I’ve got a cup of pens. Most are felt tip, some are ball point - I have no fountain pens. The caps and clips seem to indicate they should reside in a pocket writing end up, but for long term storage (in, say, a cup) should pens be stored writing end up or down?
(I didn’t know if these was IMHO material - opinion - or if there is one correct, factual answer as determined by the world’s pen experts.)
I don’t think it makes much difference really. But for the same reason some pens with roller balls won’t write upside down for long, I’d favor storing tip down so air won’t enter the tip area and cause additional drying. Old pens often won’t write or will skip when the ink gets too thick. Storage angles don’t change that fact.
With felt tips, the major issue is just the volatile components escaping over time. Multiple packaging to restrict air is the most favorable. On occasion, I have revived these by injecting alcohol or naptha depending on the vehicle used.
Point down if you want it ready to write, and up if you are storing it a long time and especially if temperature and barometric pressure may be cycling. At least, this seems to work best for me.
I have had some gel pens leak a great deal of their contents out when I stored them in my cup with the writing side pointing down, so I make a point of storing them tip up now.