How do you salvage a dry ball-point pen?

Question

I'm talking about cheap Bic and Papermate pens. I hate waste and I have several pens that have not run out of ink, but will not write. Any suggestions?

Are they alcohol soluble? Will dipping them in alcohol for an hour do the trick?

Answer 1

Dip them in very hot water to get the ink flowing again, just for 1 min or two. Then scribble until it begins to write.

Answer 2

Touch the point on something hot.

Good Luck

Answer 3

Alcohol has the potential to damage plastic parts, so it's a risk.

Usually the problem is ink that's grown thick or dried up altogether on the ball. Moistening it (I use my tongue--so handy!) and scribbling on any good writing surface may bring it back--if the barrel's ink isn't dried up, too.

Storing pens point end down seems to have a negative impact. So does buying them too far in advance; they skip or won't write at all more readily if they're several years old.