Your Opinion Using Dish Soap To Clean A Fp

[czar]

Dear all,

I have recently looked on Internet and here at FPN too, some indication about using a drop of Dish Soap mixed with water to clean a Fountain Pen.

I have never used dish soap (simply for ignorance) but before starting using it, I would like to have your expert opinion.

 

Thanks in advance for your help

 

Yours

Cesare

[orangos]

They'll be better than no soap, I guess, but most dish soaps contain a little salt. For printmaking I keep some citrus-based degreasers that have no mineral additives -- the cleaner of choice if used and then rinsed with distilled water -- no residue at all. I have seen similar at some health food stores.

 

Edited to add: I make no claims about pH values of citrus degreasers or their effects on vintage pen materials, or on steel nibs. Some of our more chemically-aware members might have more information about that.

Edited August 5, 2010 by orangos

[bbbiswas]

Dear all,

I have recently looked on Internet and here at FPN too, some indication about using a drop of Dish Soap mixed with water to clean a Fountain Pen.

I have never used dish soap (simply for ignorance) but before starting using it, I would like to have your expert opinion.

 

Thanks in advance for your help

 

Yours

Cesare

Better to use a solution made of detergent powder (Tide or Ariel or Henko)in water. Fill and eject the soluition several times like as you fill ink from bottle. It will clean grease/oil from the section and converter and ink flow during writing will be proper. I have tried it and each time it has worked. Don't use any citrous or acidic solution. bbbiswas 05 Aug 2010

[vyyye]

Better to use a solution made of detergent powder (Tide or Ariel or Henko)in water. Fill and eject the soluition several times like as you fill ink from bottle. It will clean grease/oil from the section and converter and ink flow during writing will be proper. I have tried it and each time it has worked. Don't use any citrous or acidic solution. bbbiswas 05 Aug 2010

I know this is an old topic but I just found it via googling and followed this advice. I think I just killed my Lamy 2000 with it, going to have to send it in for repairs. I was cleaning it as one ink had been making it quite dry but now it's nigh unusable.

[OcalaFlGuy]

The best cleaner where such items can be used is small amounts Dawn dish detergent and water.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

[alc3261]

I know this is an old topic but I just found it via googling and followed this advice. I think I just killed my Lamy 2000 with it, going to have to send it in for repairs. I was cleaning it as one ink had been making it quite dry but now it's nigh unusable.

You may have removed all the silicone grease from the piston.

See Brian Goulet's video on removing a Lamy 2K nib and greasing the piston from the nib end - Feb 2014.

[ajlmarques]

You may have removed all the silicone grease from the piston.

See Brian Goulet's video on removing a Lamy 2K nib and greasing the piston from the nib end - Feb 2014.

 

+1

[Hooker56]

I know this is an old topic but I just found it via googling and followed this advice. I think I just killed my Lamy 2000 with it, going to have to send it in for repairs. I was cleaning it as one ink had been making it quite dry but now it's nigh unusable.

Please elaborate on the problem. Is it not writing? Too Wet? Too dry? Is the converter not working? More info will help with diagnosis and treatment.

[vyyye]

You may have removed all the silicone grease from the piston.

See Brian Goulet's video on removing a Lamy 2K nib and greasing the piston from the nib end - Feb 2014.

Would this affect how the pen writes?

 

Please elaborate on the problem. Is it not writing? Too Wet? Too dry? Is the converter not working? More info will help with diagnosis and treatment.

Converter works fine. The pen wrote very, very dry yesterday. Funnily enough I inked it up this morning in a "one more time before I send it away" fashion and it now seems like there is a sweet spot again. Also get a lot more ink if I apply zero pressure (as in the only pressure is applied from the pen's gravitational force), whereas yesterday I got a very, very thin line no matter how many times I flushed it. Opacity is inconsistent though, the first few letters look right but then they fade quite a bit. I don't know, will play around more.

 

Edit: Writing a bit and the ink flow is just very inconsistent and pen is quite scratchy, which I know it wasn't before. I also just switched to my mechanical pencil and it felt fantastic how smooth it was... Used to be the opposite.

 

http://i61.tinypic.com/30mnw4h.jpg

Edited March 25, 2014 by vyyye

[Hooker56]

Vyyye,

 

Sounds like your nib is out of alignment.

 

http://kcavers.blogspot.com/2012/09/basic-fountain-pen-nib-adjustment-101.html

 

http://www.nibs.com/Article6.html

 

http://www.penmuseum.co.uk/master%202.htm

 

Take a look at the above sites and see if you can't fix it yourself. I haven't priced Lamy's lately, but I think it would cost you much more to send the pen off than replacing the pen. If you're the least but willing and handy, you should be able to get the scratchiness out which may also go a long way to fixing your flow challenges.

 

Hope this helps-

 

Clayton

[alc3261]

Please elaborate on the problem. Is it not writing? Too Wet? Too dry? Is the converter not working? More info will help with diagnosis and treatment.

Lamy 2Ks don't have a converter.

[Dr.Grace]

Maybe there's some kind of residue slightly clogging the feed. I'd try a real pen flush solution, like 10% ammonia or 50% Rapido-Eze.

[welch]

If the nib is out of alignment, that's about a $25 simple tuning. Don't try it yourself unless you have tuned a fair number of pens successfully. Even if you are careful, don't learn nib tuning on a Lamy 2000.

 

LamyUSA is very good -- very kind -- about repairing a Lamy. I had one with uneven flow. They replaced the section. Free.

Edited March 26, 2014 by welch

[Hooker56]

Lamy 2Ks don't have a converter.

After some basic research, I see the error of my post. Lamy 2k is much more expensive than I realized. And I agree, this is probably a complicated enough nib that you stand a chance of making it worse without prior experience. (Stepping back- duly chastised).

Edited March 25, 2014 by Hooker56

[jar]

One point I need to emphasize. Don't use soap. Use detergent. They really are not the same thing.

[Guest Ray Cornett]

I have a small glass that holds about 4 ounces of water in it. I use warm water and 1-2 drops of Dawn liquid dish soap stirred in a little. I draw water into the pen and empty it into the sink until all the water is gone then I repeat with cool plain water to flush out any soap inside. Seems to work just fine for me.

[vyyye]

Hey, first off thanks for the help and pointers. Been using the pen for a bit more. Actually took it to a pen store (official lamy distributor here) to ask them and then the pen worked fine. As smooth as I remembered, and it stayed that way for a bit but now it's been going through the same few phases.

1: Remains unused for a while

2: Use it, works fine for a few sentences.

3: It fades, becomes scratchier

4: Remains very scratchy/low flowing until I leave it for few hours again.

 

I'll see if the store here have some pen flush (I assume they do) and try that, and I'll ask how repairs are handled and what fees I'll have to pay. Potentially a very expensive pen but what can you do.

[rube1]

One point I need to emphasize. Don't use soap. Use detergent. They really are not the same thing.

Hi Jar

Are you referring to laundry detergent? How does this effect the pen differently than dish soap?

[jar]

Hi Jar

Are you referring to laundry detergent? How does this effect the pen differently than dish soap?

No, I am referring to dish detergent, something like Dawn. Soap and Detergent are two entirely different things.