How to Make a Stylus For Your Phone, Tablet, or Other Touchscreens

Did you lose your stylus? Or are you just looking for more accuracy when drawing on your tablet or touch screen? Before you go out and spend money on a new stylus, check out this handy guide that will teach you how to create your own DIY stylus pen for just about any type of screen, including your Android, iPhone, iPad, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo 3DS!

Easy Ways to Make a Stylus

Use an empty pen and cut a bit of a clean sponge, then put it inside the pen chamber.
Insert a cut cotton swab into an empty pen, wrap the pen in foil, then dampen the cotton swab to use it as a stylus.
Sand down a chopstick for non-capacitive screens, or use a granola bar wrapper and a pencil in a pinch.

Section 1 of 6:

Know Your Touch Screen

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Find out which type of touch screen your device uses. There are several different types of touch screens, and your homemade stylus may not work with all of them.^{[1]
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- iPhones, iPads, Androids, Kindles, and many other smartphones and tablets have a capacitive touch screen, which needs an electrical conductor (like the human body) to register where contact is made.
- Nintendo DS, the 3DS, the Nook, and some other phones and e-readers use resistive or infrared touch screens, which only require pressure to register contact. You can use just about anything as a makeshift stylus--just be careful not to scratch the screen.
Touch the screen with the tip of a pen cap. If the device responds, it has a resistive or infrared touch screen. If nothing happens, the screen is inactive.

Section 2 of 6:

Using a Pen and a Sponge

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Gather your materials. Find a clean dish sponge (not a scour pad) and a ballpoint pen with a removable tip.
- A cheap, plastic pen works best, as long as you can easily pull off the plastic tip and remove the ink.
- A slightly see-through pen can make it easier for you to see what you are doing.
You can approximate this measurement by holding the pen against the sponge and marking the measurement with a marker, or you can just eyeball it.
Anything abrasive can scratch and damage your screen. You only want the actual sponge part.
Some sponges come with soap already added, so to be safe, rinse the sponge in warm water. Squeeze out all of the water and let the sponge dry.
5
Remove the plastic tip and the interior of the pen. This includes the ballpoint tip, the ink reservoir, and the spring if it is a click pen. You should be left with the empty base of the pen.
- You should be able to pull the tip off with just your hand. If you have difficulty, try using a pair of needle-nose pliers.
Pinch the sponge to make it smaller and push it into the base of the
Use your finger to feather and break up the fibers of the sponge.
Your fingers need to be touching the base of the pen that is in contact with the sponge. If you hold the hollow part of the pen, the electromagnetic current won't pass through the sponge, and the touch screen won't register the touch of the stylus.

Section 3 of 6:

Using a Pencil and Aluminum Foil

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Gather your materials. You'll need about a foot of aluminum foil, tape of any kind, and an unsharpened pencil. You may also need a sharp knife to whittle your pencil.^{[2]
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- If you don't have a pencil, you can substitute a pen, a chopstick, a dowel--anything pen-shaped. Pencils or other wooden objects work best, however, as you may want to cut your stylus to have an angled tip.
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Use a sharp knife to whittle the tip of the pencil to a slight, flat angle.^{[3]
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- The stylus will work without this step, but you will have to hold it straight up and down. This will make it more comfortable to hold.
- Always be careful when handling a knife--remember to cut away from your body. Never pull the knife toward yourself.
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Wrap the entire pencil with at least two layers of aluminum foil. Fold the aluminum foil neatly over the tips.
- If you are using a pen, keep the cap on the pen when you wrap it.
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Smooth the aluminum foil over the angled tip of your pencil. It should be smooth and flat on the tip. You don't want any crinkles or bumps.^{[5]
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- If your tip is not flat, your stylus may not work.
This will keep the foil in place.
This will protect your screen from getting scratched by the aluminum foil.
If it isn't working, try to flatten your tip even more. Remember that you want the tip to be at least the size of an eraser or else it may not be acknowledged by your touch screen.

