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Markal Markers

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many industries use Markal paintsticks to label things.

What marker could write on all these surfaces: hot metal, lumber, turtle shell, and cow hide? A Markal paintstik.

Need to make your mark on hot steel, dirty wood, frozen pipes or slippery sea turtles? Markal paint markers and paint sticks can withstand any of these tough conditions and more. These industrial markers are among the most popular marker pens in the US, serving sectors such as:

steel
lumber
forestry
scientific research
agriculture
the arts

The most popular and affordable product,
the Markal B paintstik, will mark smooth,
rough, wet, dirty, oily surfaces with
exterior-grade paint in conditions as cold
as -50°F and as hot as 150°F.

The paint stick, or paint marker, was originally developed for the steel industry in 1934. Steel producers were then using buckets of paint and brushes to mark batch numbers on the steel after processing, but the hot metal would often burn the paint or melt the brushes. Enter Lake Chemical Co., a family-owned business in Elkgrove, Ill. Lake (now La-Co, owner of the Markal brand name) that discovered a way to make heat-resistant paint in a stick, thus eliminating the need for brushes.

Besides the ability to withstand heat, Markal paint markers and paint sticks offer several advantages over a can of paint and a brush, or even other industrial markers, such as chalk, crayons or felt-tip markers. For one, paintstik markers are much neater and less prone to drips and spills. Markal paintstiks can also survive in water, where chalk would wash away, and they are fade-resistant when exposed to sun and wind, unlike lumber crayons. A Markal paintstik or paint marker can handle rough surfaces by filling in the cracks, and can write through oil or dirt, where a felt-tip marker will quickly wear down.

a hot-rolled steel mill, the Steckel mill at Tuscaloosa

The steel industry is still the largest paintstik customer group, since the paintstik markers are used to write on plates in steel mills, and to show where the metal should be cut or welded in processing plants. However, many other sectors, including the timber, forestry, and oil industries - have found uses for the original Markal paintstik, now called the Markal B paintstik.

using a white markal sharpie to write on metal

Markal B paintstiks are particularly popular in the timber industry, where they are used to mark the ends of logs so they could be identified if they were to fall off a truck during transport. The B paintstiks are also used to:

show drill holes on rough concrete
punctures on rubber tires
mileage on running courses
oil pipelines in icy Alaska

They can mark any material that is non-porous, and come in a variety of colors to help with coding.

using a Markal paintstik to write on lumber

NOAA sea turtle studies at
the Flower Garden Banks
National Marine Sanctuary

The white marker is the most commonly ordered color, but a fluorescent marker can help in dim areas. And some enterprising marine biologists have used Markal paint markers to code the backs of the sea turtles they were studying, since the fade-resistant paint is safe for the turtles and can survive water and sun without disappearing.

Since 1934, Markal has developed about a dozen varieties of paint sticks for more specific purposes, plus paint markers that offer thinner or thicker lines than the standard paintstik. One line, the H paintstik, can withstand temperatures up to 1200 F, while Markal Artists Paintstiks offer a neater way to oil paint.

cow that is painted with Markal paint markers; cow painted to represent a fish swimming in the ocean

Another line of Markal paintstiks are livestock markers, used specifically to mark cows and pigs, with different colors to indicate which shots the animals have received. But that’s not all these paintstik markers can do, as some high school students have discovered. Markal has run a Halloween cow-decorating contest for the past three years and found that Markal’s livestock markers can become an artistic medium as well.

a winner of the La-Co Halloween decorating contest

La-Co, which is still owned by the same family that owned Lake Chemical, produces tens of millions of Markal paintstiks each year, and boasts more than a 50 percent market share for paint sticks. The Markal B paintstik continues to be the most popular product, delivering small but dependable growth each year, according Greg Palagi, La-Co director of marketing.

Cox Hardware and Lumber offers Markal paint markers and paint sticks to mark any material. You can find this industrial marker in a variety of widths and colors, including the super-wide Pro-Max paint marker, the fluorescent paintstik marker, and the tube paint marker.

Not sure which product is right for your job?

Check out La-Co’s application and temperature charts here:

surface application chart

temperature ranges for Markal paintstiks

Here is a complete list of Markal products

an asterisk shows Markal markers carried by Cox Hardware and Lumber

Liquid Paint (Paint Markers)

Valve Action Paint Marker

Pro-Line

Pro-Max

Ball Paint Marker

Dura-Ball*

Solid Paint (Paintstiks or Paint Sticks)
in order of ability to resist heat

B Paintstik*

B-E Paintstik, B-L Paintstik, BL-W Paintstik

C Paintstik

E Paintstik

F Paintstik*

Fast Dry Paintstik

M Paintstik

M-10 Paintstik

N Paintstik

O-10 Paintstik

P Paintstik

WS-3/8 Paintstik

Quik-Stik Paintstik

H-Paintstik

HT Paintstik, HT-34 Paintstik, HT-40 Paintstik, HT-75 Paintstik

J-Paintstik

K Painstik

PK Paintstik

X-5 Paintstik

Felt Tip Markers

Dura-Ink #15, #20, #25, #50, #80, #100

Plastic Tag Marker

Lumber Marking (Lumber Crayons)

Pro-Ex Crayon

Lumber Crayon #200, #500*

Ultrascan

Optimark

Scan-It, Scan-It Plus

Specialty

Trades Marker

China Marker

Carpenter’s Pencil

Silver-Streak

Red-Riter

Soapstone

Tyre Marque

Zephyr Paintstik

Railroad chalk

MSDS Sheets for Markal Products

By Alix Stuart
Active Lightning Specialist