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Pen Flush: Buy Or Make Your Own?


learningsquare

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This has probably been discussed extensively elsewhere on these forums, so I'll try not to belabor the point. By now I've bought and run through several of bottles of pen flush (both Goulet and J.B.'s), and the pennies are starting to add up, not necessarily in terms of the flush itself but in terms of the shipping (assuming I don't order anything along with the flush), which typically doubles the effective cost of the flush. And then I have to wait a few days for the flush to arrive.

 

With all due respect, given that the primary "active" ingredient is just ammonium hydroxide plus some detergents, why shouldn't I just get distilled water and ammonia by the gallon and just mix my own? I realize many on FPN just make their own flush, but still, is there a perceptible difference between a homemade flush recipe and the commercially available pen flushes? In other words, is there some magic ingredient in the proprietary mixes that makes it superior, or is it just the same as the (non-existent) difference between Tylenol and a generic alternative? My intuition tells me no, but then again the pen-loving individuals who make the commercial pen flushes don't seem exactly like the types to try to bankroll other fountain pen addicts for no reason.

 

Nathan of Noodler's fame offers the following comment (to which I found the link from FPGeeks):

How to clean pens? You can use JUST two of those coins to buy a WHOLE GALLON of ammonia that has NO damaging alcohols or acetones – or gallon of bleach with no shipping charges at your local store…ammonia rinses most inks and already is based in pure water, no need for anything more costly. 40% bleach and tap water is a rinse only used for Baystate inks (FYI/IQ test: “ink can stain” and “bleach never mixes with ammonia”!). If you pay more for ammonia and water…please note, any Yankee would find that a bit odd. Noodler’s will thus never be issuing any pen rinse!!! It is approximately $1.20 a gallon with no shipping at your local store!

 

Maybe this is asking too much, but if anyone has any actual data (not just anecdote) comparing different commercially available flushes to a simple diluted ammonia mix, I'd be interested in taking a look.

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so far i've not needed any pen flush fancier than tap water with some dish soap, but on this one subject i can agree with mr. Tardif. if a home-made ammonia dilution failed to work for me, then i might consider buying pre-made pen flush, but mixing my own and seeing how that works is definitely plan A.

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I suspect there is probably not a lot of difference between Ammonia water with some Dawn dish detergent added and commercial pen flushes excluding Rapido-Eze. (It's some pretty Special stuff.)

 

The "secret" would be getting the correct percentages of Ammonia and Dawn.

 

The commercial products have Already figured out the correct amounts of the ingredients in their products.

 

I don't give a damn What Nathan says, I'm not getting bleach Anywhere Near my pens and ESPECIALLY not near any Ammonia since that produces deadly Chlorine gas.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

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Two thumbs up Bruce, and thanks for warning folks about the bleach & ammonia concern. You can also get nitrogen trichloride, which is highly toxic. On the other hand the money you save might cover a couple of aspirin.

"History Teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives." Abba Eban

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Unless you're using a commercial formulation like Pen Flush or Goulet's every time you flush your pens, their price is really negligible.

 

Since I joined FPN three years ago & have read all about the ins & outs of pen cleaning, I've probably flushed my pens more often than I have in the previous 60 years.

 

I wonder if these days we're cleaning our pens more than need be?

Lately it is only the pens that I fill with iron gall inks that get any special treatment.

*Sailor 1911S, Black/gold, 14k. 0.8 mm. stub(JM) *1911S blue "Colours", 14k. H-B "M" BLS (PB)

*2 Sailor 1911S Burgundy/gold: 14k. 0.6 mm. "round-nosed" CI (MM) & 14k. 1.1 mm. CI (JM)

*Sailor Pro-Gear Slim Spec. Ed. "Fire",14k. (factory) "H-B"

*Kaweco SPECIAL FP: 14k. "B",-0.6 mm BLS & 14k."M" 0.4 mm. BLS (PB)

*Kaweco Stainless Steel Lilliput, 14k. "M" -0.7 mm.BLS, (PB)

 

 

 

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  • I primarily use filtered water for my flushing, sometimes with a few drops of dishwashing detergent.
  • On more difficult stuff I will use 1:10 solution of ammonia and water. I use this to clean used pens where I think the water + detergent is not cleaning the ink sac or barrel reservoir.
  • On really difficult stuff I increase the ammonia ratio and have gone up to a 1:1 solution of ammonia and water. I think I had to do this only 3 or 4 times.

