A simple question (or two) that might stop an arguement between myself and a collegue: 'What is the best way to clean a Pelikan Pen?'

In addition, would anyone recommend cleaning a brand new (never inked) pen before use or would you ink it straight away? (Any advice on getting the best from a brand new Pelikan!)

I use water with a few drops of dishwashing detergent. Others recommend a diluted ammonia solution. I rinse with soapy water my new pens; this way they flow better. It is said that new pens can be dirty with grease from manufacturing.

If you do this, then after the detergent-water mixture, make sure to rinse many times with plain water. Leftover detergent will make it write funny.

I would not remove the nib or otherwise take the pen apart, unless something was seriously wrong.

I just fill it with cold (!) water and empty it again until the water coming out is clean (or nearly clean). To get the rest of the water out, I shake the pen like a clinical thermometer (don't forget to put a handkerchief around the nib carefully in order not to get inky drops all around you).

Best wishes,
diogenes

Hi,

First, write it empty. Fill and empty with clean cold water until clean.

Dillon

I just finished cleaning my 800; it was a little sticky because I hadn't used it in a while.

Generally, don't shake the pen! You may, eventually will, hit it on something or it will let loose.

Instead, after flushing, wrap the tip in som soft tissue or similarly absorbant paper. Then stand it upright somewhere and let the water wick out. Not a whole lot of patience, but much more thorough.

All piston fillers are inherently efficient and easy to clean.

I would avoid using detergents, very hard to get rid of.

If a simple flush with warm (not hot!) water, at about 100º F (38ºC) dies not do the job, I would suggest just a few drops of ammonia in another warm water flush or perhaps an overnight soak.

If that doesn't do it, off to a trusted and compertent repairperson.

Depends on what I'm trying to accomplish.

If it's just a quick rinse to keep things healthy in between fills, I just do a few flushes through the nib with tap water (tepid - i treat them like dogs - that is, dogs should not be bathed with hot water.)

if I seem to have a sluggish ink I may just switch inks. Or I may do the mild detergent/water mix and deliberately rinse only a little in order to beef up the flow of the ink on the next fill.

If I want to change inks and have minimal ink mixing or if I am putting it into storage (rare but it happens) then I do a couple of quick flushs, then carefully remove the nib, flush it, fun a fine stream into the barrel a few times until it looks clean. On the nib, i put the tip of a micro-tip pipet into the tiny hole at the back of the nib and force water through. I then wick extra moisture out of the nib through this same hole (more effective it seems then wicking it out of the writing end. Since there is a spot inside the section that can catch and keep ink, I often fill the barrel, then use a cotton swab and pump this in and out of the section. This forces water into that area and flushes hidden ink out. There are other ways to do this part - ultra-sonic cleaner for example. But I only do this very rarely. Say I'm going from a blue ink to a gold and don't want the hideous results of a mix. Sometimes I'll fill the barrel and let it stand filled (no nib) for several hours (not immersing the pen, just keeping it full to the brim) which will also pull out some of that trapped ink.

For my 200 with the Penman emerald, when I do clean it, i use some "happy medium" of the least amount of cleaning and the most.