I had this bottle of microcrystalline wax for few months and I tried to applied in some BHR pens and I got heavy discoloration. I tried on both pens and it messed things up in both. Thanks god I did not apply to a good BHR pen.
Come to think of it, I smell the presence of a strong solvant in this product, so no doubt it caused problems. In principle is supposed to protect not to accelerate discoloration .... Anyone else with similar problems?


PS> My source was e-bay. I can not recall if it is the same seller but the bottle looks like the one here

I use Renaissance Wax at work, I have found that it hardens and goes off if it's left in a cold place and if you use too much it leaves a white residue. Other than cold, I haven't found that it goes off quickly and some of our tins are a couple of years old and still in fine condition. In terms of our usage of Renaissance Wax on metalwork etc, it can be removed using white spirit, but I don't think I'd want to try that on a fountain pen!

I noticed the residue but it is not an issue. My problem is that the discoloration got worse. In one case it was a RRHR that was very mildly discolored and the wax really made it almost yellow

Antonios, thanks for the warning. This is very serious indeed.
Just to reassure my customers (and I apologise if I use your post), the Tryphon Museum Wax is NOT the same product used by Antonios and it has been tested on BHR pens and caused NO discoloration at all. In fact, I use as a protectant on BHR pens with great results. I only sell products that I use myself and that I find of outstanding value and performance.

The product I used is called:
Renaissance micro-crstalline wax and is made by
Picreator Enterprises Ltd. 44 Park View Gardens, London NW4-2PN.

DEFENITELY KEEP IT AWAY FROM YOU HARD RUBBER

It was not advertised specifically for HR pens but it has been mentioned several times in the FP boards. Anyway - Gio, I will be ordering from you soon....

I like Giovanni's wax and use it on most of my pens, even though they're not hard rubber.

I was surprised to hear about the negative results with the microcrystalline wax--I guess because we used it (hot with a roller) at the library to mount items for our archives and I've always thought of it as a "safe" product.

Antonios, who knows what actually this ebayer sold you.

But having said that, I notice that Renaissance wax includes things refined from crude oil. I have been warned that petroleum derived products are not kind to rubber Perhaps that is the case here too.

Well, till now from back channel discussions we have the following.
First there is a solvent in the microcrystalline wax.
Second a very small quantity needs to be applied quickly in order to allow the evaporation to occur very quickly.
I believe that I have been applying too much. I am going to play with it again.

It seems to me that there should be a warning about the wax given to the pen collecting community.
And I am not sure if limiting the exposure time is sufficient to prevent any interaction with the hard rubber.

Every site I have been to recommends using a "minimal amount" or applying a "light coat." Some actually emphasis it to the extent of saying "very, very, little amount" You should probably also not let the wax sit on any material for longer than 15 to 30 seconds before wiping/buffing. I think almost all waxes must use some type of a solvent as a "carrier" of the stuff that gets left behind after the buffing. It could also be that the can you bought off ebay has gone bad or was not stored in a proper environment.

It seems like this particular wax is used for just about everything. So perhaps it is your using too much of it, or you have a deteriorated can of it, or your pen was in such shape that this was going to happen no matter what was you used.

There is also the possibility that the pens you have had been shabilly blackened and the wax/ploish took off the bad paint job, exposing the true extent of the discoloration.

Yes, I think this was my mistake.

No, there were not blackened. I have a single blackened pen (courtesy of Giovanni). But I have not touched that.

I will report new data, soon

Good luck! You may want to try it again on only a tiny area, just in case....