I've been noticing that the cheapie Sheaffer I've been using tends to have a lot of ink on the nib when I uncap it. I know that dip pen users have penwipers that they use to clean the nib between uses. Would a penwiper be a useful thing to have with my fountain pen? It seems to me that it might end up sucking in a lot of ink that I'd rather keep in the pen!

In my schooldays - in the fifties! - we always used penwipers (so I finally found the missing word: in german it's "Tintenwischer", which might roughly be translated to inksweeper). I don't know exaktly but maybe cheap goldplated nibs might be damaged by very frequent wiping. With respect to inksucking there should be no fears. Our early inksweepers had been made of leather, some kind of thin suede. It is not that absorbent.

Just a silly question. How did you find inksweepers? In Germany they aren't sold anymore in stationery shops. Recently I have found a ridiculously expensive variant. Four tiny bits of leather riveted together, each of them with only one usable suede face. Very disappointing.

Another inky (?!) thought, more or less an instantaneous idea. Cutting chamois (for window cleaning purposes) into handy pieces might do ...

Greetings,

Hans-Peter

I use penwipers that I buy from Pendemonium. These are Cotton Litho pads, made for graphic arts. They are 4"X4" (10 cm X 10 cm) and come 100 to a bag. 100% pure nonwoven cotton, soft and non-scratch. $10, listed in their pen repair supplies. Each wipe lasts a long time -- they are very thirsty and can be used over and over again.



Richard Binder recommends "swaddling" your nib, rather than wiping it.

I didn't actually find any. I had seen online where someone had sewn one out of felt from a pattern in a Victorian handcrafts book. I had thought about making one of my own.

Bill, those cloths look very similar to the ones my wife used to have when she was a Mary Kay consultant. I bet they'd have something similar at beauty supply stores.