Mold Cleaning W/o Ammonia Or Bleach?

[Guardy]

I left a fountain pen uncapped for way too long (a week or so. Don't judge me, the pen looooves to uncap itself) and somehow it hasn't dried out.

 

Instead, I've got a case of The Fuzzies on my hands. Only where feed meets section, not on the feed or the nib or in the pen, and also not in the ink bottle (although I have, of course, quarantined it).

 

I also have no access to ammonia nor do I want to use bleach on a vintage pen, thankyouverymuch.

 

I DO have access to vinegar, an ultrasonic cleaner and wouldn't mind leaving the pen un-inked for a few months.

 

(Oh, and bonus: The pen cannot easily be disassembled, I believe)

 

Anyway, the question is: Can I remove the mold with the tools I have available and if yes, how would I best go about that?

[Flounder]

I was in the same situation a few months ago, with access to vinegar and an ultrasonic same as you! The Orium is still mould free, and currently inked and in rotation. I never did knock out the nib or even replace the ink sac.

[Guardy]

So, with time and dedication I'll probably be fine. That's good to know!

 

I also think I know how the mold got on there - I /did/ swab out the cap with q-tips, paper towels and the like after I got the pen from a flea market, but never got water in it, due being unnecessarily careful with a vintage pen. Which, in retrospect, was a bad idea, because it doesn't even have an inner cap I'd have to be worried about. Point is, who knows what kind of 50-year-old ink gunk I missed.

Paired with the increased air circulation due to being partially uncapped, the general warmth inside my room, the darkness of my storage and the moisture from the ink, that was probably a surefire way to get a mold problem.

 

/EDIT: some interesting first results!

 

a) the pen remains a royal pain to clean - I forgot just how annoying cleaning that thing can be.

 

b ) I'll need to go and buy more vinegar on Monday (stores in Germany are closed on Sunday. Yaaaaay. Urgh), because I just used up our entire supply. Which, granted, was almost empty, but still.

 

c) I think my nose hair has been burned up by vinegar fumes. Curse my computer table being my only available work space.

 

d) I remembered how much I hate the smell of white vinegar.

 

e) I learned a lot about the cap: The tops unscrews if it isn't oxidized into place, so you can take off the clip. Finally managed to fix the off-center clip, which had bugged me for ages. Also, a lot of the corrosion has been cleaned up, so however this ends: The cap will look a good deal nicer afterwards.

Edited May 21, 2016 by Guardy

[pen lady]

A question to "those who know". Would peroxide work? Not the really strong stuff for bleaching hair, but, say, 10 volume that's sold for first aid use.

[Guardy]

Sorry for dragging up this old post, but I thought I'd post an update for anyone who may need it:

 

I decided to forgo the ultrasonic cleaner in the end and stuck to a minor, one-time dose of sunlight and a lot of vinegar.

 

Took me a week or so, then the pen was clean, in every sense of the word. I also managed to get rid of a great deal of corrosion on the cap with the vinegar (...probably don't try that at home).

The remaining, already badly damaged gilding of the nib didn't survive; it's now almost completely gone.Fine by me, looks better anyway.

 

I ended up re-greasing the piston at some point (did it dry up due to all the vinegar, or would that have happened anyway? Who knows...) and have been using the pen as my most cherished daily writer for several months now. The mold never came back.

 

Thanks to all who helped me back then, I owe you folks!

[ac12]

yay

All is good that ends well.

[praxim]

A question to "those who know". Would peroxide work? Not the really strong stuff for bleaching hair, but, say, 10 volume that's sold for first aid use.

 

No-one responded to this query, so I will bump it.

 

I am not about to try it experimentally on hard rubber, to offer my notion of how it would work. It may work with celluloid and probably would with plastic resins. I await more authoritative views than my tentative opinions.

 

A linked thread mentioned benzalkonium chloride, which I think might be a pretty good option (after cleaning) rather than using acids or ethanols. Again, I would be quite interested in the views of someone with actual experience, or knowledge of chemistry. I am keen to learn the options. I have not had to deal with moulds in inks or pens, although I am a dab hand at ensuring it does not live sustainably in our house.

[tamiya]

The last time I waged war against mold without chlorine bleach or ammonia, I used Borax & Ti tree oil.

[PAKMAN]

Glad to hear you had good results!

[ErrantSmudge]

I have an Aurora Talentum that was truly a spectacular writer until I accidentally filled it with some contaminated Private Reserve Ink, the older formulations that grow sludge in the bottle.

 

Ever since then, the pen cannot flow ink properly. I sent it to a pen restorer to have it cleaned, but even after it came back it still runs dry after a page or so of writing. It's been sitting in a drawer now for a few years.

 

I'd like to try to restore it. I imagine this is similar to mold growing in the pen, and am thinking of trying out a white vinegar soak with the nib section. Will this be safe for the nib? Thanks.

Edited November 12, 2016 by ErrantSmudge

[ErrantSmudge]

To answer my own question: From a YouTube video, I learned how to pull out the nib and feed from the nib section. There was some stuck-on gunk on the feed, nib, and converter from the contaminated ink.

 

I soaked everything in water for a few days, then used a soft toothbrush to scrub off the gunk on all parts. Reassembled the Talentum, filled it with Parker Quink Black, and it works again!

 

Thanks for this board for providing the insight.

[virgilio]

I had a whole cupful of old Marlowes from the 40s that grew mould all over the barrels. It came off with rubbing alcohol, and has never returned. I didn't have to put the alcohol inside the pen however; fortunately it didn't grow mould inside. But maybe it would be all right to soak the whole pen in rubbing alcohol, I'm not sure.

[ErrantSmudge]

Brian Goulet of Goulet Pens says that using rubbing alcohol or acetone is a "death sentence for your pen".

 

 

(The section starts at 3:00 in to the video).

 

The video shows pens dissolving entirely in acetone. He says that rubbing alcohol is not as aggressive, but it often has additional chemicals added that can destroy or melt pen barrels.

[virgilio]

I agree re acetone. that is more or less common knowledge. Rubbing alcohol however did my Marlowe barrels no harm. About the rest of the pen I cannot say, as I did not need to use it there.

 

The rubbing alcohol I used was clear with no obvious additives.

 

Personally I would still soak a completely moulded pen in rubbing alcohol with very few qualms, but I would avoid rubbing alcohol with any obvious additives; that seems to me to be good advice.