Water Used To Clean A Fountain Pen

[Antonio_Alejandro]

I heard somewhere that only distilled water should be used to clean a fountain pen as it doesn't contain other potentially corrosive elements.

 

Can anyone provide any feedback on this?

[WendyNC]

A good bit of the choice depends on your water. Personally, I use tap water from our well for the initial cleaning, but then do several rinses with distilled water. While our well water doesn't contain any chemicals, it does have minerals and I don't want to end up with dried mineral bits in my pens as I believe they could be potential sources of clogs.

 

Personally, I wouldn't use chlorinated water in my pens, but I won't drink the stuff either, without boiling it first, so I might have a bit of an attitude.

 

The one thing I am confident about is that distilled water is never wrong to use.

[bassopotamus]

I haven't been at it long, but I use tap water (and occasionally ammonia) and it is fine. Someone pointed something out on one of these threads a while back that he had bought lots of local vintage pens in a town with hard water, was sure that most probably hadn't been flushed with distilled water, and all seemed fine.

[alvarez57]

I've been using fountain pens for about 9 yrs and wash them with tap water. Never store them with ink for more than a month. They all work fine.

[langere]

Yes, you can use regular tap water. It will be fine. Fountain pens are delicate, but not that delicate. If you have stuff so big floating in your tap water or water so acid you have to worry about it creating problems with your fountain pens, then I would bet that it's not fit for human consumption either.

 

So - that's one thing you really don't have to worry about with fountain pens -

 

Erick

[alvarez57]

Yes, you can use regular tap water. It will be fine. Fountain pens are delicate, but not that delicate. If you have stuff so big floating in your tap water or water so acid you have to worry about it creating problems with your fountain pens, then I would bet that it's not fit for human consumption either.

 

So - that's one thing you really don't have to worry about with fountain pens -

 

Erick

 

[Paddler]

Distilled water has no dissolved minerals in it, so it can better dissolve the ink deposits (if any) in your pen. I have tested this idea by pouring distilled water and hard water onto writing on paper. The distilled water washes out the ink much faster.

 

If you do flush a pen with hard water and then dry it, the mineral deposits will dissolve the first time you fill the pen with ink.

 

Paddler

[Parse Error]

If the water doesn't give you diahrrea or worse problems, it's good for your pens.

 

Unless if the water where you live is wonky -- but then if that's the case your water should taste wonky.

[WendyNC]

We have quite a lot of calcium in our water--such that any which dries on our black countertops leaves a white ring which is challenging to remove--hence my final rinse with distilled water.

[Antonio_Alejandro]

Thank you all for the replies.

 

I live in a (reasonably ) civilized city in Australia. Our water has a reputation for not being great but it is certainly drinkable.

 

I'll check out how much distilled water costs to see if it is worth getting.

[MidnightBlue]

If you are in Adelaide give the water to your dog perhaps, but clean your pens with distilled or filtered from the tap. Thanks

[FrankB]

I have been using FP's for over 50 years. I have always used tap water to clean my pens, even when I lived in Central Europe where the water can be pretty questionable at times. I have never experienced a problem that I am aware of.

[Bo Bo Olson]

In Germany, I live where the tap water is hard so it tastes good. No problems.

 

 

I don't know how the water is in the States any more. I've heard there are areas now, where the water is no longer safe to drink. If you live in those areas then move to a place where you can use tap water to clean your pens.

[ag273n]

I heard somewhere that only distilled water should be used to clean a fountain pen as it doesn't contain other potentially corrosive elements.

 

Can anyone provide any feedback on this?

 

 

not necessarily, your simple tap water from a faucet should work just fine..

[Merrib]

I use distilled water to be on the safe side. Our tap water has a high mineral content and I just don't

want to have any problems crop up. If your tap water is mineral free go ahead and use it.

[kernando]

If you're worried about tap water in a rinse, you probably shouldn't put ink in a pen.

[fabrimedeiros]

I only use tap water to rinse my pens. However, when I dilute my inks, I use distilled water.

 

If you rinse your pens and then dry them very well, when you fill your pen with ink, the amount of minerals inside the pens will be minimal to zero.

[nicholasyeo]

Tap water over here in Singapore has high levels of chlorine to keep it safe for drinking.

While that is great for all of us who like to drink from the taps, it might not be the best

for a fountain pen. However, I like to dismantle my Professional Gear and clean out the

the feed. Any mineral deposits will be easily spotted and removed!

[majorworks]

I only use tap water to rinse my pens. However, when I dilute my inks, I use distilled water.

 

+1. Now if I only knew for sure that distilled water was used to manufacture the inks...

[Randal6393]

+1 on this. Don't want chemicals polluting the ink but am willing to use (decent) tap water to clean out old ink. Although Paddler makes a point -- distilled water is "soft" water, so would probably clean out a pen better than tap water.

 

Enjoy,

 

I only use tap water to rinse my pens. However, when I dilute my inks, I use distilled water.

 

If you rinse your pens and then dry them very well, when you fill your pen with ink, the amount of minerals inside the pens will be minimal to zero.