Ink pad
Ink pads come in different sizes, shapes, and materials.
Size
Standard size
Standard-size ink pads are usually the size of a bank card, whether it is round, oval, square, or rectangular.
Mini
If you want to save some budget, try out colors, or only need a specific color for one project, you can buy mini ink pads. The most common shape is a 1-inch cube, but other shapes, such as a raindrop shape, are possible as well.
Materials
Felt or linen
Felt or linen ink pads are usually used for dye inks or other more liquid inks. The pad is very firm and does not have a lot of give when you ink your stamp.
Foam
Foam pads have a similar structure to a dish sponge and are most often used for viscous ink, such as pigment ink or embossing ink. Dye inks can be used in foam pads too, but this type of foam will be a bit denser. Since the pad is quite soft, it's easy to add too much ink to your stamp. So always start by tapping lightly and continuing until your stamp has enough ink.
Reinking your pads
Most stamping ink you buy comes with the option of buying a reinker; a small bottle that contains the pure ink so you can add more ink to an ink pad that's running low on ink. These reinkers are available for most types of ink.
Empty ink pads
It's possible to buy empty ink pads, which you can then refill with any reinker you have, while even mixing two colors together to make your own. Keep in mind that filling an empty ink pad requires a lot more ink than simply adding some ink to a used ink pad.
