Ultrasonic Cleaner And Celluloid

[64alex]

I have a beautiful Montegrappa eternal bird in celluloid and silver. The silver is a little bit tarnished and need cleaning which is difficult to be accomplished with a jewerly cloth in view of the intricate pattern of the silver sculpture. I was thinking about using an ultrasonic cleaner but I am very worried to damage the celluloid. So what is the best way to clean the silver portion of a pen which has celluloid? Any experience with ultrasonic cleaners?

Thanks.

[AltecGreen]

Take care.

 

 

See the picture below.

 

See the pen in Doug's hand (on the left) and the pen in Bert's hand (on the right). Both pens started life as cream and black like the pen on the left. The pen on the right is now a stunning blue and black after a spin in the ultrasonic cleaner to 'clean' off dried ink. Celluloid is porous.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8040/8061676831_7ed160c1db_z.jpg

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

I haven't had any problems with an ultrasonic cleaner and celluloid, but I recommend cleaning out the pen first first with a soak and water to get rid of residue before using an ultrasonic cleaner. I use the ultrasonic cleaner to remove any residue that does not come off with other methods, and it has made my clear celluloid windows clearer by removing caked on deposits and deposited dirt films.

 

I'm always wary of the celluloid shown in the picture above. It requires some more care. Some inks from the time period stain very aggressively and will attack celluloid and other materials like that if they are put in the same place in an ultrasonic cleaner. One should also make sure to use a good cleaning solution. Take care when using an ultrasonic leader, especially with pens with inlays among other things. (Inlaid nibs are usually fine though.)

 

Dillon

Edited November 25, 2012 by Dillo

[64alex]

Let me better explain. The pen has never been used and so the celluloid is pristine, there is no need to clean the celluloid nor there is any ink stain anywhere in the pen. The problem is that the silver sculpture is a little bit tarnished and if you know the complicate silver sculpture of the Montegrappa Eternal Bird it is very difficult to polish the silver in all the areas with a jeweler cloth. So the real problem is how to clean the silver without damaging the celluloid (and it looks the ultrasonic cleaner which should be able to clean the silver could damage the celluloid which as I said is pristine).

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

The celluloid should be fine. According to my recollection, there are only a few colors of celluloid that one needs to be careful with in an ultrasonic cleaner, and this is partly due to the way those colors seem to stain or be porous. I haven't had those problems any other celluloid pens that I have had.

 

That said, I'm not sure if that will polish the silver much if at all.

 

Dillon

Edited November 28, 2012 by Dillo

[humsin]

I like a little patina to my silver.