Inky T O D - Cleaning Between Inking - What's Your Process?

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

When switching inks, I tend to take the converter out, run water through the grip section with a bulb, then put the grip section, body, and piston of the converter in the ultrasonic cleaner. I also clean the cap carefully. I cycle the ultrasonic cleaner for a few hours and change the water, then I soak the pen overnight and put it in the ultrasonic cleaner again to get the last bits of ink out. For a pen with a built-in filling mechanism, I just fill the pen with water and let it sit, then I fill and empty it a few times then let it sit again. I often dip the front part of the pen in the ultrasonic cleaner for a few seconds also to get the ink out of the crevices and parts I can't disassemble. Nowadays, I try not to take anything apart since it is easy to wear parts out or damage them pulling them all the time, and taking apart the pen isn't as thorough as letting the ultrasonic cleaner or soaking clean the ink out of the crevices of the pen. Oftentimes, I've found that people who take their pens apart to clean them often end up with some ink still in the feed, in crevices that cannot be easily reached. Some of my pens are clear, and it is also easy to see the efficacy of soaking or the ultrasonic cleaner in cleaning ink out of areas that cannot be reached or do not or have not been taken apart for cleaning.

 

Dillon

[Lamyrada]

I tend to clean with tap water between inkings even if with the same ink; not always but often. I think it works well because I have seen areas where particles or undiluted material tends to stick on the walls of transparent pens. This happens if pen remains unused for some time.... I usually use a Q-tip to remove those nasty material on to the walls.

[Abner C. Kemp]

I usually just flush with tap water. If I'm cleaning out a particularly difficult or finicky ink I'll use some pen flush, I've owned JB's Perfect Pen Flush, Goulet Pen Flush, and J. Herbin Pen Flush -- all work well. Then after using the pen flush, back to the tap water to finish the job. I've heard it's best to use distilled water to flush fountain pens but I've never run into any problems with my tap water -- guess it depends mainly on how clean your water is.

[amberleadavis]

I am surprised to report that my methods have changed yet again. Sigh I remember the days when i didn't really clean, I just reinked, now that's a nono.

[evyxmsj]

Where does one actually get ammonia? (UK). I can't seem to find it...

[Noihvo]

Where does one actually get ammonia? (UK). I can't seem to find it...

 

And where does one get distilled water? I guess it is at the same place. They are not exactly household chemicals that you get are your local grocery store…

[lapis]

For distilled water try out your friendly neighbourhood gas station. I think they always have it (e.g. for car batteries). Otherwise I've always seen it in construction markets (like OBI, Bauhaus here in Germany)....

 

Mike

[lapis]

I clean between inkings the usual way -- plain old tap water, often left overnight in the pen until it washes out completely colourless; w/a with a load or two of dishwater detergent in between rinses -- but the whole topic made me think that I sooner or later wouldn't mind trying out this stuff......................

 

Mike

[haruka337]

Between ink fills, I flush my pens with lightly soaped water until the water expelled is clear. After, I rinse a few times with regular water. Then, I dry off the pen and it's parts, leaving cap, body and grip unattached (if body and grip comes apart) to fully dry. It's a similar process. I do this every two to four weeks.

I don't recommend a full dissemble of a pen every time one cleans, that is inviting disaster (losing or breaking pen parts is no fun). A full dissemble will come into play (for me) if something seems amiss with the pen (leaks, potential cracks, dry piston), at which point, I take a picture of all pen parts and clean everything in a large bowl away from the sink. However, when it comes to stained pens, I rely on Sailor Jentle Do-you to clean up, that and I like the color. No need to take apart a pen for stains!

[webgeckos]

I usually rinse til clear all the parts (nib and feed in their section) in tap water. Then I bulb syringe in distilled. If it is really troublesome, they go into an ultrasonic clearer with one drop of dawn and one drop vinegar.

 

Final rinse is in distilled to level out an PH changes from the vinegar.

 

I've had a couple of inks that just are stubborn, so they usually get placed in the ultrasonic for 2-5 cycles.

[ENewton]

I flush the section/nib and the converter until the water runs clear, using a plastic syringe and distilled water, which my local supermarket carries.

 

Then I soak the section and the converter until the next day, checking the dish occasionally and changing the water if it is no longer clear.

 

Then I let the section and converter dry for 24-48 hours in a small open box lined with a paper towel.

