How Should Ink Pads Be Stored?

I recently received a question asking if dye ink pads should be stored upside down.  I have seen this question (and lots of opinions about it!) online and have often wondered what the answer is myself.

I sent an email to Tsukineko (Memento ink pads) asking this question and received no response.

I found this HERE on the Ranger site:   “How should I store my Distress Ink Pads?    The molded plastic case is designed to create the proper fit needed for the ink formulation. While storing the pads flat with the bottom side up will neither help nor hurt, we usually store pads on their sides or flat with the right side up.”

And HERE is an interesting video (at 4:21 mark) where Tim Holtz talks about how ink behaves in their pads and how they don’t need to be stored upside down.  (Thanks for pointing this out, Joyce!).  He talks about it again HERE (at 8:30 mark).

I also contacted customer service at Gina K Designs, and this is the response I received:  “It actually does not matter, it will not affect the quality of the ink at all. We store them with the colored label up here at our brick and mortar store. :)”

I am not an expert, but according to the sources I checked, it doesn’t really matter.  It seems to me (and this is just my opinion) that if the ink pads were supposed to be stored with the pads facing down, the manufacturers would put the ink pad on the lid. Since the pad is on the bottom and the label is on the top, it seems (to me) like that is the way they are to be stored (or at least that it is fine to store them this way).

Personally, I store my ink pads on their sides or with the lids facing up (because that is how my storage racks or containers hold them), and I have never had a problem.

When I am actually stamping, I usually place my stamp on the table facing up and tap the ink pad down on the stamp, and then I place the ink pad face down on its lid on my desk.  (I like to keep the lid on the pad when I am done inking the stamp, and this is just a more natural technique for me than flipping the pad over and picking up the lid.)  The ink pads are just as “inky” when stamping from this upside down position as when I first start using it from the upright position as it was stored.

Thanks for checking out my post!