Ink Spill Disaster Stories

[bizerkel]

I don't know if this has been done before, but I thought it'd be fun to read stories of ink spill disasters.

 

The other day I was washing out a newly acquired vintage pen, and splashed who-knows-what ink on my wife's new shower curtains. I quickly (and stealthily) got a paper towel and some bleach - fortunately they're white - and managed to clean it up alright. She hasn't noticed so far... I know she's looking for reasons to complain of my growing FP & ink collections.

 

I guess I escaped this time -- how have you fared?

[Shangas]

1. Dropped a bottle of ink onto carpet. Carpet was dark brown, ink was black. I hid the stain for about...I don't know HOW MANY years...until we got our carpet removed and had the floorboards polished and whatnot.

 

2. Sprayed ink onto the blinds in my room. I was careless with a syringe when filling up cartridges.

 

3. Tipped ink all over the kitchen-table (Whoopsy-doodle!)

 

4. Got ink all down my left hand (Was holding dip-pen upside down while talking on the phone. Dribble-dribble-dribble)

 

5. Got ink on my tan trousers while on the tram once. This was before the days of pen-cases. I kept my pens loose in my satchel bag and when I took out one of them (Duofold) and uncapped it...blub-blub-blub! Ink splattered out onto my lap. I now uncap pens with the nib down, so as to catch any ink - just in case.

 

6. Ink-explosion. Transferring ink from big bottle to smaller bottle for easier transportation & storage. The syringe-plunger exploded in my face and got ink everywhere...

[bizerkel]

You're a busy man, Shangas

[Shangas]

Clumsy, too!

[mayeeta]

1. Dropped a bottle of ink onto carpet. Carpet was dark brown, ink was black. I hid the stain for about...I don't know HOW MANY years...until we got our carpet removed and had the floorboards polished and whatnot.

 

 

:ltcapd: How did you hid it?

[Paddler]

I get a little ink on my fingers, sometimes, when I'm tweaking nibs or dipping in the wrong kind of inkwell. No disasters yet, though (cross fingers, toes, . . . cross everything). Thanks, folks, for letting me know what I have to look forward to.

 

Paddler

 

[leftnose]

I always get ink on my fingers when I fill a pen but I have yet to have a disaster with a bottle of ink.

[Shangas]

1. Dropped a bottle of ink onto carpet. Carpet was dark brown, ink was black. I hid the stain for about...I don't know HOW MANY years...until we got our carpet removed and had the floorboards polished and whatnot.

 

 

:ltcapd: How did you hid it?

 

I found a small rug which just covered the ink-stain. And this was a big stain! 2/3 of a perhaps...30-50ml bottle? I was panicking like hell because at the time (about 10 years old), I'd finally convinced or persuaded dad that I was "old enough" to keep pens and ink safely in my room without mishap. When I dropped the bottle and...wow...I totally freaked out.

[Calbei]

No true spills for me yet, apart from a little dribble when I took the lid off Waterman Florida Blue. Drip drip. Thankfully I was right next to a sink so a splash of water and a wipe got rid of it from the light surface.

[Deirdre]

1) Dropped bottle of PR Plum in University Art.

2) Dropped bottle of Esenin on bathroom counter at home, spilling 1/2 the bottle. Spouse asks if I could please do that on MY side of the sink next time. (Still shows up under black light -- we've got a tile counter, and the grout still has bits of Esenin that you can't see under normal light).

[Randal6393]

Oh, several spills on carpets, desks, clothing, and floors. My favorite was when my little ferret female, Hillary, "helped" me by knocking over a bottle of ink one night. Stained the apartment rug, my desk, and darkened her paws for two weeks. Fortunately, she didn't get sick or anything.

 

Randal

[fpfanatic5]

Luckily, I've never tipped over an ink bottle. Boy have I had some syringe troubles though... Twice, while I was pulling the piston up, the rubber gasket came loose off the plastic. That sent ink flying everywhere...twice. Second time the gasket went down the sink That was my que to buy the Write Fill kit. Haven't had any disasters yet

[lak611]

I have not had any ink disasters, but my dad told me something he did on purpose when he was in school. There were ink wells in the desks, and he and his class were using dip pens. My dad put an Alka Seltzer into the ink well! Suffice to say, Sister was not happy! :roflmho:

[Paddler]

I have not had any ink disasters, but my dad told me something he did on purpose when he was in school. There were ink wells in the desks, and he and his class were using dip pens. My dad put an Alka Seltzer into the ink well! Suffice to say, Sister was not happy! :roflmho:

 

So that's why the nuns were so happy when Sheaffer marketed the cartridge school pen!

 

Paddler

 

[PAKMAN]

Most recently I was inking some certificates and had let the pen sit uncapped too long. I decided to get it going again by turning the piston a little. At first nothing was happening then the cat came in and distracted me and suddenly I had this big dribble of ink down four of my fingers. It was Noodlers Eternal Black of course. Fortunately quick action and lava soap kept me from having a week long funky tattoo all across my hand!