Section 4 of 6:

Using Foil, Cotton Swab, & Pen

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You'll need a pen, aluminum foil, a cotton swab, scissors, and some tape. Lay these items out on your workspace.^{[6]
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Unscrew the cap at the tip of your pen, then remove the ink cartridge to make space for other components of the stylus.
Use your scissors to cut the cotton swab in half. You should be left with two pieces that are roughly the same size, each with a fuzzy tip and a shorter stem.
Push the stick end of a cotton swab half into the tip of the pen cap, leaving the head of the cotton swab exposed. This will be the “point” of your stylus.
Wrap tape around the point where the cotton swab and the pen meet to secure it in place.
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Wrap the pen in aluminum foil several times. Make sure the cotton swab is in contact with the foil, or your stylus will not work.^{[7]
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- In this case, the foil acts as a conductor for that electricity to and from your finger, sending it through the head of the cotton swab. This means that if you are not touching the foil or the foil is not touching the cotton swab, your stylus will not work.
To prevent your foil from uncurling, tape the edge down.
Sometimes, your device might have some trouble recognizing your stylus. Wetting the end of the cotton swab will increase its conductivity, making your stylus more easily recognizable by your device.
When testing out your new stylus, be sure you’re holding the aluminum foil. Also, don’t be afraid to apply some pressure when you’re using it.

Section 5 of 6:

Using a Wooden Chopstick

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Gather your materials. You'll need a single chopstick, sandpaper, and something to sharpen the wood. A hand-operated pencil sharpener is the easiest way, but you could also whittle the tip with a sharp knife if you don't have a pencil sharpener.^{[8]
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- Try not to use an electric pencil sharpener--it may break.
Sharpen it less than you would a pencil--you want it to look more like a blunt pencil tip.
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Smooth the tip using sandpaper. A sharp tip may damage your touch screen (or you). Rub the tip with the sandpaper until it is blunt. It should not be painful if you press it into your skin.
- Sand any rough edges of the chopstick as well so you don't get splinters.
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Decorate your stylus with Washi tape or paint. A few layers of tape wrapped around the stylus may make it more comfortable to hold.
- Remember: this stylus will not work on an iPhone, Android, Kindle Fire, or other device with a capacitive screen.

Section 6 of 6:

Using a Granola Bar Wrapper

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Grab a granola bar wrapper and a pencil. Make sure the wrapper of your granola bar has a metallic side. If the wrapper is purely plastic or paper, it won't work for this DIY. Flatten the granola bar wrapper completely before continuing.
- Wipe off the wrapper before using it in this project.
- Feel free to trim the granola bar wrapper if there are any parts with glue or stuck-on food.
- You can use a pen or a chopstick instead of a pencil, as long as the tip isn't too sharp or jagged. If it is, the stylus might damage your screen.
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Wrap the granola bar wrapper around the pencil, foil side out. Feel free to use a little tape to keep the granola bar wrapper in place.
- Make sure the wrapper completely encloses the tip of the pencil, and that it goes far enough up the length of the pencil so you can touch it while using the stylus.
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Hold the pencil with your finger in contact with the wrapper. This is the key that makes this stylus work—the metal in the granola bar wrapper will conduct the electricity in your finger, which will then allow the stylus to work on your screen.^{[9]
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- You may have to press a bit harder to get this stylus to work, but never press so hard that you damage the device's screen.

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Can I make a stylus using cotton?

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It should be possible if you roughly follow the instructions for the sponge method. Just remember that, if you have a capacitive screen, your fingers will need to be close to the screen when you use your stylus.

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Can you use duct tape instead of aluminum foil?

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No. Duct tape is an insulator and would not let the energy from your finger transfer to the screen. The material needs to conduct energy.

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Will the chopstick work for the Nook?

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The Nook has a resistive touch screen which only needs pressure to register contact, so yes, a chopstick will work.

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The advice in this section is based on the lived experiences of wikiHow readers like you. If you have a helpful tip you’d like to share on wikiHow, please submit it in the field below.

If the screen is capacitive, wrap a Q-tip in aluminium, making sure that the foil is in contact with the cotton part and your hand at the same time. Works perfectly!
You can also use a completely dried-out marker. Just make sure the marker has no ink so it doesn't write on or stain your screen.
If you don't have a sponge, you can dampen half a cotton swab and insert it into your pen.

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Warnings

Be careful whenever using a knife. Always push the knife away from your body when carving or whittling—don't pull it towards yourself!

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