Best (Fastest) Method For Cleaning Ink Out Of An Ebonite Eye Dropper?

[Inkquest]

Hey guys, trying to clean out all ink remnants for a fresh color swap on an Aurora Nobile (retractable safety). It isn't dried or caked like and older eyedropper might be. I think I have just been using the same color golden brown ink for so long that it is stained. I'd love to put it through the sonic bath, but I know you're not supposed to soak hard rubber so thought it better to ask here first... Will one cycle of the sonic bath be harmful? or should I just continue to spray inside it with a syringe (done this many times, maybe 30 but the ejected water still has a little brownish inky tint)? I've been using only water without any soap or ammonia added.

[pen lady]

Can you physically swab out the barrel? I guess a Q-tip would be too short, try making a sheet of paper towel into a long twist, or if you have a wooden skewer wrap the end in a strip of paper towel. I would use a 10% ammonia solution with a drop of Dawn too.

[Inkquest]

Thanks pen lady, I can't swab inside it due to the retractable nib. The only item that will fit beyond the nib into the barrel is a syringe (like a watch oiler). I could inject a soap/ammonia solution, close it off and shake it around pretty good. Or let it sit for a while with the solution if no harm will come with a little prolonged contact with the ebonite.

[ac12]

Soak in water first, change the water 2x a day, and keep doing it until it comes out clean.

You can also try a technical pen cleaner.

[Inkquest]

Thanks ac12, so soaking an ebonite pen in water for a little while will not cause longer term damage? That is my concern -- all the comments about never soaking an ebonite pen. What actually happens with ebonite/hard rubber when soaked to lead to such comments? does that apply only to leaving it soaking for days at a time?

[pen lady]

I'd forgotten about the nib being in the way on a safety. I think you are right to be reluctant to soak an ebonite pen. Maybe just switch to another ink than won't look terrible if there's a touch of brown in there!

[Freddy]

Thanks ac12, so soaking an ebonite pen in water for a little while will not cause longer term damage? That is my concern -- all the comments about never soaking an ebonite pen. What actually happens with ebonite/hard rubber when soaked to lead to such comments? does that apply only to leaving it soaking for days at a time?

 

 

For your consideration...........................

 

Fill inside of the barrel with cool water...leave in cup nib up

over night.......................................

 

 

 

 

Repeat until water is clear.......It may take one day or ?

 

 

Fred

 

Slow is fast.........................

 

 

[alexander_k]

I'd use Quink Washable Blue a few times - a terrible ink but great cleaning fluid for ink remnants. The resulting colour could be interesting, too. I don't know if other Quink Washable inks do the same - one is more than enough for me.

[Komboloi]

For all the work entailed by the alternatives, your current method seems to be working, so I'd keep at it.

 

You say that you keep squirting water in, and inky water comes out. Voila. It's getting cleaner bit by bit. I think if you want it done right, you just need to continue being patient. You may find that the remaining ink reaches a point where it releases in a rush finally. Or you may find that the stuff you dump out gets paler and paler. But one way or another, if you keep at it, you will have clean water coming out and a clean pen.

[langere]

Yes, patience is key here. You are using the best and most conservative method. You just need to do it for a while.

 

Erick

[Inkquest]

Okay, it's pretty much clean. I used a combination of the methods suggested. I didn't have blue, so filled it with old Quink Brown with Solv-x (ghastly color, no matter how ugly the blue may be thought to be, this one is the Mother of Horrendous).. shook it around good. Let it sit nib up for about 24 hours, shaking it whenever I walked by. Then water sprayed it out several more times to clear the Quick.. until the water ran out clear. Seems to have worked. The new color appears exactly as it should.

 

Thanks for all the input.

Dave

[Goudy]

Waterman-style safeties can be harder to flush than standard eyedroppers. The internal helical mechanism presents a larger surface area for the ink to cling to. I usually flush multiple times with water applied with an eyedropper, while extending and retracting the nib a few times (which seems to release some trapped droplets). If the ink is really stubborn I use a 1:1 solution of water and pen flush (Rapido-Eze), followed by several water rinses.

 

Waterman's own instructions were to rinse a safety pen under a cold tap. I imagine that could be quite effective, with the pressure of the water helping to loosen the ink. But that approach may not be such a good idea with vintage ebonite.

 

http://i.imgur.com/AwBHJDs.png

[pen lady]

So, a possibly unanswerable question, but here goes.............. is it only vintage ebonite that discolours when soaked in water or did the same thing happen to new HBR pens many moons ago?

[Goudy]

The problem with water and ebonite mainly arises if the pen has been previously damaged by prolonged exposure to sunlight. New ebonite or very well preserved vintage ebonite is less susceptible.

[Inkquest]

The problem with water and ebonite mainly arises if the pen has been previously damaged by prolonged exposure to sunlight. New ebonite or very well preserved vintage ebonite is less susceptible.

 

So the possible water effects would be aesthetic rather than structural. You may have permanent water stains as opposed to swelling, cracking, etc? Is that correct? I remember reading many posts dissuading anyone from soaking ebonite, but I couldn't remember the reasons *why* that is.

[Goudy]

The only problems I've experienced with soaking BHR pens have been aesthetic: discolouration and dulling of external surfaces. The insides of ebonite pens and their feeds may have spent decades in contact with water-based inks without structural damage.

[Mauricio]

I have a modern Aurora Nobile with its safety (retractable) mechanism. I have never experienced issues flushing mine. I retract the nib, fill the barrel with water with the use of an eyedropper piece, cover the mouth of the barrel with my finger and shake the barrel, let the inky water come out, shake the pen like an old thermometer to get as much of that inky water out of the barrel ... and repeat until the water comes 100% clear. It has never taking me long to clean my Nobile pen, but I do not use those any of those highly saturated inks and I do not leave my pens inked and unused for long periods of time. My favorite ink colors in my Nobile pen have been J. Herbin Lie de The and Diamine Sepia, both inks are very easy and quick to clean in that pen!