[jp1337]

I just use water and a bulb syringe to clean out my pen. I disassemble my cartridge converter and rinse that properly. I do it between every refill, even when using the same ink

[Sandy1]

I clean between inkings the usual way -- plain old tap water, often left overnight in the pen until it washes out completely colourless; w/a with a load or two of dishwater detergent in between rinses -- but the whole topic made me think that I sooner or later wouldn't mind trying out this stuff......................

 

Mike

 

 

Hi,

 

The R&K pen cleaner looks interesting, and may be especially good when cleaning-up R&K's Series 41 robust Documentus inks. http://m.rohrer-klingner.de/?page_id=722&lang=en

 

I like it when a Co. that knows how to put ink together also knows how to take it apart.

 

Bye,

S1

Edited February 4, 2016 by Sandy1

[AndyYNWA]

 

And where does one get distilled water? I guess it is at the same place. They are not exactly household chemicals that you get are your local grocery store…

Paint shop maybe....?

[Piper 987]

I buy distilled water at my local pharmacy. Liquid household ammonia is usually available at any supermarket and is in the household cleaners section. Get the cheap, plain stuff and not the stuff that contains perfumes, colors or other extra ingredients. Both are also available at hardware stores.

 

De-ionized water is also fine for cleaning fountain pens. Where I live, tap water has a rather high level of calcium. I use tap water to give pens an initial rinse but always finish the job with distilled or de-ionized water.

 

A recipe I use to make pen flush is to dilute the liquid ammonia to about a ten percent mixture. So add about 30 ml's of liquid ammonia to 270 ml's of water. That will give you 300 ml's of 10% solution. Add a drop of liquid dish detergent and you're in business.

[Mercian]

Where does one actually get ammonia? (UK). I can't seem to find it...

 

In my experience it is impossible to find in actual shops here - and I tried hardware stores, general household stores, and chemists

I live out in the sticks. I suppose that the situation may be different in major cities.

 

I ended up having to order mine from a small retailer, but via the nasty corporation that is named after the river and makes enough to be able to afford to hire lawyers/accountants that are so very adept at tax-avoidance.

 

My bottle of ammonia arrived on-time and unscathed.

But I would *far* rather give my money to a local bricks-and-mortar shop than to them

[Mercian]

To get back on-topic, I tend to change my pen and my ink after almost every fill.
This means that I want to get each pen as clean as possible before leaving it un-inked for a while.

So, my own cleaning regime might well be thought to tend somewhat toward the ‘OCD’/‘un-necessarily over-cautious’ side of the spectrum

Anyway, it is as follows:

For normal dye-based inks:
1) flush with clean tap water, and cycle the filler several times to force water through the nib.

This can be enough to completely remove some washable inks, so that I can then proceed directly to step 4);

2) if necessary, wash nib unit (if it is removable) in warm water mixed with dish soap, then fill pen with mixture of water & dish soap, before standing it nib-down on a paper towel - to allow the cleansing solution to be wicked through the nib by capillary action;

3) repeat 2) until no more dyestuff is getting left on the paper towel;

4) re-fill pen with unadulterated cold tap water, then stand on paper towel again, in order to wick all the cleaning solution out of the feed/nib.

 

5) allow dis-assembled pen to dry out overnight, before returning it to storage.

If 3) seems to be taking many fills of soap & water to remove all the ink, I will repeat it with a solution of household ammonia mixed 1 part ammonia to 9 parts water.
I have on occasion (e.g. cleaning out old pens) allowed the pen to stand in the water-ammonia solution (to a depth that covers the nib unit & feed) overnight before moving the pen to the wicking-on-a-paper-towel phase.

For pens in which I have had iron-gall ink for a few fills:
1) as above;

2) I move to using a solution of 1 part white vinegar to 9 parts tap water to soak the nib & feed, in order to re-dissolve any iron salts that may have settled out inside the pen. After soaking, I fill the pen with the vinegar solution and then use a paper towel to wick the solution through the nib. Then I move on to;

3) fill of dish soap & water, and allow fills to wick through the nib until no dyestuff is being left on the paper towel;

4) fill with tap water, and wick that on to a paper towel.

 

5) Dry out overnight before re-assembly.

 

I once* let the end of an old fill of iron-gall ink almost dry out in an aerometric Parker "51".

As your Attorney†, I advise you to make sure that you never let that happen to one of yours!

On that occasion the pen required a lot of cycles of fills with vinegar, then flushing with water, then ammonia solution, then dish soap & water, then tap water.

