Chalkola 6 White Chalk Markers for Blackboard, Window - (3x 1mm & 6mm)

Most chalkboard lettering needs two pens: something fat for the words people should see first, and something thin for everything else. This Chalkola pack is built around that. Six white liquid chalk markers, with the title reading "3x 1mm & 6mm", which works out to three extra-fine and three bold. It costs about $15 and has 4.5 stars from 173 reviews, the smallest review count of Chalkola's white sets.

How the two sizes split the work

The 6mm tip does headlines, big numbers and anything you'd fill in solid. On a café menu that's "Today's specials" and the prices. On a window it's the sale banner.

The 1mm tip does the rest. Item descriptions, dates, small decorative lines, the drop shadows people add to make block letters look hand-painted.

There's no middle size, and that's the trade-off. Regular handwriting at 1mm can look spidery from a distance, and 6mm is clumsy for a full sentence. If you mostly write normal-sized text, a 3mm tip suits you better, and the 1mm, 3mm and 6mm set adds one for the same price.

Check your surface first

Chalkola says the ink erases, wet or dry, from non-porous surfaces like glass and mirrors, and turns permanent on porous ones like wood. Chalkboards can go either way. Porcelain and sealed boards wipe clean, but many painted boards soak liquid chalk in and keep a ghost of it, sometimes for good.

So test a corner. Write, wait until it's dry, wipe it off, and look closely under good light.

The Chalky Crown fridge board is made for liquid chalk and comes with markers of its own. The Loddie Doddie wall board is a good-looking framed chalkboard, but its listing doesn't mention liquid chalk, so it gets the corner test too. For more options, see our guide to chalkboards.

Who it suits

Restaurants and shops doing menus or window signs, mostly. Chalkola also pitches it at teachers, students and offices, and lists wedding signs, milestone boards, LED boards, contact paper, mirrors and car windows as uses.