How to Get Dried Highlighters to Work

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Things You'll Need

  • Rubbing alcohol

  • Paper

A dried-out highlighter tip can be revived with some rubbing alcohol.

Highlighters are a staple of college students, researchers, job searchers and anyone else hoping to remember an important piece of written information. However, carelessly leaving the cap off a highlighter can lead to the tip drying out. You can bring the highlighter tip back to life -- providing there is still fluid in the marker -- with a simple dousing in rubbing alcohol.

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Step 1

Pour rubbing alcohol into the cap of the rubbing alcohol bottle.

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Step 2

Place the tip of the highlighter in the rubbing alcohol in the cap for about five seconds.

Step 3

Turn the highlighter upside down and let the rubbing alcohol soak down through the highlighter felt.

Step 4

Place the highlighter cap back on the highlighter and let it sit for about 15 minutes.

Step 5

Test the highlighter on a sheet of paper. If it does not work to satisfaction, repeat the process until the highlighter color appears bold on the paper.

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