Cleaning Ink Bottles

[Bill Wood]

I like to thoroughly clean out my ink bottles. I usually transfer my Noodlers into other Diamine bottles. I'd like to know how everyone cleans their bottles. I like to get right behind the cap liner - but sometimes it's easy to damage the cap liner if you remove it. Does anyone leave the old cap liner in their bottles before cleaning ?

 

I'm working with some Diamine bottles that will store larger amounts of my favorite inks.

 

Thanks for ideas everyone. Very interested how you clean your old bottles.

Edited July 2, 2013 by Bill Wood

[Moxoftritonytes]

I use water mixed with household ammonia (10:1) to clean out my ink bottles. Before I clean them I carefully remove the cap liner using a small crochet hook.

[wallylynn]

I don't clean my bottles, no where near empty. But others have suggested cutting up a disposable styrofoam plate to make a new liner to replace damaged ones.

[Gloucesterman]

Ooh, I like that plate idea. Thanks.

[amberleadavis]

That was me. The plate really works. The cups are thicker.

[Bill Wood]

That was me. The plate really works. The cups are thicker.

and a great tip that was Amber. Many thanks

[amberleadavis]

My inky pleasure!

[MC_in_Houston]

Wash with dishsoap, dry, and rinse with alcohol. I've had a bacteria colonize one of my old bottles.

[wastelanded]

I fill the bathroom sink with warm water, add bleach, plop the bottles in and leave them for a bit. Then, drain and rinse, and sparkling bottles. And a clean sink.

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

I clean the bottle, then boil it. After that, I clean the cap by ultrasonically cleaning it and removing the cap liner. Once the cap liner is all clean, I put it back, let the bottle dry, then refill it or give it to one of my friends as a gift.

 

Dillon

[amberleadavis]

Wow! Dillo, are you available for other cleaning jobs? I'm really impressed.

[lapis]

IMO all good ideas. No hestations. I boil things too, also use ultrasonics. Biggest problem is the cap. If I can't get the liner out with ease, I just leave it there, repeat all of the above first with dishwater soiap, then ammonia. Just like cleaning pens, leaving the stuff in water for 2-3 days wil soak out unbelievable rest amounts.

BTW -- as said above -- if the liner is hard to get out, I just leave it there... because... the easier it is to get out, the less tight it fits in the first place... and then it's often impossible to open the bottle without the liner sticking to the top of the bottle instead of remaining inside the cap. Two bad examples here... Pelikan 4001s and the old MB bottles. Building a bottle with a firmly sitting liner in the cap is a real engineering achievment. Best examples I know of here are the whole caps for the new MB bottles and the new CdA bottles.

 

Whew

[PJohnP]

Wash with very hot water and dishcleaning soap, rinse, dry. Look for anything "adhering" in the system, scrub, and in any event, wash with diluted bleach, rinse with fresh water, then dry. Occasionally use ammonia solution or denatured ethanol (works far better than methanol or propanol) for cleaning recalcitrant stains or marks. These approaches pretty much limit the potential for mold spores to remain.

 

I suppose that one could boil the glass bottle for a half-hour in a saucepan if they're sure that the bottle had a large mold infestation previously, but unless it's an iconic or highly valuable ink bottle, I'd just throw out such a used bottle. And I have a supply of phenol solution for dosing questionable inks !

 

Lids can be washed and then soaked with bleach solution, rinsed, then dried. It helps to live in a sub-alpine or high desert climate for these to dry out thoroughly and quickly, otherwise, for more humid locales, I'd recommend for people such as our UK friends that they utilise their drying cupboard.

 

New liners can be made from a variety of materials from plastic foam plates through thin foam packing (which really seals the bottle for such things as air travel in a suitcase). It helps to have a sharp tool like a large circular punch to cut the liner, and/or a compass to mark the material for cutting.

 

For those more obsessive chemists floating around the forum, imagine cleaning the ink bottle as though it were a component when making a Grignard reagent for OC class...

 

 

John P.

Edited July 13, 2013 by PJohnP

[lectraplayer]

I like to clean mine up and reuse them too. Never thought about the paper plates but that does make sense.

[Dillo]

Wow! Dillo, are you available for other cleaning jobs? I'm really impressed.

Yeah, if you want.

 

Dillon

[lapis]

Yeah, if you want.

 

Dillon

But what does she want you to clean? Her caboose, her Chevy 57 ?

[Dillo]

But what does she want you to clean? Her caboose, her Chevy 57 ?

Well...I can do those too, but that service comes at an additional cost.

 

Dillon

Edited July 14, 2013 by Dillo

[lectraplayer]

Sounds like a booty call to me.

[amberleadavis]

Well...I can do those too, but that service comes at an additional cost.

 

Dillon

 

Always important to state the charges up front.

[amberleadavis]

But what does she want you to clean? Her caboose, her Chevy 57 ?

 

Don't have a 57 Chevy this year. How about the '61 Vette?