School's finally finished for the summer, so I've got a month or so of clean, spotless hands to look forward to.

When I go back in September, I am giving serious thought to giving up my beloved fountain pens for school work.

I am constantly getting ink on my hands - I just can't help it - and my parents and other adults seem to moan about it more and more, saying it's a "schoolboy thing".

I'm 17, and I'm doing "adult" things now - I've got my own car, part time job, etc - and getting covered in ink after doing your homework is starting to sit awkwardly with all of that. Work have been particularly funny about it, even though my job involves driving a van so it doesn't really matter.

I've tried being more careful with the pens but it doesn't help. I'm one of those people who seem to get inky hands from just looking at a pen!

Should I give it up for my final school year and manage with horrible gel pens and stuff until school is finished?

Matt

You've got a car now, so you'll be getting grease and dirt all over your hands. Just use that to cover over the ink stains.

No way. Inky hands give you an air of mystique.

No girl has shown an interest on the reason your hands are multicolored? I would keep it interesting colors .........

I find using cartridges instead of bottled ink keeps my fingers pretty much ink-free.

And I am like you - somehow stains are magnetically attracted to me, so this is saying a lot.

My ink-stained fingers were one of the first things my wife noticed about me when we met. I was _much_ older than 17 then, but even now, getting ink on my hands reminds me of those days.
Regards, greg

Nothing wrong with a little ink - it both shows that you aren't afraid to get your hands dirty and gives you a scholarly air.

Matt,

Two products work really well to remove ink stains from living human skin:

Amodex Ink and Stain Remover (for skin or clothing, safe for colored clothing)

Ink Nix (stronger, not for colored clothing)

Both are available from several online merchants. Just follow the directions exactly, and your hands will quickly be stain-free!

I agree. I don't mind the inky hands so much, it gives character. Plus, ladies like the artistic type

You mean, you don't keep Purex in your backpack or car? ewww.

Well I suppose that might happen...but then you scrub the grease off, and the ink's still there.

Also doing any work on the car leads to parents doing "hand inspections" before I can come back in the house, to make sure I've washed all the oil and grease off....which then leads to questions about the ink!


That's what I've always thought. Try telling the adults around me.....


Well, my girlfriend used to say it looked sweet.....but that was a year ago. Now she thinks it looks silly and childish.

It's already an interesting colour though...




Yeah I've got one fountain pen and one "cartridge" pen....but I do prefer filling from the bottle. Cartridges feel like cheating!


As above, my girlfriend now thinks it looks childish...she is totally not interested in pens.


I keep telling my parents that, but it's just not working. I've even used the lame excuse that "it shows I've been doing my homework" but that doesn't work either...


Thanks....do you know if anyone ships these in, or to, the UK?

Seriously, is it that your pens are leaking? I saw another thread you said your pens were older pens, and cheapies? Could be you need a couple of Lamy Safari pens (very inexpensive and extremely well made pens). After all, you don't want to keep losing ink!

http://www.gbapen.net/amodex.aspx

sells amodex in the uk
no affiliation

I agree with trying a different pen - they have some aurora idea's on the same sight for a good price, or there you can get a lamy safari or al-star from ebay for under £10 (that's where I got both mine buy now)

even if cartridges feel like cheating perhaps its better to do that than stop using the fp's altogether??

it made me laugh though - my son - the same age as you by the seems of it - would absolutely freak out if I attempted to check his hands before he came into the house! He would think I had completely loss the plot.......

.... it's usually his feet I have to check .... (footballer - always covered in mud and tries to sneak his studs upstairs without cleaning them first - doesnt work of course he may as well be carrying a bottle of ink with a leak in it).

I'm an adult who works full time and I never get comments from anyone about my inky fingers. Granted, I don't have as much ink on them as you seem to get, but it's still noticeable. Sometimes the ink gets on my fingers when I'm refilling a pen (I also use bottled ink), sometimes my pen gets jostled while capped and a bit of ink will smear around the very top of the nib, getting on my fingers when I take my pen in hand (I rarely remember to check it--I just uncap the pen and write)!

