How To Make a DIY Stylus Pen From Home

Touchscreen devices such as tablets and smartphones and are very easy to come by these days. Stylus pens are created for you to draw, write, swipe, and operate your mobile device with ease. If you intend to make some detailed and creative paintings on your phone, you are definitely going to need a stylus pen.

What happens if you don’t have a stylus to write on your tablet and writing with your fingers is inconvenient?

At times, the tip of your finger isn’t precise enough to make certain linear figures on your tablet. In this digital age, there is no need to use pen and paper for drawing and making creative artworks.

With a large phone screen, carrying a pen and paper around for designing artworks becomes highly unnecessary. With a quality stylus pen, you can quickly write notes and create stunning designs in your notepad. graphics from the comfort of your home.

Since high-end stylus pens are expensive, some people shy away from purchasing stylus pens. However, you can create your own stylus pen from the comfort of your home.

Believe it or not, it is super easy to make a working stylus for your tablet or iPad using some of your household objects and materials. Although the DIY stylus will not have the extra features you will find in a top-notch stylus but they work like a regular pen and will work for everyday use.

In this guide, I will provide you with simple steps on how to make a stylus pen using your household materials.

 What are the Materials Required To Make a DIY Stylus? 

Some of the materials you will be needing to make a stylus are very common in your home. All you need is a pen (biro or ballpoint pen), cotton bud, Q-tip or cotton wool, tin or aluminum foil, scissors, wire, tape, and water.

Before we teach you how to make a homemade stylus, we like to state here that we will not be responsible for any damage that you incur on your scissors, pen, tablet, cotton wool, or yourself. Be mindful of your tablet and fingers when making the DIY homemade stylus and also ensure that you keep the stylus away from any internal plugs on your iPad or tablet.

If you intend to get an actual stylus, then be sure to check out our recommendations for the best Android stylus and the best iPad stylus.

 How To Make Your Own Stylus From Home 

The following steps are involved in making a stylus using household materials.

• Step 1: Take off the ink refill from the pen and after then, open it from the upper area and the lower part.
• Step 2: Get the wire and measure it with the body of the pen. Now, the length of the wire should be more than the body of the pen.
• Step 3: Next, take off the plastic coating from the wire using a pair of scissors. Then, pull out a string of copper wire from it.
• Step 4: Place the copper wire on both ends of the pen from the outside. After you must have done that, place the caps over the wire so it won’t get out from the body.
• Step 5: Get a small piece of cotton and roll it with the help of water. Then place the cotton at one end of the pen.
• Step 6: Cover the lower cap to make sure that some part of the cotton is left outside the hole of the cap.
• Step 7: Take off the extra cotton from the upper part.

After completing the above steps, your stylus pen is readily available for use and you should be able to make exceptional designs and paintings with it.

 How To Make a Stylus With Cotton Wool 

If you want to design your own stylus using cotton wool, be sure to follow the two steps below:

 1. Dismantle your pen and close up the casing in foil 

Begin the process by dismantling the pen. If the case of your pen is not metal, cover it in tin foil and get it secured with tape. Take a little piece of cotton and pass it through the pen nib hole. While you pass the cotton wool through the hole, push back the ink cartridge into the tip of the pen. Doing this should help secure the cotton wool.

Also, you may experiment using the amount of cotton wool at your disposal because too much of the cotton wool won’t allow you to push the nib back in, and if too little, then the pen nib will not be covered and it will break through the cotton wool.

 2. Reassemble the Pen 

Reassemble the pen by screwing the top back on and also do the same to the bottom. We recommend that you make sure the pen tip is fully secure and leave a gap at the bottom, if not, the cotton wool would cause a hindrance.

You can consider trimming the cartridge it thrusts out of the bottom and if the pen doesn’t screw back together. Shape the cotton wool nib with the help of a pair of scissors. Now, dampen the cotton wool with a little amount of water. After then, you can start using the stylus.

