Fp Cleaning Routine - Iron Gall Ink

[tenurepro]

Hello,

I wanted to hear your opinions about the best way to clean pens after using iron-gall ink. My regular routine for non-iron gall ink is:

 

1. cycle cold water through the pen mechanism repeatedly until the water run clear

2. fill the mechanism with cold water, and soak overnight (~12 hours), either by putting the pen nib down in a glass of water, or by caping the pen and storing it on its side.

3. cycle cold water through the pen mechanism repeatedly until the water run clear

4. empty the pen, and hold a paper tissue over the nib, and flick the remaining water out

5. leave pen uncapped for a few hours to dry

 

Are there any extra steps that you think i should do for flushing after using an iron-gall ink?

 

Thanks!

[Uncle Red]

You may want to add a flush with either a vinegar solution or a bleach solution before the first flush with water.

[inkstainedruth]

The method I use when dealing with iron gall inks:

Flush with distilled water.

Flush with vinegar solution (roughly 1 part white vinegar 10 parts distilled water, but I don't measure carefully -- I just eyeball it).

Flush well with distilled water.

If necessary, flush/soak in a clear ammonia and distilled water solution with a little Dawn dish detergent in it; like the vinegar solution, I'm not all that precise with the measurements -- I have a small glass jar (probably holds about 2 oz.), that I use for pen cleaning -- fill it most of the way full, mostly top off with the vinegar or ammonia (almost up to the brim; then for for ammonia solution a couple of drops of the detergent). If it's a c/c pen (I often use my Vector for IG inks, because it's a very wet writer), I may detach the converter and soak the end of it separately as well. Generally the soak period is a couple of hours, while I go off and do other things.

Flush well with distilled water.

Drain with the nib point down in a paper towel in a cup to wick away the excess water (generally overnight).

 

So far, I haven't needed to use bleach. The vinegar solution gets the bulk of the ink, but I tend to be a little OCD about pen maintenance in general, even with non-IG inks. I don't necessarily know what ink I'm going to put in which pen, with rare exceptions, so I don't want any bad interactions -- particularly between IG and non-IG inks.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Vshin]

As an experiment I've been testing R&K Scabiosa in my Safari EF without ever cleaning or flushing it. Not even once. So far it's been about 6 months of straight use without any issues. Do modern IG inks even need to be maintained differently from any other ink?

[inkstainedruth]

Well the advice about the vinegar solution flush (and the fact that you need to do it *before* an ammonia solution rinse) came straight from PFN's Pharmacist. Of course the iron content is apparently higher in his concoctions than in commercial brands.

I'm still at the level of figuring out what inks -- IG and otherwise -- I like and don't, and which go well (or at least better) with specific pens, and which colors are completely abhorrent. So I'm swapping out pens and inks on a fairly regular basis. Which means I'm doing a *lot* of pen cleaning....

I know that there have been recent threads about whether or not iron gall inks are corrosive to pen innards (especially whether long-term use can damage steel nibs), but I don't have a good answer for you about continuous use without occasional flushing.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[wallylynn]

As an experiment I've been testing R&K Scabiosa in my Safari EF without ever cleaning or flushing it. Not even once. So far it's been about 6 months of straight use without any issues. Do modern IG inks even need to be maintained differently from any other ink?

I've gone months without flushing my Vista (using Chesterfield Archival, aka. Diamine Registrar's). If you use your pen regularly, the influx of fresh ink should be enough to keep things working well. A plain water flush is generally enough. If you don't use your pen much, the iron might build up. The vinegar rinse serves to redissolve it.

 

I don't know about the bleach.

[LucasT]

I wouldn't use bleach, it will actually induce precipitation in an iron gall ink (rust) Stick with your vinegar flush. (this isn't to say you will always have issues with bleach, but I wouldn't risk it.

[JimB]

I also stay clear of bleach (I'm a bit OCD-paranoid about IG ink of late) and have been flushing my IG-using pens with vinegar/water at the 50/50 ratio.

 

I also decided to foreswear it's use in lever fillers since finding one of my pens never getting all particles out no matter how many times I try to flush. I think it's the nature of the ink sac that never gets completely "clean." That's one issue, another is the necessary repeated lever pulls that, after twenty or so, may even make you want to switch to (oh no!) CARTRIDGE pens!

[tenurepro]

Thanks all for the great advice.

I've Ruth's trick and it worked nicely with a couple of CC pens yesterday

Uncle Red - how do you make your vinegar flush (vinegar : water?), and do you find that flushing with vinegar first makes a difference ?