Last resort, try wearing latex gloves when you write with the fountain pen. Oh, and find a woman who also has inky fingers. They do exist!

~Cheers!

*looks down at hands*............. yes they most definately do *shrugs*

I'd try these things in pretty much this order:

1) Be more careful filling your pens and use more of whatever product you use to wipe your pens after filling to make sure you get all the excess ink off the pen and on the product instead of your hands

2) Buy some of the ink removing product and use it

3) Use cartridges

4) Go to non-fountain pens only for traveling. Keep using your fountain pens at home in your space for schoolwork.

I had the same question as satrap about getting inky fingers in the first place. From the look of your picture, I'm guessing you're getting inky fingers from writing and not just filling the pen. That shouldn't be happening. I agree with what a few others have suggested:

- try a different pen (if you can)
- study how you hold the pen - are you gripping it too near where the nib is attached to the section?
- look closely at the pens you have and see if there are any hairline cracks in the section area near the nib. (That's something that kept happening to me with Chinese pens to the point I had to give them up.)

There are inexpensive pens out there that don't leak. Hope you can find one.

Pumice stone and water work well together too, and are my favorite ink removing combination.

If you have ink on your hands from writing, you are either holding the pen wrong (ball points and gel pens give you all sorts of nasty writing habits) or the pen leaks. A Safari is good, so are the Hero 616, 329, 330, and similar pens. Also Parker 45s are mess free in my experience (and can use cartridges).

Given your age, I expect a great deal of this problem will vanish in a year or two anyway (once your brain stops re-organizing itself) as you become somewhat less distractable.

Practice proper pen holding technique, and keep something handy to wipe the pen with BEFORE you grab it with ink all over it.

One more thought -- how do you carry the pen when you are not using it? If you aren't very careful to keep it nib up, even walking will cause ink to shake out into the cap, thence onto your hands. There is no fountain pen ever made that will hold ink when shaken nib down! A bit of care with this and your problem may go away (and your ink usage drop, too!)

Peter

Thanks for all the comments so far.....enjoying the discussion.


Yeah they are quite old pens, I have several and one of them is older than me! They are a bit battered but lovely to write with.


Thanks, I'll give that a try.


My dad's quite strict. Doesn't want me getting oil, grease, ink or anything else all over the house. He's not always bothered about inky fingers, unless they are really bad, though I am not allowed to borrow his car if I've any ink on me. Doesn't matter now anyhow, I have my own car.

Cartridges are an option though I am sure I'd still get stained from those!



The picture is quite a bad day admittedly, usually there's less than that, but sometimes if I'm filling the pen there's more. Never thought of gloves, not sure what I'd look like in school though. And I'm not sure how neatly I could write with gloves on.



Thanks...cartirdges for school and bottled ink for home might help a bit. I need to improve my writing though, I'm holding the pen on the nib quite a lot.


Yeah I know I am definitely getting ink on me from writing, not just filling up. Generally, there is ink around the barrel of the pen, which accounts for some of it, but most of it comes from two things:

1) Spending the whole school day writing with my fingers touching the nib. It's a large nib, and this accounts for most of the ink.
2) Absent mindedly fiddling with the pen during lessons when there's nothing to write. I am told this is a "boy thing". My teacher says I am fiddling with the pen and getting ink on my fingertips without realising I'm doing it. But this is also true of other boys in my class who use fountain pens. Doesn't seem to affect the girls.


Where can you get a pumice stone from nowadays?


Thanks...yes, I am definitely holding the pen wrong (too close to the nib), as you say, bad habits picked up as a child.


Yeah, funnily enough my teacher said that. She said that 14-18 are the peak ages for inky-fingered problems, she says when I get to 19 I will have developed a natural "aptitude" for writing and will have better control of my fingers.

