Jump to content

Cleaning Residue From Prolonged Iron Gall Exposure.


ksm

Recommended Posts

I would like to share my experience with cleaning a pen after prolonged exposure to Iron-Gall ink.

 

I've filled my TWSBI 580 Diamond with KWZ Ink IG Blue Black in April 2016, and refilled it six times without flushing (despite warnings on KWZ Ink webpage). In February 2017 my pen looked like that:

 

http://i.imgur.com/GkSBpOj.jpg

 

Along piston operating range barrel was clean, but below there was dark residue.

 

I've asked Mrs KWZI for some hints on cleaning my pen.

 

She adviced me to crush three pills of Vitamin C (in Poland Vitamin C is sold as 200mg pills), dissolve them in 30ml of water, and load this solution to my pen and keep it there for a few minutes, and repeat this procedure until residue is dissolved.

 

I had no Vitamin C at home, so I used the following procedure:

  • I've measured 1g of citric acid (white pellets).
  • I've added ~50ml of demineralized water (tap water is very hard at my place, it is the same demineralized water I use to fill steam iron).
  • I've heated it to 35° Celsius (to make it easier to dissolve citric acid, this step is not strictly necessary, but I had baby bottle heater available)
  • I've stirred it (or rather shaken, as my container had a lid).
  • I've filled my pen with solution, waited 5-10 minutes, gave it good shake and emptied it.
  • I've repeated step 5 until residue was dissolved (three more time).
  • I've flushed the pen with demineralized water twice.
http://i.imgur.com/eH33DgA.jpg

 

Later I was told that:

  • ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) is more effective than citric acid.
  • citric acid works better if one adds a little of baking soda.
Edited by ksm
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 30
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • ksm

    5

  • pgary

    4

  • amberleadavis

    3

  • inkstainedruth

    3

I would like to share my experience with cleaning a pen after prolonged exposure to Iron-Gall ink.

 

I've filled my TWSBI 580 Diamond with KWZ Ink IG Blue Black in April 2016, and refilled it six times without flushing (despite warnings on KWZ Ink webpage). In February 2017 my pen looked like that:

 

http://i.imgur.com/GkSBpOj.jpg

 

Along piston operating range barrel was clean, but below there was dark residue.

 

I've asked Mrs KWZI for some hints on cleaning my pen.

 

She adviced me to crush three pills of Vitamin C (in Poland Vitamin C is sold as 200mg pills), dissolve them in 30ml of water, and load this solution to my pen and keep it there for a few minutes, and repeat this procedure until residue is dissolved.

 

I had no Vitamin C at home, so I used the following procedure:

  • I've measured 1g of citric acid (white pellets).
  • I've added ~50ml of demineralized water (tap water is very hard at my place, it is the same demineralized water I use to fill steam iron).
  • I've heated it to 35° Celsius (to make it easier to dissolve citric acid, this step is not strictly necessary, but I had baby bottle heater available)
  • I've stirred it (or rather shaken, as my container had a lid).
  • I've filled my pen with solution, waited 5-10 minutes, gave it good shake and emptied it.
  • I've repeated step 5 until residue was dissolved (three more time).
  • I've flushed the pen with demineralized water twice.
http://i.imgur.com/eH33DgA.jpg

 

Later I was told that:

  • ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) is more effective than citric acid.
  • citric acid works better if one adds a little of baking soda.

 

 

Thanks for that cleaning hint. I will soon be testing/playing with an ig ink. I'll keep this cleaning method in mind. I have plenty of ascorbic acid around, and quite enough distilled water, too.

 

I'm guessing that the weak acid reacts with the iron and thereby takes away most of the ink when flushed. A strong acid might dissolve the pen, or at least damage it.

On a sacred quest for the perfect blue ink mixture!

ink stained wretch filling inkwell

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Later I was told that:

  • citric acid works better if one adds a little of baking soda.

 

This seems odd as the baking soda would serve to neutralize the citric acid. Not sure what benefit that would provide.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

This seems odd as the baking soda would serve to neutralize the citric acid. Not sure what benefit that would provide.

 

I was wondering that too, unless the reaction created some bubbles as the baking soda neutralized the acid.

 

Why not white vinegar?

spacer.png
Visit Main Street Pens
A full service pen shop providing professional, thoughtful vintage pen repair...

Please use email, not a PM for repair and pen purchase inquiries.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This seems odd as the baking soda would serve to neutralize the citric acid. Not sure what benefit that would provide.

I'm not the chemist.

The chemist said that adding citric acid to baking soda solution would give me monosodium citrate solution, which would be more effective than citric acid alone. Unfortunately Mrs KWZI forget to mention the exact ratios.

 

Why not white vinegar?

Maybe it stinks less :-)

Edited by ksm
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

I was wondering that too, unless the reaction created some bubbles as the baking soda neutralized the acid.

 

Why not white vinegar?

 

I'll admit I was wondering the same thing. OTOH, I don't leave IG inks in my pen for as long....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

I was wondering that too, unless the reaction created some bubbles as the baking soda neutralized the acid.

 

Why not white vinegar?

 

Vinegar might be too strong for some fountain pens. Remember, Hannibal used vinegar to dissolve boulders as he worked his army and his elephants through the cluttered passages of the Alps.

