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I have just received a beautiful restored Parker Vacumatic in the mail from Ebay. Got it for $83. It has a nasty strong perfume odor on the body and cap. I tried cleaning it with windex, light laundry soap and soft sponge, and alcohol wipes. Also tried "Pet Odor Remover" which normally takes any organic smell away. And, it still reeks so bad that my hand smells from holding it. Questions: 1. Can the smell be removed? . . . How? 2. Is the smell absorbed into the plastic? 3. Should I just try to return it? Thanks for your help. jim

Hi pen friends, I have searched online to get an answer for this but I haven't had any luck finding it... The ebonite on my Ryan Krusac's L-14 fountain pen (I want to make a note that there is no problem with the pen that Ryan makes, just wanted to specify the pen I am having the problem with) started smelling like a dirty towel. I have soaked the section in soap water for a day, dried it well and the smell was gone for a couple of days, but the smell is now back. I am using tissue papers only to wipe the section. I wash my hands before using the pen, so I don't think the smell is comming from my hands either... Do you have any suggestions? This pen is so awesome that I want to use all the time, but I don't want to offend others by the smell... Thank you!

I have a bottle of Noodler's black that I sometimes dump other inks(mostly other black inks) into from converters and such when I change inks. Inks like Parker Quink, Noodler's red black, Pelican black, etc. This black ink has developed a strange but pleasant floral smell. I'll call this black, floral black. I've used this ink for a few years like this with no problems. No mold, sludge, discoloration or anything besides the floral smell. It's a very well behaved ink. Recently I've been dumping off blue-red inks into a small amount of distilled water from ink changes. The inks have been Noodler's Navajo Turquoise and Plains of Abraham, Namiki Blue, Sheaffer turquoise and red, generic magenta printer ink, and PR plum. At first, it also developed the same floral smell as floral black but lately it had also developed a strong corn smell. Like the smell you get from opening a fresh can of corn along with the original floral smell. The smell is far too pungent though, unlike floral black. This I'll call corny blue also no problems with mold, sludge, sediment etc. I haven't inked a pen with it and I don't know if I should. Neither corny blue or floral black have have any trace of "mold-like" smells. Just incase it was mold I added a small amount of benzalkonium chloride to each but it smells the same. I'm thinking it might be a chemical reaction instead of something biological. Does anyone know why these might be like this? Should I just throw away corny blue?

I bought an Aurora pen used from an ebay seller. There is a very strong floral, perfume smell from the section. I can only assume a previous owner had perfumed hands. The odor is quite localized. Does anyone know a non-destruction technique for getting such smells out of plastic? David

Hi everyone, I'm new hereabouts and if these have been beaten to the death in the past here, apologies in advance for bringing them up again 1. I find elaborate packaging for pens almost wasteful. My 149, FC Model 29 and Bexley Owners Club have come in boxes that I've not seen again after getting out the pen (and in case of the 149 the ink bottle as well). Is it just me who wishes that the manufacturers stick to the minimalistic and pass us customers a price reduction instead? In the long run, it might for an FP aficionado mean a pen more rather than have a bunch of fancy-looking if thoroughly useless boxes sitting around. And unlike jewelry, most people store their FPs not in their original boxes but in pen cases/pouches/boses anyway. 2. I have two celluloid pens, the Jinhao Century and Wancher Celluloid Classical Edition. Both have an unpleasant odor, definitely NOT camphor (which to me smells pleasant enough) that I've heard of in the past. More worryingly, I've not failed to notice that on the days I use these pens, I sense a mild irritation of my cornea and nostrils. Do the pens emit some mild fumes, I wonder? Does anyone have a solution for ridding the odor with a permanence? And would doing so make the irritation go away? I'd greatly appreciate your time if you chose to comment and help me, thanks