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I'm really new to inks and stamping. I have read that the pale colours of distress inks tend to dry out, so I bought a reinker for the antique linen pad. I reinked, and it was fine. About a week later it was dry again!
Is it normal for it to dry out so fast? I'm pretty sure I over inked it the first time, but the stuff sure seems to evaporate! Can you tell me what I might be doing wrong? I'm sure it's user error! Should I be storing it upside down? Would storing it in a plastic ziplock bag be a help? Thanks in advance for any tips.
I just used my Antique Linen DI today and I've had mine for a year or maybe two without issue. It's one of my favourites so it gets a lot of use but I've yet to reink it. When I use a sponge to pick up the ink the pad seems dry and I can't 'see' any colour on the applicator, but it's definetly on there. I find because it is such a pale colour you won't see an obvious contrast on my card stock like you would with most other colours.
Curiosity got me so I tried stamping with it just now. I could see moisture on my (rubber)stamp, but no colour and when I stamped it off it gave me a very pale image, which is what I'd expect.
When you say the pad is dry, do you mean bone dry and you can't get any image from it at all?
It shouldn't dry out that quickly and I've never had that problem with mine.
Is the lid seating properly so that it goes down snugly into the groove in the base? Make sure you haven't got any gunk in that groove (try running a cotton swab around it) so that you can be sure your lid is sealing as well as it can.
You shouldn't have to store the pad upside down. Ranger's ink FAQ says "If an ink formulation is very wet, such as Distress Inks, it is not necessary to store them face down". So it might be worth a try but don't be too disappointed if it doesn't seem to make a difference.
Sorry it took so long to get back here. Vic, I watched the Tim video. Very informative, and fun! I also looked at the blog pics. When I first re-inked, I just used a couple of drops like Tim. By the time I reached for my plastic card to spread it around, it had soaked right in. So I did it again. Same thing. The third time I reinked I used more and it looked just like in the blog pics, even having tiny drops around the edge just like on the blog. I had spread it around like she did. I thought I had over inked! This was all in one session by the way.
About a week later when I went to use it, it was dry! Theresa, it wasn't bone dry, but very close. Joanne, the lid seats just like my other pads, and I checked that nothing was in the groove.
This evening I went to buy another one so I could compare. Of course I tried it out right away! It works just like all my other pads, but I noticed that the colour of the new pad was darker than my first one. In fact, the first pad, the one that dries out too fast, looks paler, and quite mottled, and that's after a second reinking. I'm a little nervous that the second pad will act like the first, and I think that I will not waste any more reinker on the first as it just seems to evaporate. I guess I just don't know if it was user error of some kind, or a bad pad. I hadn't stored the other pads upside down, just the antique linen, and then only recently, and it didn't help anyway. I'll follow Tim's advice to store my pads right side up. This whole thing might have to remain a mystery!
Ranger's customer service people are usually very helpful. You could try contacting them ([email protected]) and see if they have any other ideas or advice to offer. If there's been a bad batch of something they often know about it because of contacts from other people.
Antique Linen distress ink