And the ones that REALLY NEEDED the cleaning were used pens that I bought.

The worst FP offenders were red ink followed by purple ink in a Parker 51 vacumatic. These color inks just did not want to let go of the pens. And a vacumatic is a difficult pen to clean to begin with.

The worst offender was an unknown ink in an Esterbrook dipless inkwell. My suspicion is india ink or dip pen ink, as I had to go up to 1:1 ammonia solution to clean the gunk out of the inkwell and its parts.

Edited by ac12

San Francisco Pen Show - August 28-30, 2020 - Redwood City, California

www.SFPenShow.com

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Most of the time plain water is fine.

 

For general cleaning: 500 ml water (tap is fine, filtered is better, distilled if you prefer), 50 ml ammonia (non foaming/sudzing), 1 drop dish soap (nothing fancy, you don't need to soften your hands).

 

For more thorough cleaning of clogged pens: Koh-I-Noor Rapio-Eze.

 

The pre mixed flushes work fine but as you have found can become pricey. You can make gallons for the price of one small bottle.

Edited by Wile E Coyote

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

-Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

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Here's my reversed-engineered flush, based on looking over many other FPN postings, comments and personal experience. After the initial expenses (especially the PhotFlo), the mix works as well as the commercial flushes except for Rapido eze which is, after all, going "nuclear".

Makes close to a gallon which lasts for months.I use the Rapido eze for pens that haven't seen ink or daylight for decades. For everything else, including new pens like Watermans, this flush works for me.

 

DISTILLED WATER: 3000 ml

AMMONIA: 333 ml

DAWN DETERGENT: 60 ml

PHOTO-FLO 15 ml

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The ingredients of a well-known pen flush are: "distilled water, ammonia, biodegradable anionic surfactants, ethanol."

 

In an effort to replicate this product, I mixed two parts Formula 409 All-Purpose Cleaner (ingredients) and one part Clorox Green Works Free and Clear dishwashing liquid (ingredients).

 

Recent thread: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/251140-looking-for-pen-flush-recipe/

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I don't give a damn What Nathan says, I'm not getting bleach Anywhere Near my pens and ESPECIALLY not near any Ammonia since that produces deadly Chlorine gas.

I agree with you in that I would never dare to use bleach either, but let's be fair to Nathan. My reading of his advice is that he advocates for the use of bleach only for something as saturated as Baystate Blue (which most of us wouldn't put in an heirloom pen in the first place), and only then without the presence of any ammonia.

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I make my own. Distilled water (because my tap water is super hard -- I don't want the mineral deposits that accumulates on the faucet clogging up my pen), clear ammonia, and a little Dawn dish detergent. I can buy the distilled water and the ammonia by the gallon at my local grocery store, and make it up as needed in a heavy glass votive candle holder I got at Target for a buck.

I'll admit that I just sort of eyeball the amount of ammonia, and do a couple of drops of the Dawn (it's near the bottom of the bottle, so it's hard to make it come out of the bottle in anything remotely like accurately). I'll flush the pen a few times beforehand, then flush with the solution (and maybe soak the pen, nib down (or, remove the nib unit and/or converter and soak those separately) for a while as well, then flush well with more distilled water.

The only change to this is if I'm flushing out iron gall inks, in which case I will do a white vinegar solution flush before doing an ammonia flush, and rinse with distilled water in between.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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  • 11 months later...

This string is now pretty old. Is JB Pen flish still made and sold anywhere? I quite like it, but I now need a new bottle. Richard no longer seems to have it on his website.

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Goulet have their version of pen flush. http://www.gouletpens.com/pen-cleaning-supplies/c/297

When I started running out of JB Perfect Pen Flush, I tried out the product above. Works very well.

