Cleaning Stained Lamy Safari

[Corona]

I came across a Lamy Safari in the wild, that is it was given to me for free. All seems to be in order except for a terrible amount of staining. All the inside of the cap and body is stained with purple ink, as well as the section. Can anyone recommend something I could use to clean this with? It just seems like it needs a good soak, and I'd rather get this unsightly stain off.

 

Thanks!

[Corona]

Just an update, a soak in ammonia diluted by water does not seem to be having much effect. Help would be appreciated!

 

Thanks,

[Josele]

You can use an ultrasonic cleaner. It's a very cheap gadget, but very useful! I've used it sometimes with a clogged Lamy Safary, and works very well.

[Chthulhu]

If it is actually a stain, i.e. the dye has been absorbed into the plastic, then ammonia probably won't help. Bleach might, though there's a chance that it will also discolor the plastic as well.

 

If you decide to give it a try, clean the pen very thoroughly first to remove any traces of the ammonia: mixing ammonia and bleach will release fumes that can be lethal.

 

If it were my pen, I'd just call it a "special edition" and leave it as it is. :-)

[OcalaFlGuy]

The best proper cleaner would probably be InkNix or Rapido-Eze.

 

If you don't have that and will go insane before any comes in the mail you might try

some Simichrome and a few Q-tips. Cut the very tip of the Q-tip off with scissors so the it's

squared off and then pull a good bit of the cotton off and compact what cotton remains. Use

that to apply and remove the Simichrome especially around the threads. Don't go hog wild doing this

for an hour straight or anything as you could polish the threads enough so they don't hold anymore.

That would not be good. Go easy on the Simichrome, it won't be easy getting it all out of the

inside of the cap but if you aren't capable of waiting for the proper stuff to arrive without

bursting into flames, that's what I'd try.

 

Chthulhu is probably right about the stain though. The Safari plastic has been showed to

hold some ink stains in the past especially the ink of Satan that shall not be named.

(I had some of that stain a Blue Estie once and the Simichrome was all that would take it off.)

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL-yep, still working on the patience thang here too

[Corona]

The best proper cleaner would probably be InkNix or Rapido-Eze.

 

If you don't have that and will go insane before any comes in the mail you might try

some Simichrome and a few Q-tips. Cut the very tip of the Q-tip off with scissors so the it's

squared off and then pull a good bit of the cotton off and compact what cotton remains. Use

that to apply and remove the Simichrome especially around the threads. Don't go hog wild doing this

for an hour straight or anything as you could polish the threads enough so they don't hold anymore.

That would not be good. Go easy on the Simichrome, it won't be easy getting it all out of the

inside of the cap but if you aren't capable of waiting for the proper stuff to arrive without

bursting into flames, that's what I'd try.

 

Chthulhu is probably right about the stain though. The Safari plastic has been showed to

hold some ink stains in the past especially the ink of Satan that shall not be named.

(I had some of that stain a Blue Estie once and the Simichrome was all that would take it off.)

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL-yep, still working on the patience thang here too

 

Thanks you three, just ordered some InkNix. Hopefully it'll work - if not, i'll have a "special edition" as Chthulhu said.

 

I will attempt to refrain from bursting into flames in the meantime.

[Chthulhu]

The InkNix may do that as well: its main active ingredient is ethanol. :-)

Edited August 22, 2011 by Chthulhu