 

But worst of all when I was a pen newbie I was filling a pen and forgot to cap my only bottle of ink (Waterman Florida Blue). I started trying to clear a space to test drive the just filled pen and I tipped the bottle over toward myself! I didn't really know I could move that fast! Barely got any on my khaki pants and fortunately I had a plastic carpet protector under my chair so only splatter got on the carpet not the main run off. After I got over the fear for my life I was really mad at myself for loosing 1/2 my ink supply in under 2 seconds!!

[Philip1209]

I think my fingers are STILL blue from Baystate Blue, even though I stopped using it a couple months ago. . .

[zarjaz]

I have ink disasters all the time!

 

1) I have a bad habit: while writing out college work or something, if I'm bored I tend to hold the pen top in my left hand and fiddle with it while I'm writing. There is often ink inside it and it ends up all on my hand.

 

Earlier this year I was round at a friend's house and we were both writing up coursework. I left the room for ten minutes or so to make a drink, while I was out my friend emptied some ink into my pentop - just enough so that I ended up with a very blue left hand for a week!

 

To be honest though the pair of us had inky hands already so it wasn't a huge problem. We're always comparing fingers to see who's the worst after a day at college.

 

2) When I was about 12 or 13, (I'm 17 now), the nib off my pen dropped off into the ink bottle while I was filling the pen at home, and sank to the bottom. My dad made me stick my finger into the almost-full bottle to retrieve it. And even then, I initially put my index finger in but it wouldn't quite reach, so I then had to put my middle finger in as well. My dad thought it was hilarious and I was walking round with two completely blue fingers for almost a week. The only good bit I suppose was that it covered up all the messy smaller ink stains that I already had on those two fingers. My teachers did wonder what I'd been doing though.

Edited July 5, 2008 by zarjaz

[mompus]

I don't know if this has been done before, but I thought it'd be fun to read stories of ink spill disasters.

 

The other day I was washing out a newly acquired vintage pen, and splashed who-knows-what ink on my wife's new shower curtains. I quickly (and stealthily) got a paper towel and some bleach - fortunately they're white - and managed to clean it up alright. She hasn't noticed so far... I know she's looking for reasons to complain of my growing FP & ink collections.

 

I guess I escaped this time -- how have you fared?

 

 

A few weeks ago, after I'd picked up a couple of hundred of a (rather cool, I think) dead stock Chinese pen, I inked one up with HERO "washable blue" and took it for a spin. The next morning I discovered that I'd gone to sleep on top of it and my (brand new, custom made) white bottom sheet had a blue spot about as big as my hand. I yanked the sheet off the bed, threw it in the shower, and poured pure bleach onto the spot....... which immidiately turned brown.

I don't know about all of you, but I'd much rather have a blue spot on my sheets than a brown one!

[southpaw]

Good stories!

 

My only one was shortly after I had just started using FPs. I had an M200 filled with Florida Blue (thankfully before I had discovered Noodlers waterproof inks). I clipped it in between the buttons on my golf shirt while at seminary. In between a couple of classes I was doing some studying and went to make a note. I grabbed the pen and came up with only the cap! I frantically began searching for the rest of the pen, but couldn't find it anywhere. Then something blue happened to catch my eye . . . a big blue spot about 6 inches in diameter on my white golf shirt. I felt around and found the barrel, which had come unscrewed and fallen inside my shirt. The entire contents of a completely full M200 went into the shirt . . . and on my stomach.

 

Lessons learned:

1. Being neat and tucking in my shirt tail may save me from losing a pen.

2. Be grateful for long breaks in between classes so you can run and buy a new shirt if you have an ink incident.

3. Waterman Florida Blue does wash out . . . of shirts and off stomachs, fairly easily.

4. While avoiding really cranking down on a cap is bad, it IS very important to ensure that you tighten it securely (they're actually a lot more durable that we think).

[lak611]

I have ink disasters all the time!

 

1) I have a bad habit: while writing out college work or something, if I'm bored I tend to hold the pen top in my left hand and fiddle with it while I'm writing. There is often ink inside it and it ends up all on my hand.

 

Earlier this year I was round at a friend's house and we were both writing up coursework. I left the room for ten minutes or so to make a drink, while I was out my friend emptied some ink into my pentop - just enough so that I ended up with a very blue left hand for a week!

 

To be honest though the pair of us had inky hands already so it wasn't a huge problem. We're always comparing fingers to see who's the worst after a day at college.

 

2) When I was about 12 or 13, (I'm 17 now), the nib off my pen dropped off into the ink bottle while I was filling the pen at home, and sank to the bottom. My dad made me stick my finger into the almost-full bottle to retrieve it. And even then, I initially put my index finger in but it wouldn't quite reach, so I then had to put my middle finger in as well. My dad thought it was hilarious and I was walking round with two completely blue fingers for almost a week. The only good bit I suppose was that it covered up all the messy smaller ink stains that I already had on those two fingers. My teachers did wonder what I'd been doing though.

I used to work with dyes in the QC lab at a chemical company (Coomassie Blue, Crystal Violet, etc). We used Reduran hand cleaner. It worked great in removing the stains from concentrated dyes. I highly recommend it.