Refresh Your Ink Pads in 4 Simple Steps

Hi and welcome! Today I have a great tip for you when it comes to the health and care of your ink pads. Did you know that by caring correctly for your ink pads, it can extend the life of them and improve the quality of your stamping? That’s why I want to share with you the routine I use when refreshing my own ink pads. Let’s take a look!

Before we talk about refreshing ink pads, I would love to mention a few of the benefits of using Stampin Up ink pads for your crafting needs.

Benefits of Stampin Up Ink Pads

There are quite a few benefits to using Stampin Up’s ink pads, and I’ve listed a few below:

Large Stamping Area

Stampin Up’s ink pads are large. This is beneficial because it allows easier inking of larger size stamps.

Refills

Ink refill bottles are available. This allows you to continue using your ink pads for years and years. (Cost saver!)

Store Upside Down

This is such a great feature of our ink pads. They are designed to store the ink surface upside down so all the ink is at the surface of the pad when you open it to use it (see video for explanation).

Lock Shut

This is a huge benefit if you have young children around the house or if you have fumbly hands. If they get dropped, the lid won’t come off and if small hands find them, they require special skill to open!

Color Labels

I love that these pads come with several color labels. One can be placed on the front of the pad to make it easy to see what color the pad is, even from the side. Another label can be placed on the inside, just next to the ink surface, to be visible when the ink pad is open (see below). One can also be placed on the re-inker bottle for easy identification. You’ll still have two more labels to use for markers, blending brushes, sponges, spritzer bottles, or other items.

Next, let’s take a look at why refreshing ink pads is important!

Why Refresh Ink Pads?

There are four steps I always take when caring for and refreshing my ink pads. It’s nice to do a little ‘tune-up’ every once in a while to help the pads last longer, and to improve the quality of your stamped images. A Healthy Ink Pad = A Happy Stamper 😁

Now let’s talk about how to refresh those ink pads!

4 Steps To Refresh Ink Pads

There are four steps I take when refreshing my ink pads. Here they are:

1. Rinse

Rinsing is the first step I take when refreshing my ink pads. I like to use the lid of my pads for picking up ink with my Water Painters. When I do, it leaves a mess of ink sitting in the lid of my pad. To clean this up, I simply rinse the lid of my ink pad (making sure not to get the actual pad wet) under running water. This cleans the lid up very nicely. Then I can dry it out with a rag or paper towel.

The lid is clean…next it’s time to lint roll!

2. Lint Roll

The next step to update your ink pads is removing any built up lint or fibers that stick to the pad itself. Paper fibers or fuzzies will stick to ink pads, especially if you use baby wipes to clean your stamps (Tip – use a Shammy instead!). Having lint and other materials stuck in your ink pad can be frustrating, because it affects the quality of your stamping. My solution to this is simple — a lint roller! To use it, simply expose a new sheet on the lint roller and gently roll over the ink pad, picking up unwanted fibers and lint.

3. Re-ink

After cleaning the surface of the pad with a lint roller, I re-ink the pads. Using a refill bottle, I gently move across the ink pad back and forth from top to bottom while squeezing gently to release ink. Next, you’ll want to make sure the ink is evenly distributed across the pad. To do this, simply reach for a plastic spoon. Move the rounded part of the spoon across the surface of the pad to move the ink around and even it out. This can also be done with a credit card or plastic shoppers card!

4. Shammy

Once the pad is re-inked, I like to clean them up really nicely and remove any excess ink around the edges of the pad. I do this with my Stampin Up Shammy. The Shammy is one of the best cleaning tools ever! I simply run the edge of the Shammy along the edge of the stamp pad to remove and clean up extra ink.

Done! Now your ink pad looks like new!

Video

Here you can watch along with my video where I explain the four steps I take to refresh my ink pads. Feel free to watch along!

Once done, you’ll have a beautifully refreshed ink pad ready for crafting!

Don’t Miss Out!

Please make me your Stampin’ Up! demonstrator! Earn rewards points towards free stamps PLUS a gift when you order. Use host code: J799T23Y PLUS, with your first order, you’ll receive free catalogs in your thank you package!