She also said I will "care" more about it then. Whereas now, I am only bothered about the ink because adults tell me off for having it on my hands. Apparently by age 19 I will *not want* ink on my fingers out of my own choice, so it won't happen. Does that make sense? It sort of does to me.


Yes pen holding needs to be worked on, and I do need to carry a tissue to wipe the pen. I am guilty of rushing into schoolwork to get it finished (I hate it!) and I just grab the pen and start writing. I don't usually notice the ink on my fingers til afterwards.


Thanks Peter...I think I'm holding it right, it is normally "nib up". But I'll make doubly certain in future.

Matt

Have you considered switching to a pen with a hooded nib for now, until you improve your writing habits?


They're used for pedicures, so you could probably find them in a shop that sells things like files, foot creams and other toiletries of that type. I've also seen them in the same section as the insoles, foot powders and those sticky things you put over bunions and corns to cushion them.

You could try carrying some alcohol swabs, or a tiny bottle of rubbing alcohol. My screw-in nib was loose the other day and I got ink all over my hand, but splashing on some rubbing alcohol and rubbing the stains took 99% of it out immediately, and the rest was barely noticeable.

Amodex also works great and comes in small bottles, so you could keep some in your backpack.

I am infatuated with filling from ink bottles... it's usually the only break I get at work, so I refuse to use cartridges.

Neill

Yes, stop getting inky fingers but don't give up pens and ink, just improve your methods. Use pens that don't tend to leak on their own accord. Clean out (rinse) the caps so ink doesn't keep getting back on the section. Use a cloth and a cleared off table for inking pens, and always close the bottle before you mess with cleaning and closing up the pen. Don't toss pens around nor toss the thing (briefcase, etc) that contains your pens. Keep them calmly laying on their sides when not in use and standing up in your pocket when being carried around. Keep your fingers off of the nibs. Buy a bar of Lava soap, it contains pumace and will remove any ink.

I was going to say the same thing.
I used a hooded pen (A Chinese Dragon brand copy of a Parker 51) all through high school. I rarely had any inky fingers. There are inexpensive Hero pens available, I would recommend either the Hero 329 (old style, with a little ornament on the nib end of the hood) or, if you have a few pounds more, a Hero 100.

It is at this stage of your life that your brain is undergoing more changes since the first year after you were born. That's why your sleep patterns are up the spout (you didn't mention it, but they will be...). It's also why the US states that ban drinking alcohol until you are 21 have a solid basis in biology.

Your best bet for girls at this stage is to 'corrupt' one by enticing her to use fountain pens. Then, at least, you will both have inky fingers. As a selling point, fountain pens are far more ecologically friendly than disposable ball points. The Pilot Petit pens are very 'girly'.

Anyway, back to pens, this eBay vendor in the UK has a number of the Hero 329s available.

How about trying a quick-dry ink and a fully-hooded nib? That would eliminate most sources of ink on hands (short of intentionally touching the the nib!)

How do you get the ink on your hands?

I agree with all of the suggestions posited above, but would like to add one more little piece of advice - perhaps some of the grief you are getting is a result of your attitude about getting inky fingers. I, being both a very fastidious and very clumsy person, found myself aggravated to no end by the ubiquitous inky fingers I found myself with when I first started using fountain pens. As a result I became very self-conscious whenever anyone asked me why my hands were covered in various hues and shades, which only made it easier for my friends to poke fun at my "antiquated" choice of writing instrument.

At some point, though, I decided it was silly to be ashamed of my speckled hands, and began to wear them as a sort of badge of honor. Don't get me wrong, when I blurp Aurora Black all over my hands I sprint to the bathroom as fast as the next person, but if I can't get it off I carry on without giving it a second thought. Now when someone asks me what the heck I have gotten all over my hands, I reply with a quick grin and a chuckle, instead of resignation or embarrassment. More often than not this serves to make whomever I am talking to interested in fountain pens rather than turned off by them. You'd be amazed at how much your attitude can influence the responses of people around you.

