Best Ink To Use In Between High Maintenance Inks (Something Lubricating?)

[amberleadavis]

In between using high maintenance, finicky inks, I like to fill my pen with an ink that is going to hopefully clean the pen and maybe add an ink with lubricating properties. In the olden days after using an ink like BSB, I would completely flush the pen and then fill it with vintage Skrip Red. I've heard that the vintage Skrip inks were high in detergents which may account for why it seemed to do such a nice job cleaning the pen. Alas, those pens have been lost to the joys of having office staff and teenagers. (Yes, I give them fountain pens). I don't know if the Skrip red had any lubricating properties (I doubt it).

 

So, here I am, staring at a Vac 700 that has had various purple inks since it was released (that's about 18 months?). I've flushed it between uses, and then filled it again with another dark obnoxious purple. The last purple, Nostaligic Impressions (I did review it), was troublesome, but I can't blame the staining on just the NI ink because this pen has been sitting with purple ink in it for a long time, and some of those parts just stay purple. I've already flushed it, used JBB pen flush, flushed more, and flushed with a weak ammonia solution. The pen runs clear.

 

Anyway, I don't really want to take it apart at this time, and I don't care about the purple stains (eventually they will fade, or I maybe someday I'll care), but for now, I'd like to put in an ink that it would "whistle while it works" - as in it would clean and lube the pen.

 

Any suggestions?

 

 

[amberleadavis]

PS - I was going to start with Polar Blue but I could be persuaded to try something else.

[theadityajain]

I own just one demonstrator, TWSBI 580. And I like maintenance (prevention's better), so never got huge .staining issues. I had little stains with Diamine Pumpkin & Penman Sapphire in the barrel, I flushed it with weak ammonia solution and then scrubbed the inside of the barrel with a q-tip dipped in not-so-weak ammonia solution & with a detergent liquid too (which was advertised as good stain remover containing bleach & dissolved oxygen) and all stains gone. I never had any staining experience other than this. (talking about pens, not fingers & desk & clothes)

 

You can try Blue Eel, its good at lubrication or may be tanzanite.

 

Most of the Indian made inks are marketed to have some sort of cleaning material in them like Sol100 or Sol20 or SolX just the way parker quink was. But in my experience those seem merely adverts.

[N2theBreach]

Amber-- I started to make a suggestion but then I reminded myself there are people on this forum that have forgotten more about pens than I'll ever know.

 

I'll just wish you luck.

[barleycorn]

pilot iroshizuku fuyu-syogun is an ink I use with new pens to get rid of years of unknown inks. It is a medium grey ink that does not leave much of an impression afterwards and seems to have some lubricating qualities as well. It is a bit thin to use on wetter pens but for the purposes of cleaning in between more colourful inks such as R&K Solferino it does the trick.

[SeeksAdvice]

In between using high maintenance, finicky inks, I like to fill my pen with an ink that is going to hopefully clean the pen and maybe add an ink with lubricating properties. In the olden days after using an ink like BSB, I would completely flush the pen and then fill it with vintage Skrip Red. I've heard that the vintage Skrip inks were high in detergents which may account for why it seemed to do such a nice job cleaning the pen. Alas, those pens have been lost to the joys of having office staff and teenagers. (Yes, I give them fountain pens). I don't know if the Skrip red had any lubricating properties (I doubt it).

 

So, here I am, staring at a Vac 700 that has had various purple inks since it was released (that's about 18 months?). I've flushed it between uses, and then filled it again with another dark obnoxious purple. The last purple, Nostaligic Impressions (I did review it), was troublesome, but I can't blame the staining on just the NI ink because this pen has been sitting with purple ink in it for a long time, and some of those parts just stay purple. I've already flushed it, used JBB pen flush, flushed more, and flushed with a weak ammonia solution. The pen runs clear.

 

Anyway, I don't really want to take it apart at this time, and I don't care about the purple stains (eventually they will fade, or I maybe someday I'll care), but for now, I'd like to put in an ink that it would "whistle while it works" - as in it would clean and lube the pen.

 

Any suggestions?

 

 

Teenagers ... an excellent reason for not having kids

 

Please note: I have tried Polar Blue in at least one clear-barrelled pen, J. Herbin RB. The result was a pink pen body. Fairly strong red/purple component to that ink. Just be warned that it may actually contribute to the staining.