It took bloody ages

I got very nearly to the point of buying an Ultrasonic Cleaner for it.

 

But I didn't have to in the end, and the pen is now back in rotation

 

* In my defence, your Honour, my mother was at the time experiencing a nasty reaction to some recently-prescribed cardiac medicine, and trying to persevere with the drug. She ended up in hospital, and was on an acute care ward for a week. Proper pen care wasn't my no.1 priority at the time. Happily, she recovered well, was given different medication, and is fine now.

† Full disclosure: I am not actually an Attorney, and nor do I play one on television.

[chaik76]

I just use water and a bulb syringe to clean out my pen. I disassemble my cartridge converter and rinse that properly. I do it between every refill, even when using the same ink

I know this an old thread, but it absolutely amazes me how many people seem to do this...I refill my pens multiple times per day. It might be the pens I have, but I just can't imagine taking this amount of time to clean anything out, especially as many seem to leave their pens out overnight to dry. What is the secret. Multiple fountain pens? Large ink reservoirs?

Edited August 26, 2017 by chaik76

[DrDebG]

I know this an old thread, but it absolutely amazes me how many people seem to do this...I refill my pens multiple times per day. It might be the pens I have, but I just can't imagine taking this amount of time to clean anything out, especially as many seem to leave their pens out overnight to dry. What is the secret. Multiple fountain pens? Large ink reservoirs?

 

 

Great questions! And the answer is yes to both.

 

I typically clean all of my inked pens each week. I generally have 10-12 pens inked, sometimes more if I anticipate a busy week. Of those, at least 2 are piston fillers, 3 will be Lamys with larger converter (c/c) reservoirs and then a variety of other c/c pens.

 

Each week:

For pens with converters, I will flush each pen, rinse with cool, running water, use a bulb syringe filled with water several times, and rinse again. I will then roll the nib unit carefully in paper towels, folding over the top and bottom, then flick a few times to remove the water from the nib. Make sure that the nib unit is wrapped well on all sides with no loose ends and that you have a firm grasp prior to flicking. If there is no residual color on the paper towel, I will set the nib unit aside and clean the converter by running the piston up an down several times with clear water. I will then draw about 1/2 of a converter full of water, cap the top with my finger and shake to remove any residual ink which might sit in the top. After it is clean, I wrap it up in paper towels and flick several times to remove any water. Again, if there is no residual color, I will lay it aside with the nib unit and proceed to the next pen. If either the nib unit or converter do not come clean, I will repeat the process again. If after the second time there is still residual ink, I will place them in an ultrasonic cleaner filled with clean water and one drop of Dawn dishwashing liquid. Upon completion, I rinse them thoroughly will clean running water, then wrap again in paper towels and flick again. If there is any residual ink, I will soak them in water with one drop of Dawn for several hours, then repeat the process.

 

For piston fillers, I flush the pen, rinse the time with cool, running water, then with the nib submerged in a cup of clean water, I run the piston up and down many times, each time dumping the inky water and replacing with clean water, until the water stays clear. Then, I will roll the pen in paper towels, folding over the top and bottom and no loose ends, I flick the pen several times to expel and excess water. If ink remains, I will repeat the process until all the ink is removed.

 

Since I use only dye based inks - no iron galls or permanent inks - I generally have little problem cleaning my pens. Also, cleaning them weekly prevents residual build up and the ink drying out. If, in the middle of the week, I have a pen that runs empty, I will add distilled water to the ink reservoir to keep the ink solids in suspension. I do not let ink dry in my pens if I can avoid it.

 

Hope that helps.

 

It takes me about 1-2 hours to clean my pens each week.

[chaik76]

 

 

Great questions! And the answer is yes to both.

 

I typically clean all of my inked pens each week. I generally have 10-12 pens inked, sometimes more if I anticipate a busy week. Of those, at least 2 are piston fillers, 3 will be Lamys with larger converter (c/c) reservoirs and then a variety of other c/c pens.

 

...

 

Hope that helps.

 

It takes me about 1-2 hours to clean my pens each week.

Thank you so much. Yes, this is very helpful! I am relatively new to fountain pens, only having used them for calligraphy in the past (I use dip pens extensively). I'm learning sooo much on these boards, and I really appreciate that you (and others in other threads) have taken time to explain things so thoroughly, and to be patient with newcomers like me.

Edited August 27, 2017 by chaik76