Cleaning Advice Please

[ru32day]

Looking for some help with removing residue of ink from my pen. The pen is a Platinum Plaisir and the ink is Noodler's Whaleman Sepia.

 

I used my normal process to clean the pen after the Sepia - water flushing, bulb whooshing, shaking water down through the nib then drawing water through the nib from a cartridge through capillary action into a tissue in a glass overnight. Everything seemed fine and looked clear.

 

But when I refilled with Diamine China Blue, the pen would write Whaleman'ish for a while before turning to blue, write blue for the rest of that session then start up Whaleman'ish again the next time.

 

I'm surmising that there is some sort of "film" from the Whaleman that won't coming off with water (or other ink for that matter).

 

I've seen many recommendations for using bleach or ammonia (but not both together). I've never used either. If one of these is the right answer, I'd like to try whichever is the safer first (I know it's a cheap pen, but it would be good to build up a process that I can reuse on more expensive pens if the need arises in the future). Some people have recommended dishwashing liquid and others have said this is caustic.

 

Can you give me some advice on what I should try first (bleach, ammonia, dishwashing liquid, or something else).

 

BTW I have also noticed the posts about the Koh-i-noor pen cleaner, but I'd have to find a supplier and import it (I'm in Australia). Aside from the time involved, postage makes this a less preferred alternative.

 

Thanks in advance for your help with this.

[Ron Z]

Never bleach, and most certainly never bleach and ammonia together! The result is quite toxic.

 

Sometimes an inconvenient material really is the best to use. I would recommend the Koh-i-noor pen cleaner. It works well and will not harm your pen. I had a Parker VP filler that was clogged with India ink. Persistent soaking with Rapidoeeze, running a wire in to clear a channel, and flushing over a period of 3 weeks cleared the pen of all of the ink.

 

If you want to try dish detergent, go ahead, but dilute it and rinse well after to get it all out of the pen.

[ru32day]

The order has been placed - it's so frustrating how difficult it is to buy simple things here - fancy having to import pen cleaner ... and forget trying to buy household ammonia that's not cloudy!

[Dplp1]

Ru32day,

 

Can you provide a link to where you imported the pen cleaner from? Fellow Aussie here needing to give my pens a clean too!

 

Cheers,

 

David

 

PS have you considered getting an ultrasonic cleaner? I have read favorable results on FPN

[Jack7770]

Synchronicity being what it is, I just came across a surprisingly good ink remover. It's called "Unbelievable INK-OUT" made by Core Products Co. in Texas. Usual disclaimers: I have no connection of any sort with the company. Here's my story.

 

I had soaked an Ivory Estie nurses's pen for several days without being able to remove severe black staining in the threads and what appeared to be residual red ink stain near the threads. I tried my ultrasonic cleaner with a little dish soap(Dawn) and ammonia; Amodex, toothpaste, baking soda, all to no avail. By chance, my invaluable wife, knowing the inevitable appearance of ink on fingers and clothing, had some time ago bought a 2 oz. INK-OUT somewhere. So, with nothing else working, I tried it. Miraculous results: the ivory Estie now looks almost mint, staining is gone, no damage to the pen. I couldn't be happier. A Google search gives a couple of sources. Unfortunately, the company doesn't provide a list of stores or distributors.

 

I haven't tried it for flushing and would be reluctant to do so without some junker-tests first. I should mention that this product is water based and seems to have nothing damaging to a pen.

 

[SamCapote]

Synchronicity being what it is, I just came across a surprisingly good ink remover. It's called "Unbelievable INK-OUT" made by Core Products Co. in Texas. Usual disclaimers: I have no connection of any sort with the company. Here's my story.