If the stylus stops working at any point, then it is likely that the tip is dry. So, dampen the tip in a small amount of water to revive it. Make sure that it is moist and not dripping with water. When the stylus is slightly wet, then you can use it again.

 How To Make a Stylus With Cotton Bud or Q-tip 

Here’s the procedure to make your own stylus using cotton bud:

 1. Prepare your materials 

Before starting out, ensure that you get your materials ready. Remove the ink cartridge from the pen, thereby creating a hole where the pen nib will be.

Get your cotton bud and carefully cut diagonally around 100mm from the end of one of the buds using a craft knife or a pair of scissors.

 2. Insert cotton bud tip into pen 

Now that the ink cartridge is removed from the pen, push the cotton bud into the tip of the pen – where the nib normally stays. Although this can be tricky, you should know your way to mess around with the size of the leftover stem of the bud.

 3. Reassemble the pen and wrap it in foil 

Reassemble and screw the pen back together. Wrap the pen with tin or aluminum foil to ensure that the foil is in close contact with the contact bud tip. Get a tape to secure the foil to the pen.

 4. Dampen the tip of your stylus 

To make the stylus responsive, dip it in water until it’s moist but not dripping water. The stylus tip should be damp and not soggy. In case it is dripping water, squeeze off the excess water until it is slightly wet. You wouldn’t want water to get into your tablet right?

If you completed the four easy steps above, you should be able to create your own stylus. Whenever the stylus stops working, try dampening it again and it will work.

 Why Do I Need a Stylus Pen? 

It is clear that there are people who don’t know the benefits of using a stylus. You may hear questions like “Are stylus pens really worth it?”, “How does a stylus work?” or “What does a stylus really do?”

Using a stylus can type, swipe, and draw accurately on your touchscreen device. When you want to select a specific text on your touchscreen, a stylus can help you do it more precisely. Let’s say you are having trouble highlighting a string or words or phone number hidden in plenty of text, a stylus will select it with ease.

With a stylus, you can use easily use mobile apps that let you write or draw on the screen. Technology has evolved and we don’t have to use paper and pencil to write or draw. Moreover, it doesn’t mean that those who live in highbrow areas or use styluses are the most advanced in technology. Anyone, including crafters, writers, artists, and designers can be a stylus on their phones and tablets.

Getting a stylus isn’t cheap at all. The Samsung S Pen costs around $30 while the 2nd generation Apple Pencil sells for $130. The price suggests that there is a lot of work, resources, value, and quality built into these devices. The irony is that you can’t be stranded if you are unable to purchase these stylus pens but can make your own stylus using your household materials in less than 10 minutes.

 Conclusion 

I’m sure you will be left frustrated and disappointed when you find it difficult to touch or select small buttons on your tablet or iPad. Getting a stylus will put a permanent end to your headache. Thanks to this guide, you can make a DIY stylus, which would work the same way as the styluses bought from popular manufacturers but will lack those stunning features.

Ensure that you don’t trash your pens and ballpoints because they can be recycled and converted to make a stylus pen. If you get a drawing tablet for your kids, then getting a stylus for them is a must. These homemade styluses will also prove to be cost-effective and budget-friendly options for your kids.

Now you can have a stylus for your tablet, smartphone, or any touchscreen device that isn’t super simple to use with your fingers near as fast and accurate as this little gem of a stylus. One thing I do with tablets is to use the drawing feature for coloring books, the cooling pad on the back of these nifty devices makes them feel more like quality art tools than children’s toys. This is because they are meant to be used by adults with their tablets.

Making a stylus with your own two hands is a great way to save money and customize your stylus to fit your needs. Create your own cheap and customizable stylus using a few household materials. A homemade stylus means you can fix it when it breaks and get replacement parts whenever necessary.

Here, we have provided a step-by-step guide to making your own DIY stylus. The materials used in this guide are easy to find and relatively cheap. You will likely have most of them already laying around the house.