Again, I am by no means condoning opening a bottle of Noodler's Navy upside-down in order to start a conversation, but perhaps in addition to all of the other excellent ideas in this thread, a slight attitude shift could go a long way towards shifting other people's attitudes as well.

The alcohol-based gel hand sanitizer also comes in small portable bottles.
Not as big as carrying around rubbing alcohol, but works to fade inky
fingers. I've also noticed some colors are worse than others for staining
fingers or persisting on skin, so you might want to use colors according
to you experience with removing them from your finger.

Rather than literal gloves, you could try a "silicone glove"-style hand creme with lots of dimethicone in it -- put it on before heading off to class, and any ink should wash off much more easily.

(This was a hypothetical idea until a few minutes ago. I rubbed on some Avon Basics Silicone Glove, then smeared some Noodler's Bulletproof Black across my index finger and blew on it until it was dry. I put my finger under the tap, and most of it came off immediately, leaving just a faded trace. Hand soap took off the rest.)

-- Brian

It is certainly looking like a new pen is going to be needed. Which is a shame, as I love writing with my old battered ones!


Yeah I love filling from bottles too. I can make it take ages, and I usually get other kids watching me, partly out of interest and partly so they can give a little "cheer" when it all goes on my hands.

I have a friend standing by when I do it now, with a tissue, to soak up any that starts trickling down the back of my hand or anything similar.

Thing is, I don't really mind getting it all over me, it's just adults that are getting funny about it.



I do think I need to be more careful with my pens. They do probably get slung about more than they ought to, which doesn't help.


Yep I think now that this probably has something to do with it. A few people have said I'll "grow out of it" which is probably what they mean. My teacher says that when I'm older I will find inky hands disgusting.


Thanks. My girlfriend does enjoy watching me fill up a pen, she's not a fountain pen fan herself, though she does have one herself for work (she's a little older than me). Thing is, when it needs filling or cleaning, she just gets me to do it. She's fascinated to watch me getting ink all over my hands while filling the pens. But then if we go out somewhere later she complains I've got inky hands!


Mainly from the actual writing - my fingers tend to touch the nib. Also from filling the pen, with which I'm just rather careless. I like filling and cleaning pens so I do tend to fiddle and mess about with them, leading to a nasty inky mess - but I don't mind it at all. It's adults who seem to be complaining.


Yeah I've been doing this recently. I like having inky fingers and I am now trying to tell people that I do, but my dad gets angry about it, and work are being funny as well.


This is a very valid point. If you like back at the picture I put in the thread yesterday, it's a sort of light blue ink that I'm using - don't know the actual name. But it's awful to get off. Even dilute bleach doesn't shift it properly. And if you just leave it to normal washing it can be five days or more and it's still visible.

It's a lovely colour though, and I'm loathe to get rid of it, but if it helps then I shall have to. I don't think it's available in cartridges anyway.

That's an interesting idea....need to look into that.

Even reading all the posts I cannot work out exactly how you get ink on your hands...
I don't get ink on my hands with any pens (even dip pens) except for two ancient eye droppers that leak slightly at the point of filling so I would never carry them or use them in public. I fill from the bottle and never get ink on my hands...
I think that drastic changes that somewhat go against the norm of fountain pens are impractical, you want to be able to use a pen naturally without any obstacles. If it is the pen that leaks then buy a new inexpensive one. In my book a leaky pen is a broken pen, unless of course it is leaky by definition e.g. historical eyedroppers!
If it is filling from the bottle that gets ink on your hands then you really want to consider revising the technique you use and practicing. Remember to touch excess ink off on the side of the bottle and wipe excess ink off of the pen itself. Only submerge the nib and the rim of the section, don't submerge practically the whole pen. Keep your hands away from the rim of the bottle, ink will often be there.
A broken filling mechanism will cause terrible ink leaks when filling. If your cartridge pen leaks it is because it is broken somewhere.
You do suggest that your pens are broken, in which case a new one is the only option...