[WOBentley]

I have not used it for this purpose...but if lubrication is what you seek try one of the Noodler's eel inks...I am a huge fan of the blue...but they are all nicely lubricated.

Edited August 29, 2013 by WOBentley

[DanielCoffey]

...I flushed it with weak ammonia solution and then scrubbed the inside of the barrel with a q-tip dipped in not-so-weak ammonia solution & with a detergent liquid too (which was advertised as good stain remover containing bleach & dissolved oxygen) and all stains gone.

 

Remember that you should never mix Ammonia and bleaches - you will release Chlorine gas. Rinse very well between products such as these.

[Sandy1]

Hi,

 

Even though I'm quite confident my pen cleaning regimen is effective, for some older pens with fancy plumbing that were found in the wild, I'll charge them with ye olde Parker Quink with SOLV-X right after clean-up, without letting the pen dry-out.

 

I'm not so sure that technique would be effective on dealing with stubborn residue from some of the inks that were recently released, such as the wonderful but persistent Noodler's Benevolent Badger Blue.

 

To expand on the reply of Member theadityajain, Chelpark inks include 'Cleen-X', which "Dissolves, flushes away sediments" and "Cleans your pen as it writes".

 

Bye,

S1

Edited August 29, 2013 by Sandy1

[amberleadavis]

Thank you for the advice! (Good reminder on not gassing myself with chemicals, it's such an embarrassing way to go).

[Sasha Royale]

I use Noodler's Eel Blue in all my piston-fill pens, as well as others. I am entirely satisfied.

Vintage fountain pens (1980) and earlier get Pelikan 4001 or Quink.

[amberleadavis]

I started with the stuff I had on hand.... my Pelikan 4001 is currently in the window as part of an experiment so I can't use that bottle. I'll be ordering some of the inks with Solve-X, and I'll definitely be cleaning up with some of the eel or polar inks.

 

In the meanwhile, I thought I'd give this a try. Sorry I didn't take pictures when it was still super stained.

 

According to Bhavana, This is what Diamine Crimson is supposed to look like:

 

 

Here's what the first of my review pages looked like:

 

http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/Ink-Between/slides/2013-Ink_501.jpg

[amberleadavis]

So, I realized that despite my cleaning and flushing - some of that purple ink was still hanging out. See the next pages:

 

http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/Ink-Between/slides/2013-Ink_502.jpg

 

http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/Ink-Between/slides/2013-Ink_503.jpg

http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/Ink-Between/slides/2013-Ink_504.jpg

[amberleadavis]

Here was the pen after the Crimson and before the R&K Morinda. You can still see the staining and look at the purple residue on the plunger.

 

http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/TWSBIs/slides/2013-Pen_512.jpg

 

http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/Ink-Between/slides/2013-Pen_501.jpg

 

 

 

Now, I do realize that the red wasn't gone before I added Morinda.

 

http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/Ink-Between/slides/2013-Pen_503.jpg

[amberleadavis]

Morinda was in the pen for the next three pages.

 

http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/Ink-Between/slides/2013-Ink_505.jpg

 

http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/Ink-Between/slides/2013-Ink_506.jpg

 

http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/Ink-Between/slides/2013-Ink_507.jpg

[amberleadavis]

Here's what Morinda looks like according to CarpeDavid.

 

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NgmwcjMmbLw/TdCKe3xmlWI/AAAAAAAAAR4/-K5dAr8Ur4w/s1600/r+and+k+morinda.jpg

[amberleadavis]

So, based on the Morinda experiment, I think the pen is getting better. So, here's the next pen cleaning.

 

http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/Ink-Between/slides/2013-Pen_505.jpg

[amberleadavis]

Here's what J. Herbin Rouille D'Ancre looks like according to Margana.

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3332/3427876506_d4c3eaf202_b.jpg

[amberleadavis]

My samples here are a little darker, but not much. I haven't used all the ink out yet.

 

http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/Ink-Between/slides/2013-Ink_508.jpg

 

http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/Ink-Between/slides/2013-Ink_509.jpg

[amberleadavis]

The last batch before giving up on this round of cleaning using the red inks in my collection.

 

http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/Inklings/slides/2013-Ink_510.jpg