What's A Good Solvent For Silicone Grease?

[ParkerDuofold]

Hello everyone,

 

I'm not sure if this is the right department or not, but I have a couple of Indian pens made of ebonite, (they're both eyedroppers).

 

I'd like to give them a good flushing out, but I don't want to wash the silicone grease on threads down into where the feed is.

 

What's the best thing to use to strip and clean all the grease off before I flush the pens out? Any help would be greatly appreciated; thanks in advance.

 

- Anthony

[Ladyinheels58]

i would think dawn dish liquid woud be okay since most pen when they come from purchase places should be washed with dawn to remove packing oils etc . i would use and old tooth brush on the outside threads of the cap does that make sense ? and when you dry it out the barrel where the ink was use a cotton swab such a s a q tip . I hope I have helped if not then maybe someone else will come along with a better idea ...I have an eye dropper too and someone told me beeswax is a good thing to use in place of the silicone grease and you can get beewax in the craft dept of wal mart for a couple of bucks .

[FOUR X FOUR]

Are you able to remove the nib

[virgilio]

Try 99% rubbing alcohol. There are many others, such as PST silicone grease remover, but rubbing alcohol is the most readily available.

[virgilio]

By the way, I have had bad experiences using the auto-type silicone lubricant in pens; it gets into the ink and gunks up the pen. Fortunately ordinary warm water will clean THAT out, as it seems to acutally dissolve in the ink, and then stick to the feed.

 

Always use genuine silicone grease to grese pen pistons.

[ParkerDuofold]

i would think dawn dish liquid woud be okay since most pen when they come from purchase places should be washed with dawn to remove packing oils etc . i would use and old tooth brush on the outside threads of the cap does that make sense ? and when you dry it out the barrel where the ink was use a cotton swab such a s a q tip . I hope I have helped if not then maybe someone else will come along with a better idea ...I have an eye dropper too and someone told me beeswax is a good thing to use in place of the silicone grease and you can get beewax in the craft dept of wal mart for a couple of bucks .

Hello Ladyinheels,

 

Thanks for the info; Dawn sounds pretty safe and I'm gonna get a block of beeswax- that sounds a lot easier to clean off.

 

Thanks,

 

Anthony

[ParkerDuofold]

Are you able to remove the nib

Thanks 4x4. This would be the perfect fail-safe move; I'm pretty sure their friction fit... as long as I can put the feed and nib back w/o messing up the flow, etc. The pens are by Ranga and were done by Mr. P himself... they work great and I'd hate to mess it up. Lol.

 

- Anthony

[ParkerDuofold]

By the way, I have had bad experiences using the auto-type silicone lubricant in pens; it gets into the ink and gunks up the pen. Fortunately ordinary warm water will clean THAT out, as it seems to acutally dissolve in the ink, and then stick to the feed.

 

Always use genuine silicone grease to grese pen pistons.

Thanks Virgillio,

 

Yes, I do have alcohol, both rubbing and denatured, I could use that if the Dawn doesn't cut it.

 

Yes, I use pure grease that I got from the Goulet's.

 

Thanks again,

Anthony

[PaganArcher]

Frankly, I would NOT use rubbing alcohol. It could have some rather devastating effects depending on the material your pen is made from.

[ParkerDuofold]

Frankly, I would NOT use rubbing alcohol. It could have some rather devastating effects depending on the material your pen is made from.

Hello Paganarcher,

 

The pens in question are 100% ebonite... is that a problem???

 

- Anthony

[PaganArcher]

Hello Paganarcher,

 

The pens in question are 100% ebonite... is that a problem???

 

- Anthony

Not as big a problem as with some plastics, but I did have my ebonite Neponset shift color somewhat after grabbing the wrong bottle from my shelf. May have been a one off incident, I've only been in this game a few years after all, but not something I would chance again.

 

Your walk may lead you elsewhere, and others may chime in with more experience than I possess. I only know what I experienced and had to buff back to normal.

[ParkerDuofold]

Not as big a problem as with some plastics, but I did have my ebonite Neponset shift color somewhat after grabbing the wrong bottle from my shelf. May have been a one off incident, I've only been in this game a few years after all, but not something I would chance again.

 

Your walk may lead you elsewhere, and others may chime in with more experience than I possess. I only know what I experienced and had to buff back to normal.

Thanks for the input; I think I'll err on the side of caution and hope the Dawn does the trick.

 

- Anthony

[sciumbasci]

I use a solution of ammonia and water

[FarmBoy]

On a vintage hard rubber pen you really want to avoid water. On most pens you really want to avoid washing them in water. Try lighter fluid or some other hydrocarbon. Alcohols are really not much better than water when it comes to discoloring black rubber.

Use wax (bee's works well) instead of silicone oil or a heavy hydrocarbon based Apiezon grease.

[Flounder]

You know how rosin sealant is castor oil with rosin? I just found out that rubber grease is castor oil thickened with calcium soap! A 'pure' version might be handy in the OP's context.

[ParkerDuofold]

Hello all,

 

I think in the final analysis, I'll try the lighter fluid to strip the grease and beeswax to re-seal them after they've been flushed and rinsed.

 

Thanks much,

 

Anthony