To Dry Or Not To Dry (After A Flush), That Is The Question

[alexwi]

Hi,

 

When I flush/wash a pen, I always let it dry thoroughly before inking it again.

 

I once inked a pen right away and the ink became watery (lighter than it should be) until I got fed up, washed it again, and let it dry for a day. However, I saw one video (not sure where or by whom) of someone flushing a pen with an ear bulb, inking it, and getting it to write perfectly.

 

What did I miss?

 

Thanks!

 

Alex

[pajaro]

Maybe it was about the particular pen in the video. How much moisture was left after the flush in the feed, or if the pen had a collector like a Parker 51 or like a Waterman Carene, for instance. A simpler pen might not have enough residual water left in it to noticeably dilute the ink. I normally put the pen, nib end, in a small cup with wound (tissue wound around and around) tissue to draw any water from the nib and feed. Then I fill the pen or store it.

Edited June 17, 2018 by pajaro

[Astronymus]

I usually let a piece of tissue paper suck the feed dry through the nib. Once inked the pens (Lamys) write again normally.

[senzen]

If possible I dismantle the whole thing and wipe the nib and feed dry, as well as the inside of the section; if in a hurry air blown through always works, provided I fill and empty the new ink several times using a converter... Probably wouldn't work as well with a cartridge.

[mhguda]

After the flush, I use the bulb to blow some air through the system. Also, I prime the feed (if the pen is piston- or converter-filled, priming will be automatic) before writing for the first time after a flush. Sometimes, not all water is gone immediately, but this is fixed soon enough that I never worry about it...

[Tseg]

I hold a paper towel to my breather hole with my pen pointed down and inverted. That sucks much of the water out quickly.

[Mr. Pink]

After a flush, I always wick away the water with a tissue

[KellyMcJ]

I'm impatient. I just hold the nib/feed end in some paper towel, suck out as much water as I can and ink away.

[Buzz_130]

When my pens come out of rotation, they are dried before they are put away. Before I used the salad spinner technique on my pens, I used to have a large glass filled with paper towels. After cleaning, the pens would go nib down into the glass with paper towels. Capillary action did its work overnight.

 

Now, I just make one last run with the salad spinner to pull the water out. Cap the pen and return to their place in the pen tray.

 

Buzz

[CraigR]

Although controversial perhaps, I wrap a piece of paper towel around the nib and while firmly gripping the pen, flick my wrist several times. Much like shaking down an old-fashioned mercury thermometer. The motion moves moisture out the nib and into the paper. The iffy part is holding onto the pen when doing this. I then place the pen, with the paper around the nib, upright in a small glass to let any residual water wick out. This process allows me to re-ink or store more quickly.

[Bo Bo Olson]

I also do what Crag does.

I normally let the pen sit 4 or so hours, even overnight wrapped in a paper towel.

 

(Hummm...another reason to buy more pens..... .....if one has three or four empties sitting around....there is no waiting. )

 

C/C pens can be dried a bit faster with the bulb......after water, lots of pressed air(perhaps only two hours??).. But IMO because of one way flow, needs just as long to dry as a sac or piston pen., if going from dark to light ink.

 

A C/C pen even if 'mostly' dry will show more influence of the old ink remnants than a piston or lever pen, in the C/C pens flow is one way only.

In sac or piston flow is both ways as the pen is filled and writing starts. (What very tiny amounts of ink in a clean 99% pen*** won't matter to the ink in the bottle.....unless you are going from Black to Yellow ink...etc.

***Still ink marks on the paper towel after a good wait.

 

If you are going to jump the gun with re-inking suggest ....Darker can be used over mostly dried light ink, not the other way around.

Edited June 17, 2018 by Bo Bo Olson

[ENewton]

I rotate pens, so I almost never refill a pen right after flushing it.

 

After flushing a pen and soaking the section overnight if possible, I use a paper towel to wick away as much water as I can, then leave the pen (or the section and converter of a cartridge/converter pen) for a day or two in a little cardboard box lined with paper towels.

