Almost every day here there's at least one person asking where they can find new ribbon.
There is a seemingly a lot of talk here and on the web about re-inking typewriter ribbon, but the majority of it stems from the fact that people don't see new ribbon in the wild and assume that it isn't made anymore and thus the only way to type is to re-ink it. While it can be done it's a lot of work and effort with modest results and tends to be far more expensive and messy than it's worth in the end. Beyond this, it takes some research to find appropriate types of ink. You can also find advice about re-wetting old ribbon with WD-40 to "rejuvenate" it, but that process is also a lot of work and mess with poor results. Unless you really have to, I don't recommend reinking or rejuvenating.
Fortunately new typewriter ribbon is easily obtainable and is very inexpensive and easy enough to spool onto your already existing spools after you've removed the old ribbon. Even Tom Hanks has a video about putting ribbon on your typewriter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBbsNKaVAB0 Scores of similar videos exist covering various makes and models of typewriter, but the process doesn't have a lot of variability.
Both Baco Ribbon and Fine Line offer black/red bichrome ribbon in most of these materials for a very reasonable price per yard, in the range of:
- nylon ribbon $0.10 - $0.15/yard
- silk ribobn $0.33 to $0.40/yard
- cotton ribbon $0.25/yard
Most machines with 2 inch diameter spools will take from 18-22 yards of ribbon while ultra-portables with smaller spools will do 12-16 yards.
If you're going to buy even 3-6 spools of ribbon at individual prices of $9-20 per spool, you may as well make the investment in a half or full reel of inked typewriter ribbon and save yourself some expense.
Other purveyors exist including those listed at: https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/tw-faq.html#q1
If you really must, search Amazon or Etsy for smaller shops with larger mark ups on typewriter ribbon.
reply to u/Admirable_Duckwalk https://old.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1mj5qdg/ink/