 

I had soaked an Ivory Estie nurses's pen for several days without being able to remove severe black staining in the threads and what appeared to be residual red ink stain near the threads. I tried my ultrasonic cleaner with a little dish soap(Dawn) and ammonia; Amodex, toothpaste, baking soda, all to no avail. By chance, my invaluable wife, knowing the inevitable appearance of ink on fingers and clothing, had some time ago bought a 2 oz. INK-OUT somewhere. So, with nothing else working, I tried it. Miraculous results: the ivory Estie now looks almost mint, staining is gone, no damage to the pen. I couldn't be happier. A Google search gives a couple of sources. Unfortunately, the company doesn't provide a list of stores or distributors.

 

I haven't tried it for flushing and would be reluctant to do so without some junker-tests first. I should mention that this product is water based and seems to have nothing damaging to a pen.

 

 

 

First thing I do when I hear about a new "miracle cleaner" is look at its MSDS. As a result, I would not be comfortable using this product on a pen, nor recommend it for anything other than removing ink stains from a fabric or carpet, while wearing protective rubber gloves. I put further links to each component. I report; you decide.

 

INGREDIENTS:

• Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether

• N-Methyl-1-Pyrolidone

• Methyl Salicylate

[Jack7770]

Thanks, Sam, for the warning, though I'd like a bit more detail regarding the risk to person or pen. Your warning seems excessive in terms of my experience. So far, one week later, the ivory Estie is clean, solid, and working without damage. Please note, I don't call it a miracle, just a cleaner that worked for me. (I don't believe in miracles of any sort.) Whether it works on all pens, I do not know, but I'll continue to use it as a last resort when conventional methods fail.

[ru32day]

Ru32day,

 

Can you provide a link to where you imported the pen cleaner from? Fellow Aussie here needing to give my pens a clean too!

 

Cheers,

 

David

 

PS have you considered getting an ultrasonic cleaner? I have read favorable results on FPN

 

Hi David

 

Here's the link Fastpenguins.

 

I ordered on 6 April and it arrived today, nicely packaged. Haven't tried it out yet.

 

I also bought an ultrasonic cleaner last week. After using the ultrasonic, the pen now writes in the right colour again - YIPPEE.

 

Cautionary note: I haven't used the ultrasonic enough to judge how well (or even if) it works - eg it could be that the last fill of the new ink managed to soak off the last of the previous ink and it was a coincidence that it was around the same time as I put it in the ultrasonic. This is more a comment on what I bought than ultrasonic cleaners in general - I bought at the low end of the range. I say this because, during cleaning, I didn't see ink come out of the nib as others have mentioned (of course it could have come out and immediately dissolved into the water). Since I've never seen one of these in operation before, I won't know for sure whether its working until I put something REALLY REALLY grubby in it. I tend to be a bit OCD about cleaning my pens well, so this may never happen

[SamCapote]

Thanks, Sam, for the warning, though I'd like a bit more detail regarding the risk to person or pen. Your warning seems excessive in terms of my experience. So far, one week later, the ivory Estie is clean, solid, and working without damage. Please note, I don't call it a miracle, just a cleaner that worked for me. (I don't believe in miracles of any sort.) Whether it works on all pens, I do not know, but I'll continue to use it as a last resort when conventional methods fail.

 

You did click on each of the component chemicals I had links for, right? If you need more detail, you are free to research it. It was enough for me to read that its chemicals I linked in my previous post (in addition to specific toxicity issues) are used for:

 

...solvent in paints and surface coatings, as well as cleaning products and inks, acrylic resin formulations, asphalt release agents, firefighting foam, leather protectors, oil spill dispersants, degreaser applications, photographic strip solutions, whiteboard cleaners, liquid soaps, cosmetics, dry cleaning solutions, lacquers, varnishes, herbicides, latex paints, dissolving acrylic paints, removing graffiti spraypaint from buildings, solvent for surface treatment of textiles, resins and metal coated plastics or as a paint stripper, etc. etc.

If you are comfortable recommending such an invasive product, untested for its effects on pen components, based on your experience of one Estie pen after a week, go for it.

 

Personally, I would never recommend anyone use it based on that MSDS and a brief review of these chemicals with any pen they cared about.