I live in an area of Britain with very hard water. When I occasionally rinse out fountain pens (Waterman, Parker, Pelikan) with cold tap water before refilling am I building up a potential blockage problem because of the chalkiness of the water?

If so, what's the recommended alternative? Soaking in water from bottles of straight ironing water? Adding a solution to the water? Just change ink and wait for the colour eventually to change? Take 'the life's too short' view and just get on with it?!

Thanks for any suggestions based on experience of this problem (if it is one).

Is "ironing water" distilled water? That is probably your best bet. Even if you do initial rinses with tap water, distilled water might be a good idea for the last 2-3 rinses, as any mineral content would be greatly diluted. If you feel you have any mineral buildup, (clear) vinegar diluted in water works relatively well to dissolve the minerals, and is milder than commercial solutions for the purpose. (In the US, we have a product called CLR, stands for Calcium, Lime, Rust, all of which it dissolves, but is slightly nasty stuff). Both are acid and should not be used with alkaline cleaners like ammonia.

I'm from a little city near the sea where the tap water is mineral water, like Perrier's or such. Acetic Acid (vinegar also) can cloud some plastics and will attack certain metals. Not a good idea. Use distilled water, perhaps you can get better pricing buying a big container from any automotive store (you should check that's not alcohol based refrigerant solution, ask if they carry just distilled water)

You're not saying that CLR ought to be used on fountain pens, are you? It's more than slightly nasty, though. The bottle of it that I have says to wear rubber gloves while using it.

Has anyone experienced mineral deposits in the feed of a pen just from cleaning it?

Hi,

I live in a hard water area and haven't had any issues yet and have been flushing with tap water for years.

Andy

Thank you for all your feedback. On balance a quick flush with tap water then filling with ink and writing to keep the inkflow moving sounds safest to me. Maybe some distilled water is OK, but perhaps someone knows if that carries new problems of its own? Andy's post is reassuring: this hobby is already obsessive enough as it is!

Hi! Sorry for coming in so late in the topic. We've got very hard water and I tend to use filtered water (we have a Puratap) in the kettle, etc.. I figure it's not as good on pens as distilled water, but isn't as inconvenient either, so a nice in-between.

We've got pretty hard water here, and I don't fret about soaking a point in it for a few hours... and long as it's a cool day and the evaporation rate is low. Rinsing I shouldn't worry about at all. If there is any concern, a 4L of distilled water is inexpensive and will last a good long time; peace of mind is worth something, after all.

If you are refilling your pen immediately after flushing with tap water, then the residual mineral content, however hard your tap water is, will be insignificant, and diluted by the ink. If flushing for storage, I would prefer the use of distilled or reverse osmosis water to prevent mineral deposition when the water (eventually) evaporates. If you are a stickler, just flush with distilled or reverse osmosis water. I have an RO system installed in my kitchen sink, and all my pens get the "good water." But really, I don't think it makes a significant difference.

Cheers.

Sorry - not been looking at the computer for a few days. Thanks everyone for your advice and all points taken on board.

Final question - is deionized water exactly the same as distilled water?

Thomas