What are these pens you use? What do they look like?

Should you stop getting inky fingers? Yes.

Do you have to give up FPs to do it? No.

If you grip the feed, the ink will flow out of the sides of the nib and across your fingers. Hold the pen further back on the barrel and away from the nib. Post the pen if needed so it doesn't feel too short. Adjusting your grip should resolve the inky fingers.

A little ink on the fingers is ok. Half the bottle on your hands would be a pain.

Hmm.... dare I be the corrupting influence and suggest that it may be time to tune out the adults, selectively, on this matter? If the ink isn't hurting anyone, and it's not staining anything else in the house, then my take is that your hands are your own to ink up as you choose.

Your fingers should NEVER touch the nib, most especially when writing. The pen should lie in your hand, resting in the crook of your thumb, supported by you middle finger with your index finger on top. (I'm assuming you are right handed -- the actual grip changes if you are a leftie). You need essentially NO pressure to hold the pen this way, the friction between your finger and the pen body are enough. No pressure on the paper, either (the reason for using a fountain pen in the first place so far as I'm concerned). Best to use your entire arm to move the pen, not your fingers, too -- a summer project while you are not in school.

Unlike a BP, a fountain pen will deliver ink on contact with the paper, so no downward pressure is required. I wish I'd had a good FP in graduate school, I still have a knot on my right middle finger from the pressure I used with BP pens. Like you, I grip harder when I'm concentration and writing fast, a very, very bad habit. Wrecks pens, does permanent damage to your fingers, and makes you grumpy from writer's cramp!

And quit fiddling about with the pen, it's a writing tool! As I said, the inability to sit still for any period of time will go away most likely. By 19 or so, that permanent "itch" to move will diminish (hopefully, I'm STILL unable to sit quitely paying attention for any length of time!) and you won't be fiddling with things all the time.

And get a hooded nib pen!

Peter

Sarjaz

seems to me you are a person of principle and character. This is expressed by your considering cartridges as 'cheating' and not finding a problem, yourself, in someone having ink on their fingers.

My advice would be to do all you can to avoid getting so much on your fingers, but to stick by your principles and character and use the fountain pen you like best and to show the colour of your character by the ink on your fingers. I'm grateful I'm not the only one to get inky, but I must say this is usually if I start fiddling with a pen, I can normally get away with a lever fill without too much mess. Always get a stain on my third finger after a day with a pen though. My everyday pen is nearly 100 years old (<£20 from the dreaded ebay) but still pretty reliable and clean, but the tell-tale stains still appear. I think others do think its childish but ... who cares?

On another tack I wonder if it was usual for almost everyone to have a spot of ink on their fingers in the old days when almost everyone used fountain pens? I have never heard the comment.

(There's always washable ink, if you can stomach the colour!)


Greg

So we get to the actual problem. You're a slob! That's OK, it's part of growing up. But a little care, discipline and willpower on your part will work wonders.

One can use bottled ink without getting messy.

That said, I get inky fingers pretty often- but I don't think it matters. I'm far more worried about getting ink on my kitchen counter than my fingers. If I had a meeting or a job interview, I'd wash it off. Otherwise, meh. Can't say it's been an issue- I found that taking a shower, including shampooing, gets rid of ink pretty well.

Somehow, I got ink on my newborn son's foot (one month old tomorrow!). Still not sure how I managed that one. For some reason, I've ended up with vintage Pelikan 4001 Green in a ring around my eyes and a line on my forehead even on days when I didn't touch the stuff or have it loaded in any pens.

Regards,
Aaron

Meh! Really, what does it matter if you've got ink on your hands!?!

