Importance Of Cleaning Your Pens

[Gudi]

Today I emptied my Lamy Vista and cleaned it using the bulb syringe method. After 200ml of water I was sure it could not have any more ink in it, but I decided to check and put the nib, grip and feed inside a glass full of water. To my surprise a lot of ink was still trapped somewhere inside it.

 

I think it's a nice image, however I apologize for the focus. It was taken with a portable cam and it's the best I could get. I hope you appreciate.

 

[pajaro]

So, what's the importance?

[DonLeone]

So, what's the importance?

 

I think it's just an artsy title.

 

Anywho... 200ml is not going to clean anything. I tend to take apart my pens and clean them that way but many advise against that because some pens are more fragile than others. Lamy I just take apart.

 

If I don't take em apart, I can let water flow through them for 1000 years and they'll still have ink in em.

 

One thing I used to do was dunk pens without metal parts into a container filled with water. I have some 100ml bottles with wide openings. Then put it on top of my PC or air conditioner or washing machine, basically anything that has a slight vibration. This usually knocked the ink out after a while. It also shows how incredibly cheap I am.

 

Importance though? Because I want to prevent SITP, stuff/slime in the pen, which I've had happen and is annoying. It may have been due to the odd formulation of the Herbin Inks that I bought during their transition during EU law changes... or it could be due to interaction between incompatible inks. I thoroughly clean between inkings of different inks. I mean, when changing colour.

[Gudi]

So, what's the importance?

I apologize if the topic title is not adequate. English is not my primary language and communicating some ideas can be tricky.

 

I always read that one should dunk the nib and feed of pre-owned pens in water for a night since a prior owner could let ink dry inside the pen. But this Vista is the pen on which I experiment new inks, so it's regularly flushed using the bulb syringe method (that I consider faster and more efficient than flushing with a converter). As it's frequently cleaned and I never let ink dry inside it, I was very surprised to see so much ink still trapped inside.

 

Maybe I should have named the thread "why you should dunk new pens nib and feed for a night" or something like it. Again, I apologize for any misunderstanding I might have caused.

[cherylmarie]

Love your idea of using the vibration from the washing machine!

 

I once got a lot of 4 nice pens from eBay for about $7 dollars each. They were about 20 years old and had been put away with ink in them and never cleaned. It took a lot of rinsing, but I got a great Phileas, Parker, and two others. I sold the two others, and added the Waterman and the Frontier to my personal collection.

 

I always try to find pens that need cleaning, my pen budget goes a lot further if I clean them up myself.

[secrep]

Using an inexpensive ultrasonic cleaner works quite well.

[WaskiSquirrel]

Except for certain inks (which are usually only for a specific pen anyway) I don't get too worried about getting my pen perfectly clean. The soak in water method is one of my preferred ways of cleaning pens, but even that doesn't always get all the ink out. As long as it's not discoloring the next ink I put in the pen, I don't worry too much. I may also flush the pen.

 

Of course, I don't buy used pens, at least not yet.

[rofl]

Using an inexpensive ultrasonic cleaner works quite well.

Especially useful for piston pens.