An ink nib is located on top of the pump dispenser so that when the pump is pushed down to dispense the soap the hand is marked with an orange dot. A soft guard ring surrounds the ink nib to prevent accidental marking.

The SquidSoap ink is completely safe. It is an FD&C approved ink (Food, Drug and Cosmetics) which has been sold for many years in children’s products. The ink is even edible.

SquidSoap has a protective foam ring around the ink marker. This ring helps prevent accidental marking. However, under pressure the ring gives way and an accidental mark is possible. Luckily, the SquidSoap ink is a washable ink that comes out of most fabrics and surfaces with soap and water.

A delay in getting the ink mark to wash off is almost always caused by waiting to wash off the mark after pressing the pump. Just use the soap dispenser normally and the ink should wash off in 15-20 seconds. Using a washcloth will take the ink mark off very quickly even if it's been on for a while.

You can refill the dispenser but eventually the ink marker will become less effective as the ink is used up.  The marker is designed to last through the entire bottle of soap but it will eventually run out of ink.  If it goes dry before the soap is all gone you can often get it to continue marking by simply adding a drop of water to the marker.