Don't listen if people bother you about it - it's got nothing to do with being an adult, and it has no influence on how successful you will be at whatever you do. I wasn't going to post anything, because a lot of other people already have, but then, I decided to anyways, because people used to nag me about ink and fountain pens. In fact, a lot of people seem to think it's a complete joke to use a fountain pen in university. But honestly, in the end, all that mattered was the quality of work I produced and how well I did on exams. Besides, anything that needs to look really good in real life typically has to be typed anyways, like reports, papers...etc. So yeah! I say use a fountain pen and if people bother you about inky fingers, tell them to stuff it! (well, not in those words.... )

But, if it bothers you, I do recommend investing in a new Lamy safari, because they are really quite cheap to buy, and they have been fantastically solid pens in my experience. My Lamy has endured years of torture, and it just keeps writing, without any leak. Also, I've found that Waterman ink (I have blue-black, and I'm probably going to get a bottle of florida blue soon, just because it would be a good staple to have handy) is the best for not getting out of the pen except onto the paper. I love private reserve ink, and I'm going to get a bottle of PR electric ss blue, but my experience with their American Blue has definitely resulted in a lot of ink on my hands, and everything else in the vicinity.

The nice thing about fountain pens is they won't go bad while they're waiting for you to use them again. When you get past that fidgety stage, they'll still be waiting for you, ready to be used and enjoyed again. And you never know, you might fall in love with your new hooded pen, too!

I find this part of this topic amusing--my wife rolls her eyes at me and my collection of pens and ink bottles (this is the part of the hobby that's getting out of control). She is fairly tolerant of my occasionally-inky fingers, unless I've been using something that poses a particular problem. (Baystate Blue that seemed to leap out of the bottle and get all over my hands--that got some looks. The final traces disappeared from around my nails just a couple of days ago, after maybe a week.) I've had female co-workers comment as well; I think some of them find it endearing. Either that or they think I've lost my mind. What we all need is someone who will tolerate, even celebrate, our little eccentricities, right? Don't give up your pens--just 1) learn to handle them properly and 2) get good equipment. I had cheap Sheaffers all through college that seemed hell-bent on leaking. It may have been a combination of poor technique (I recall having my fingers in the wrong places as well) and cheap construction, but now I have better pens and fewer ink stains.

Well for the time being I am going to continue getting ink on my hands and adults who don't like it will just have to deal with it!

At least it proves I am writing and doing schoolwork.

Today I took a drive into town and bought myself a bottle of green ink. I think it will make a nice change, and it will be interesting seeing my fingers stained with a different colour. I am going to have to clean my main pen out later today so I can refill it with green ink.

ANSWER = NO!

But, of course if you really do insist on non-inky fingers, then just forget about FPs. Get rid of 'em today!

Mike

At some point, though, I decided it was silly to be ashamed of my speckled hands, and began to wear them as a sort of badge of honor. Don't get me wrong, when I blurp Aurora Black all over my hands I sprint to the bathroom as fast as the next person, but if I can't get it off I carry on without giving it a second thought. Now when someone asks me what the heck I have gotten all over my hands, I reply with a quick grin and a chuckle, instead of resignation or embarrassment. More often than not this serves to make whomever I am talking to interested in fountain pens rather than turned off by them. You'd be amazed at how much your attitude can influence the responses of people around you.
[/quote]
Exactly. Now they ask who made the ink.

You might try using Pilot Varsity pens. Since the ink supply is sealed inside of the pen, there are fewer leakage opportunities--though you'll still need to hold the section, NOT the feed, when writing. (The feed's function is to transport ink by capillary action, and it doesn't care whether it transports the ink to the nib on the paper or to your skin. Anything touching it receives its contents.)

I started using Varsitys for travel after my trusty Phileas leaked South Sea Blue on me during a formal meeting with clients. There I was, busily taking notes, and not noticing for some hours that my hand was now as teal as my company's logo. No one said anything about it, but for the next client trip I left the Phileas at the office.

Fiddling with the pen is not only a "guy thing." I tend to check my pen's ink level repeatedly during in-office meetings that don't require continuous note-taking.

I used to get ink on my fingers with Shaeffer no-nonsense pens when I was in school. I think the problem is just that cheap pens aren't that good at not leaking.

