Sharpie permanent marker

15 years ago

Went down to Michael's to buy another Deco-Art paint pen and they have stopped selling that brand. They have replaced it with Sharpie brand oil-based markers. I didn't get any of those, but up near the Cash Register, I found Sharpie Permanent markers in the two colors I wanted. I wonder since it is a permanent ink marker if it will hold up inside the jugs and out in the elements? Has anybody had experience using these with their wintersowing? Walmart is 15 miles away and where A.C.Moore is located, most of that city does not have power restored. They were all night without it night before last and it came back on yesterday morning and some late afternoon, now they've lost it again and it might be as late as 11 pm or tomorrow morning before they can get it restored. This was a wet and heavy snow and many trees and branches are falling on the power lines and cars.

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kqcrna

15 years ago

My Michael's also replaced Deco brand with Sharpie brand, and I bought one. On it, it says "Sharpie oil based paint marker". I think they should hold up OK.

Thing is, the skinniest one they had is fine point, and the writing is pretty fat. I liked the Deco extra fine a lot better. I've used them for years.

This one says it's made in Vietnam, a higher profit margin for Michael's, no doubt. You just can't find American made products any more.

Karen

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Comments (10)

trudi_d
15 years ago
Regular sharpies are usually okay but sometimes they do fade, industrial sharipies are much better. You can get them at Home Depot or a similar store.
morz8 - Washington Coast
15 years ago
pippi, I wish you'd tried the sharpie paint pen replacement with the oil based paint, sounds like a good substitute - if the price was OK, you don't say how they compared in price to the Deco. The Sharpie permanent markers aren't permanent out in the elements, they will fade after a few months and should get you through winter sowing into Spring planting but aren't satisfactory in most climates for really 'permanent' plant tags.

It seems to me the Sharpie permanent pen was holding up better on labels/stakes in shaded pots than those in sun.
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pippi21
Original Author
15 years ago
I still have my Deco-art ones from last year but I just wanted another color that might show up better on the Mini-blind markers inside. The color that seemed to show up was Royal Blue..and I already have that. I'll try it and see what happens. I'm numbering my milk jugs this year and recording on my own handwritten spreadsheet, so if they don't hold up, I'll know not to buy it again. They were only $1.59each..where the Sharpie oil-based was $4.99, more than the Deco-art had been in 2010.
girlgroupgirl
15 years ago
Industrial Sharpies? I never knew! Thanks Trudi!
morz8 - Washington Coast
15 years ago
Karen, the tip is my complaint with most Sharpie markers, haven't seen the paint pens yet. With the markers, the 'Fine' tip is too fat for neat labels anywhere including the margins of freezer bags or canning jar lids...it takes the one they call 'Ultra Fine' for me to get anything legible printed. You'd think Ultra would be hair-like, it's not.
gardenweed_z6a
15 years ago
I was down to my last Deco paint pen so a couple of weeks ago I stopped in Michael's and they had quite a large selection of both water- and oil-based Sharpie paint pens. They had three tip sizes: fine, extra-fine and medium. The medium looked too fat for my purposes but I bought a handful of the fine that I hope will turn out to be good substitues for the Deco paint pens that are no longer available. I grabbed all black and one magenta color so I'll find out how they hold up beside Deco once this year's WS season rolls around.

The display clearly showed they're made for outdoor projects/uses of all sorts. I'm holding them to it!
Nancy Olsen-Harbich
15 years ago
I've used sharpie paint pens and find the black ones do hold up... the other colors..not so much.

Sharpie Permenant Markers never held up for me. Oil based paint pens in BLACK are the way to go IMHO. Doubt there is much difference in the brand as long as it is true oil based paint.
linda_jo
15 years ago
I bought the Sharpie Paint pen in fine and my plant markers look okay. It should hold up since it is oil. The Deco are sold here in the local artist supply store where my daughter gets her oil paints. Maybe check there in your town. I think I'll pick one up to be sure. It was cheaper too. I paid the $4.99 for sharpie. Last year
I set up my spreadsheet with numbers and numbered my containers. Then I got the bright idea to alpha the list with the abc at the top of the page. Of course then my numbers were all wrong! Good thing I labeled them as well!
kimka
15 years ago
I've had very good luck with the Sharpie permanent markers in black fine point on white plastic plant stakes (which I get in 500 stake batches every other year or so on Ebay when I see a good price). The red, which is the only other color I've used and black or red in the ultrafine point fade a lot more. The only problem is (as someone else wrote) is that you have to have neat writing and not press down to use the fat "fine" point and be legible.