*Sailor 1911S, Black/gold, 14k. 0.8 mm. stub(JM) *1911S blue "Colours", 14k. H-B "M" BLS (PB)

*2 Sailor 1911S Burgundy/gold: 14k. 0.6 mm. "round-nosed" CI (MM) & 14k. 1.1 mm. CI (JM)

*Sailor Pro-Gear Slim Spec. Ed. "Fire",14k. (factory) "H-B"

*Kaweco SPECIAL FP: 14k. "B",-0.6 mm BLS & 14k."M" 0.4 mm. BLS (PB)

*Kaweco Stainless Steel Lilliput, 14k. "M" -0.7 mm.BLS, (PB)

 

 

 

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I purchased a bottle of Goulet pen flush and yes, it works fine. However, when I read the list of ingredients, it's just water, ammonium hydroxide (ammonia dissolved in water) and "biodegradable surfactants". It's been over four decades since my undergraduate days but a surfactant is simply something that lessens the surface tension between two liquids or a liquid and a solid. Liquid dish detergent (as in Dawn) is a "biodegradable surfactant".

 

So I looked up home recipes for pen flush and the most common one is a ten percent solution of common household ammonia (not the scented or sudsy kind... the plain stuff... cheap like borscht) and a drop or two of liquid dish detergent.

 

So, two tablespoons of ammonia (about 30 cc's) and a cup of water (250 cc's) gives you a ten percent solution (close enough). Add a drop or two of Dawn and you've got pen flush.

Ink has something in common with both money and manure. It's only useful if it's spread around.

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  • 1 year later...

This string is now pretty old. Is JB Pen flish still made and sold anywhere? I quite like it, but I now need a new bottle. Richard no longer seems to have it on his website.

If you're in the Washington, DC area, Fahrney's and Bertram's Inkwell carry JBs. Not sure if Pen Boutique and Paradise Pens do. A quick phone call would answer that question.

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  • 1 month later...

I purchased a bottle of Goulet pen flush and yes, it works fine. However, when I read the list of ingredients, it's just water, ammonium hydroxide (ammonia dissolved in water) and "biodegradable surfactants". It's been over four decades since my undergraduate days but a surfactant is simply something that lessens the surface tension between two liquids or a liquid and a solid. Liquid dish detergent (as in Dawn) is a "biodegradable surfactant".

 

So I looked up home recipes for pen flush and the most common one is a ten percent solution of common household ammonia (not the scented or sudsy kind... the plain stuff... cheap like borscht) and a drop or two of liquid dish detergent.

 

So, two tablespoons of ammonia (about 30 cc's) and a cup of water (250 cc's) gives you a ten percent solution (close enough). Add a drop or two of Dawn and you've got pen flush.

 

Thanks for explaining and summarizing this for me Piper. If stored in a clean and "air tight" bottle, any idea how long this might last? Could I get 6 months out of it? I ask as sometimes I go 2-4 months between cleaning sessions, and it would be good to know that leftovers can be carried forward for the next time.

Edited by jugtree
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Thanks for explaining and summarizing this for me Piper. If stored in a clean and "air tight" bottle, any idea how long this might last? Could I get 6 months out of it? I ask as sometimes I go 2-4 months between cleaning sessions, and it would be good to know that leftovers can be carried forward for the next time.

 

That's a good question. I don't have an answer, myself -- I mix up a fresh batch every time (sometimes multiple times if a pen is really gunked up with ink, or is a hard to flush color like purple. I only mix up a little at time (I use a heavy, straight sided glass votive candle holder, which cost a buck at Target, and if I have to soak a pen nib and feed, I use a plastic clothespin to hold the pen upright, leaning the clothespin on the edges of the holder). I just mostly eyeball the mix -- fill the holder half to two thirds of the way with distilled water, add a drop or two of Dawn, and then a quick glug of ammonia. I don't flush back into the mix -- just into a plastic dishpan or directly down the drain. Ditto for when I'm rinsing with distilled water. Oh and if stuff is really messy, I also pour a little bit of the mix into the cap, for the ink that's burped, and sometimes also try to clean the threads or the innermost part of the cap with damp Q-tips. I really am considering getting a bulk order of the extra long cotton swabs from someplace on Amazon like a medical supply; I tried some foam-headed plastic swabs from Pat Catan's (discount craft store chain) but the foam doesn't stay on the plastic ends very well, as opposed to the regular swabs.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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