Since I evolved to better pens (some Waterman Hemispheres, Carene and even a fairly cheap Phileas), I don't tend to get inky fingers and I always bottle fill or syringe fill.

Before giving up on real pens, try a decent quality one for a while.

Right after filling, I wipe the nib and let it sit point up while open for a minute or two. This lets the nib exterior dry so that ink can't easily wick its way around nib & to section lip. Though not really necessary for inks with decent surface tension and quick drying properties. When using Diamine umber or Waterman's Florida blue, the ink will wick right between the tines while leaving the bottle. Maybe the thirsty tine effect can be party attributed to the "blue magic" I waxed nib exteriors with. Careful not to wax places where ink should be (tine slit, tip, etc) would probably cause poor flow. Some inks, Noodler's legal lapis for instance, has a sort of unavoidable inclination for reaching places it shouldn't be.

Cartridges always leak on me but converters work fine. Definitely don't carry old eyedroppers to school
Parker 45 with squeeze converter may be a good school pen choice. Shook this one up pretty good, still clean inside..

Hey Matt -

Inky fingers are a mark of the fountain pen fraternity (for about a day - then they are annoying and weird).

If you think you are inking your fingers while refilling your pen from an ink bottle, then wear latex gloves during the filling.

Remember that after filling the pen from an ink bottle, there will be ink on the section (the grip) and in the little crevices - you have to use several damp paper towels until ALL of this ink is removed from the section.

If your pen is clean when you start to write (no initial ink staining), and yet the pen still stains your fingers as you continue to write, then you either have a flow blockage in the pen, or you have a leak. To resolve a flow blockage, flush the pen well with water and soak the nib and section overnight in clear water. If the flush and soak does not fix the problem, then you have a leak which requires a pen repair guy.

If you think 95% of the staining comes from idly fiddling with the uncapped pen and brushing against the nib, then I have a different fix for you:

Buy a Namiki Pilot Vanishing Point Fountain Pen. (no affiliation, your mileage may vary, objects in this mirror may appear...) The VP has a retractable nib actuated by a ballpoint-style button at the top of the barrel. Click to expose the nib - click to retract the nib. The nib does not dry out, because the retracted nib is pulled behind an airtight trap door inside the pen. The nib is small, so you will be less prone to extend your grip down onto the nib surface. You can buy them at most pensellers. Richard Binder tests every pen he sells before shipping to assure peak performance: www.richardspens.com - and yes he ships to the UK. By using a VP, you can develop the habit of clicking and retracting the nib with each pause in writing so that the pen you fiddle with no longer has an exposed inky target for your clean hands to find. This is the pen I use daily in my office, though for a different reason. I have a lot of stops and starts in my writing, and I find that many traditional fountain pens dry out over the minutes between my notes - requiring the awkward French nib kissing maneuver to restart their flow. A colleague saw me do this once and commented, "Not dating enough?"

Don't give up on the fountain pen. You'd be trading inky fingers for writers' cramp - not a good trade.

"Even reading all the posts I cannot work out exactly how you get ink on your hands... "

Well here's an absolutely simple answer. If you ever happen to change change ink in any pen -- maybe you just don't -- then you'll likely wipe the nib with a piece of kleenex or toilet paper or whatever, whereby at least a bit of ink goes through the paper right into your fingers.
No problem for me, even though I do have plastic gloves but do not use them here.... Not necessary (for me).

Mike

It's possible to perfect your technique to avoid that, but you might end up using more paper. I tend to try holding the paper back away from where I think the ink will deposit. I have maybe a 50% success rate.

well here I am back at college and after a month of spotless fingers it's back to the blue stains again.

Yes, I've stuck with fountain pens and the adults who complain get short shrift now. I'm 17, as far as i am concerned inky fingers mean i'm working hard on my college work! The ink on my fingers comes from hours and hours of writing..

Anyway this term i am trying to be a bit more careful, the ink i have on me at the moment is just on the fingertips where I hold the pen, that's all. SO it's not like most people will even notice.