 

Acetic acid might also combine with the iron gall residue to make something that was even more difficult to flush out of the pen. And then there's the possibility that acetic acid would be rough on some parts of a piston filler.

 

I have an old Nero Blue/Black ink bottle with a significant amount of residue on the bottom, the Hero bottle did not seal well at all. I believe that Hero Blue/Black ink is an ig ink. I may go digging through my stuff and see if an experiment with ascorbic acid and distilled water is a great cleanser for ig inks :eureka: .

On a sacred quest for the perfect blue ink mixture!

ink stained wretch filling inkwell

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Vinegar might be too strong for some fountain pens. Remember, Hannibal used vinegar to dissolve boulders as he worked his army and his elephants through the cluttered passages of the Alps.

 

White vinegar is pretty mild. It's only about a 5% solution. So not really strong enough to use as, say, a weed killer in your yard. And when I use it to flush out a pen that had IG ink in it, I'm using it diluted in distilled water on top of that (I don't measure carefully, but the 1 part vinegar to 9 part distilled water is a good ratio -- think of it as being the same as using clear ammonia solution, only for flushing an acidic ink, and then adding a drop or two of dishwashing detergent).

If I get a pen that's really bad, I may try the Vitamin C trick -- but white vinegar is a whole lot cheaper around here -- less than $4 US in the grocery store for a gallon of the stuff, and it doesn't get used much so it lasts a long time. I go through clear ammonia faster and it still takes a while for me to go through a gallon of THAT....

I'd go through the vinegar faster if I used it for regular household cleaning.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Vinegar 5% is an effective weed killer in the yard. Don't dilute it with water, pour it on straight so the plant takes it up as water.

Resume watering nearby plants a few days or a week later.

Edited by cattar
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why not white vinegar?

 

Especially with KWZ being a Polish company. In Chicago, every Polish housekeeper I've known/employed has had a love affair with vinegar-based cleaners. I too would've assumed that vinegar would be the preferred option. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

I'm not the chemist.

The chemist said that adding citric acid to baking soda solution would give me monosodium citrate solution, which would be more effective than citric acid alone. Unfortunately Mrs KWZI forget to mention the exact ratios.

 

 

Maybe it stinks less :-)

 

The formation and use of monosodium citrate makes sense in removing iron compounds, as it can be used as an anticoagulant. The presence of iron is known to play a function in the clotting of blood. Removing the presence of iron allows for the degradation of fibrin plugs and thus the clot to degrade as well.

Edited by JakobS

FP Ink Orphanage-Is an ink not working with your pens, not the color you're looking for, is never to see the light of day again?!! If this is you, and the ink is in fine condition otherwise, don't dump it down the sink, or throw it into the trash, send it to me (payment can be negotiated), and I will provide it a nice safe home with love, and a decent meal of paper! Please PM me!<span style='color: #000080'>For Sale:</span> TBA

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If the source is KWZI and the trick works I would simply believe it and use it, He is a chemist, the method makes certainly sense from a chemical point of view, and it works.

Edited to add: see also a 2013 thread on this form on Cleaning Method For Iron Gall Ink Using Ascorbic Acid

Edited by El Gordo

Ik ontken het grote belang van de computer niet, maar vind het van een stuitende domheid om iets wat al millennia zijn belang heeft bewezen daarom overboord te willen gooien (Ann De Craemer)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great job! Thank you for sharing.

Fountain pens are my preferred COLOR DELIVERY SYSTEM (in part because crayons melt in Las Vegas).

Create a Ghostly Avatar and I'll send you a letter. Check out some Ink comparisons: The Great PPS Comparison 

Don't know where to start?  Look at the Inky Topics O'day.  Then, see inks sorted by color: Blue Purple Brown Red Green Dark Green Orange Black Pinks Yellows Blue-Blacks Grey/Gray UVInks Turquoise/Teal MURKY

 

 

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for the explanation.

Fountain pens are my preferred COLOR DELIVERY SYSTEM (in part because crayons melt in Las Vegas).

Create a Ghostly Avatar and I'll send you a letter. Check out some Ink comparisons: The Great PPS Comparison 

Don't know where to start?  Look at the Inky Topics O'day.  Then, see inks sorted by color: Blue Purple Brown Red Green Dark Green Orange Black Pinks Yellows Blue-Blacks Grey/Gray UVInks Turquoise/Teal MURKY

 

 

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had to go look up the term "chelate" (it's been [mumble mumble] decades since I last had a chemistry class, and I absolutely hated it. But if we had been do cool stuff like this I wouldn't have thought the teacher quite as much of a jerk.

I love this forum. I'm always learning new stuff.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm going to try this with a blue stained barrel. I don't know what stained it though as it was stained when I bought it. :)

 

Please do take pictures, we'd love to see the results.

Fountain pens are my preferred COLOR DELIVERY SYSTEM (in part because crayons melt in Las Vegas).

Create a Ghostly Avatar and I'll send you a letter. Check out some Ink comparisons: The Great PPS Comparison 

Don't know where to start?  Look at the Inky Topics O'day.  Then, see inks sorted by color: Blue Purple Brown Red Green Dark Green Orange Black Pinks Yellows Blue-Blacks Grey/Gray UVInks Turquoise/Teal MURKY

 

 

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33494
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26624
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...