Cleaning With Vinegar?

[oneill]

I have found that vinegar is very useful for removing sediment from old stopped up shower heads and the like (50/50 vinegar to water mix). I am wondering if this mixture would be useful in clearing out old ink sediment from older pens with flow issues. But, I sure don't want to hurt my pens. Any thoughts?

I would only use 10 to1 and use distilled water it is better to be cautious but5 it is a very good

cleaner, I have been using it for years with no bad effects,Trust me, Omeill

[Johane]

Off topic question... How do I get ink off of my hands? It's not too bad because I was being careful, but now my hands are a lovely shade of Smurf blue splotches... Thanks!

(Like I said... a complete newbie at this! lol)

Johane

[Sandy1]

Hi,

 

I've rarely used vinegar to clean-up / recover a pen. ( I have the good fortune that our water is soft.)

 

So unless the pen has a distinct mineral deposit, after the usual gentle clean-up, could a vinegar (acetic acid) be considered. (I would consider that a one-time thing - not routine maintenanc.)

 

I have no suggestions as to how to go about the safe use of acetic acid, though I will caution against the commercial 'scale removers', that may be too aggressive.

 

We await he ongoing contributions of other Members

 

Bye,

S1

[praxim]

(edit: re getting ink off your hands)

 

Amodex and other products which may be mentioned do a fine job, as does washing your hair.

 

There are threads about this around the place.

Edited February 3, 2018 by praxim

[Blaithin]

Necro-ing old thread just to add some experience with Vinegar solution and mold infestations. TL;DR I vouch wholeheartedly for vinegar...especially for infestations that have taken deep root into porous materials (not sure if plastic, celluloid, ebonite, and metals are porous enough for deep infestations).

 

I'm completely new to fountain pens, and haven't really bought or tried any FPs yet, but thought I could contribute with my first post.

 

Anywho, I thought one of my older nightmare encounters with mold infestation would be a reassuring addition with regards to a vinegar solution's effectiveness to mold in applications where mold tends to infest more deeply and, thusly, are harder to get rid of.

 

Moving on....I have had mold infest some of my bespoke shoes. Namely, Yohei Fukuda, John Lobb Paris, and Gaziano & Girling...mentioning the brands to point out that infestations on shoes of this caliber are probably about as nightmarish as having the nib and insides of a high...high-end fountain pen coated in moldy fuzz. That, and the fact that leather is very porous and prone to deep mold infestations that can't easily be killed.

 

So anyways, I hadn't used these particular pairs in quite a while and decided to take them out only to find that the sides of the soles and parts of the upper were coated in splotches of white mold. At first, I used a very liberal helping of bleach for my wipe down. I did multiple passes inside and out to make sure I infused every nook and cranny with a good amount of bleach. I observed them after about a week or so, and things seemed fine until the mold re-surfaced with a vengeance on all three pairs roughly around the 4th week mark.

 

Did some additional reading, and found out that bleach isn't particularly effective for deep mold infestations because of the way molds react to it aka they do the mold equivalent of running away from bleach. Bleach also doesn't tend to penetrate as deeply (supposedly, but my anecdotal experience seems to corroborate this).

 

Decided I'd try the "superior" suggested solution of 50/50 vinegar and water just to be sure. I just used normal cheap vinegar you can buy by the gallon in the supermarket. Performed pretty much the same thorough wipe down that I did with bleach.

 

And...

 

it's been about a year since I used that vinegar solution, and I haven't seen hide nor hair of the molds resurfacing on any of the three pairs. The vinegar smell never really stuck past the first few hours...if anything, the shoes went from smelling like perfumed Saphir shoe cream to completely odorless. Testament to the effectiveness of vinegar.

 

Addtl question (throwing this here cause the forum structure still confuses me):

 

I've been reading around, and does it still hold true that Sailor [and Iroshizuku] use Phenol in their inks? I have a chance to acquire some Kobe Nagasawa inks at an okay price from a local pen retailer....just that they're NOS so not sure what to expect from them if they don't have biocides in them.

 

Edited April 11, 2022 by Blaithin
Added question

[AlexLeGrande]

How would vinegar work on removing stubborn nib and feed assemblies?  I have a Ratnamson Supreme with an ebonite nib? and a broken stainless steel nib that I'm trying, so far unsuccessfully, to remove.

[Arkanabar]

Just to touch base with people, and the use of both vinegar and bleach in medicine.

 

Distilled white vinegar is generally 5% acetic acid.  I've used 0.25% acetic acid in nursing.

 

Conventional laundry bleach is 3% sodium hypochlorite.  I've seen disinfectant bleach with concentrations as high as 7.5%.  Full strength Dakin solution is a topical antiseptic made with 0.5% sodium hypochlorite, with buffering agents to limit breakdown.  I've used dilutions as as low as 1/4 that strength (i.e., 0.125% sodium hypochlorite) to prevent infection in wounds.  I've been told that liquid chlorine bleach has a half-life of six months, but I can't guarantee the accuracy of that statement.  Apparently it varies with concentration and temperature.  Home made Dakin solution reportedly has a shelf life of 24 hours.

[ParramattaPaul]

18 minutes ago, Arkanabar said:

Just to touch base with people, and the use of both vinegar and bleach in medicine.

 

Distilled white vinegar is generally 5% acetic acid.  I've used 0.25% acetic acid in nursing.

 

Conventional laundry bleach is 3% sodium hypochlorite.  I've seen disinfectant bleach with concentrations as high as 7.5%.  Full strength Dakin solution is a topical antiseptic made with 0.5% sodium hypochlorite, with buffering agents to limit breakdown.  I've used dilutions as as low as 1/4 that strength (i.e., 0.125% sodium hypochlorite) to prevent infection in wounds.  I've been told that liquid chlorine bleach has a half-life of six months, but I can't guarantee the accuracy of that statement.  Apparently it varies with concentration and temperature.  Home made Dakin solution reportedly has a shelf life of 24 hours.

Co-incidentaly, I happen to have a bottle of Dakins for anticeptic purposes.  Admittedly it is not particularly acidic, but I would hesitate to use it or any acetic acid on an ebonite section.