How Long Does A Fountain Pen Need To Dry After Flushing It Out With Water?

[writebyhand]

I bought a NOS Sheaffer 440 and flushed it out with water to remove any factory residue. How long does it need to dry before I ink it? (I'm anxious to try it out!)

[corniche]

Greetings writebyhand,

 

Wrap the nib in Kleenex to siphon most of the water left behind in the ink channel- this step will speed up the drying process. Once the Kleenex start coming up dry; set it aside for another 12-24 hours to completely air-dry... then it should be good to go.

 

All the best & Enjoy,

 

Sean

[jar]

Thirty seconds at least.

[mholve]

I don't even wait an hour... Dry it as much as possible with a Kleenex, blow off the feed/nib area and fill 'er up. So the first few sentences are a little light-shaded. It'll pass.

[tech gal]

I like to wrap it in a paper towel and shake it to get everything out. If I am just cleaning and have time then I wait over night, but often I can't wait to begin writing so I ink up and go. If there is a little left in the pen your ink may not be very vibrant for awhile, but soon it will write like a charm. Back when I was in college using a cartridge pen I would just change cartridges without rinsing and sometimes I would have a very unique color, but that was when I was not so picky...

[nxn96]

If you've drawn as much out of the feed as you can with a paper towel or tissue, the worst thing that can happen is that the first couple of lines with the new ink might come in a little lighter than desired. Not a big deal.

[bassopotamus]

If you've drawn as much out of the feed as you can with a paper towel or tissue, the worst thing that can happen is that the first couple of lines with the new ink might come in a little lighter than desired. Not a big deal.

 

This. I've never had any ink noticeably water down in a freshly cleaned pen.

[Dark Side]

:ph34r: They're supposed to be dry when you ink them? I've been doing it all wrong. I rinse, dab on a paper towel, and then fill. A little water never hurt anyone... right?

[mholve]

:ph34r: They're supposed to be dry when you ink them? I've been doing it all wrong. I rinse, dab on a paper towel, and then fill. A little water never hurt anyone... right?

 

Depends on your water, really...

[dnb]

I've never waited. +1 on the paper towel/shake method. It's really a Snap method, till it is pretty dry. Fill 'er up and off you go. Perfect every time. No pale ink.

[gillyohan]

I've never waited. +1 on the paper towel/shake method. It's really a Snap method, till it is pretty dry. Fill 'er up and off you go.

 

+1, though I do get pale ink at first if I fill up with a syringe, because the ink needs to go through the feed that still has a little water in it. If I fill straight from the bottle so that the ink is sucked up through the nib and feed, then the ink looks fine from the beginning.

[RayMan]

I always wait a minimum of 12 hours.

[eilu]

I shake the dickens out of them to flick all the water out, then leave them overnight. I could write with them immediately, but I only clean when I rotate pens. I tend to leave them out longer if I forget.

[burmeseboyz]

You don't have to wait if you intend to use the pen again. But make sure that you dry it for at least 24 hours if you plan to store the pen long term. But the time required for drying varies by pen and feed etc...

[Vargouille]

I put mine in a laboratory desiccator, and I fill the bottom platform with silica gel, and leave it for 48 hours.

 

I'm just kidding. I let it airdry overnight.

[Scrawler]

I bought a NOS Sheaffer 440 and flushed it out with water to remove any factory residue. How long does it need to dry before I ink it? (I'm anxious to try it out!)

It depends on the ink you are going to put in it. Highly saturated inks are not affected by a few drops of water. Just wrap a bit of tissue round the nib and feed and dry the rest of the pen. Then fill it and use it. Drying to draw out ink residue after cleaning is more important.

[Scrawler]

:ph34r: They're supposed to be dry when you ink them? I've been doing it all wrong. I rinse, dab on a paper towel, and then fill. A little water never hurt anyone... right?

:roflmho: :ltcapd:

[rogerb]

I just put the it in my salad-spinner and whizz it around for a few seconds.

 

(Two small, loose cable-ties keep it pointing outwards and a bit of tissue catches the expelled liquid, which you can check for being 'ink-free')

[RobbW]

Ink is about 90% water--so a little water is not going to hurt your pen or the ink. I rinse, shake with kleenex or paper towel, and re-ink immediately. How else am I going to get immediate gratification from trying out an exciting new ink? ?

[Bearcat]

If you have "hard water", drying may actually hurt your pen and feed mechanism due to deposition of calcium carbonate or other salts/solids that are left behind when the water evaporates. Fill with new ink immediately to avoid this problem......