Dr. Ph. Martins Bombay Ink?

[Virginia Whitebird]

Hi, I just joined the Network, after looking for this very information! I am an artist, and as such I have a couple of bottles of this stuff on hand, but didn't know if it could be used in Fountain Pens (I'm a FP Newbie).

Now that I read that it is a shellac-based ink, it'll certainly never get near my pens!

Regarding clean-up: there's a reason the Martin's cleaner "smells just like Windex." The solvent for shellac is ammonia. I just dipped a couple of toothpicks in the ink and let it dry, and was able to clean it right off again using Windex.

When I use shellac in my studio (it's the varnish of choice for a hand-held wooden palette, since studio solvents don't affect it)I use a bottle of full-strength ammonia to clean up the brushes and spills, etc. Stronger than Windex (stinkier, too).

Hope this helps with that pen you have soaking!

Cheers.