[catapult1]

I've worried about this topic too, about whether to dry all the pen parts completely before reassembling and using a fountain pen after cleaning. I have been drying my cleaned pen parts with a clean towel, then allowing them to air dry for several days before reassembling. I rotate which pens I use, so a few days of dry time is ok for me. I was worried that microbes or mold or something from the tap water (like, algae?) might start growing in my pen if I don't let it dry out all the way. The preservatives in the ink only work well at the full ink strength, and so I worry that if I dilute the ink, even just from a pen flush of the nib and feed, then droplets of tap water might dilute the ink too much and cause an ink freshness problem.

[inkstainedruth]

After a flush, I always wick away the water with a tissue

 

I do something similar: I let any moisture drain/wick out onto paper toweling (this has the added benefit of me seeing immediately if the pen isn't completely flushed -- i.e., if there is still ink draining out).

Okay, I may be a little OCD about flushing, but I also tend to swap inks in and out a lot.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[alexwi]

Hi!

 

Thank you all for your ideas and observations!

 

alex

[Cassotto]

If I run out of ink while I'm writing I refill with the same ink without flushing and carry on writing.

 

If I want to change inks, I flush the pen last thing before I go to bed, and leave it to dry overnight. By the time I get back home the following evening I refill the pen, and I've never had any issue with it. I can do this because I have four pens which I have continually in use with the same inks, so I know I'm not going to be left pen-less for having an empty pen drying almost one whole day.

[DrDebG]

Although controversial perhaps, I wrap a piece of paper towel around the nib and while firmly gripping the pen, flick my wrist several times. Much like shaking down an old-fashioned mercury thermometer. The motion moves moisture out the nib and into the paper. The iffy part is holding onto the pen when doing this. I then place the pen, with the paper around the nib, upright in a small glass to let any residual water wick out. This process allows me to re-ink or store more quickly.

 

+1

 

After my very careful "flicking" technique, I just lay them out on a piece of paper towel for an hour or so. Then I refill with ink. Upon occasion, I have a pen that might be lighter because of slight dilution. IThis is generally a pen where I used a syringe to fill the converter. If that is the case, I just let it sit out for about 20 minutes uncapped. I then prime the nib, and the issue is resolved.

 

But I really appreciate everyone's ideas! There are some great ones here.

[RoyalBlueNotebooks]

It depends on whether I'm using a bulb syringe for flushing or not, and whether the pen is going to be inked up again soon or not.

If I use a bulb syringe to flush a pen that I want to ink up with another ink, after I've flushed it until the water runs clear, I expel all the water from the bulb syringe, stick it to the feed again, push out air, and more importantly suck in air through the bulb syringe. In this way, the air and the remaning water is sucked up in the bulb syringe and the feed is as dry as I'm comfortable with, namely, I won't contaminate my ink bottle with drops of water that will, gradually, thin out the color.

 

If I use a bulb syringe to flush a pen that I'm goint to store away, I repeat the same step as above, but then I leave it in a glass, with the nib wrapped in a paper tissue for at least 24 hours (sometimes I forget pens in the glass for days...).

 

If I can't use a bulb syringe (piston-fillers, etc), and I want to ink up the pen again, I flush it normally (no disassembly unless the piston needs re-greasing) and I leave it in the glass with a paper tissue for at least one hour.

 

If I can't use a bulb syringe and the pen is going to be stored away, I flush it normally and leave it in a glass for days.

 

 

To get nice ink flow after having filled a pen without having dipped the nib in nib, (say, with eye-droppers or if I filled the converter or cartridge with a syringe) I shake it lightly and keep a piece of cloth underneath. Once I see that the feed is saturated or drops of ink on the cloth, I'm done, time to write!

Edited June 17, 2018 by RoyalBlueNotebooks

[Chrissy]

I do the flicking technique, but without any tissue on the end of the pen. After the flicking technique, I leave the pen nib down in a wad of kitchen roll overnight before refilling.

[aardvarkbark]

As is the practice of a couple others, I subscribe to the nib-down-in-glass-with-paper-towel-in-bottom-over-night technique. Capillary action and gravity are my friends.