholen (z.B. 1-Propanol, 1-Butanol, Diacetonalkohol und Kresole) hergestellt. Neben den klassischen Permanent Markern gibt es auch sogenannte Paintmarker bzw. Lackmalstifte mit einer lackartig deckenden Tusche, die teilweise auf Wasserbasis hergestellt wird (Gouache oder Tempera).