Ink Spill Disaster Stories

[Robert Hughes]

And where was kitty put to dry out so the ink didn't get all over the house when kitty walked around?

Right into the sink, rinsed multiple times, then left to drip for awhile to think on its misery...

 

[lak611]

And where was kitty put to dry out so the ink didn't get all over the house when kitty walked around?

Right into the sink, rinsed multiple times, then left to drip for awhile to think on its misery...

Oh boy! I can just picture that. Cats hate baths!

 

[bizerkel]

I once made the mistake of taking a Pelikan M150 and a Stypen Up to work. Both have turning knobs on the barrel end, the Pelikan because it is a piston-filler and the Stypen because it has a retractable nib. I leave you to imagine what happened to my khakis when I grabbed the Pelikan instead of the Stypen and extended the nib. . . .

At least it wasn't Noodler's bulletproof in the pen.

 

Murdoch

 

I can definitely see myself doing this...

[Philip1209]

This isn't too dramatic, but on Saturday I was putting the converter in my Waterman Phileas, so I discarded what I thought was an empty cartridge by throwing it in to the bathroom trash can. Unfortunately, two things did not go to plan. First, the cartridge still was about half full and, second, the cartridge hit the edge of the trash can, causing it to bounce and spin wildly, thereby spraying ink on the wall. Luckily it was Waterman Black, so some Comet with Bleach cleaned it up pretty quickly (AKA it was gone before anyone else saw what I did ).

[Siv]

A couple of weeks ago I got my Pilot Custom 823 clear from Ujuku and I also saw a Visconti traveling inkpot on the sale board. Well I heard that a traveling inkpot is the best way to ensure that the pen is completely full so I jumped at it. Well I didn't want to ink my most expensive pen to date with any old ink so I ordered some Iroshizuku fuyu-syogun from Ujuku.

 

Well the ink arrived today so I came home from work and (with incredible foresight) took my shirt off as it's a bit warm. I filled the inkpot to the line, pulled the plunger out of the 823 and put the pen into the pot. I turned the whole thing upside down and marveled at the lack of leak with this contraption. I pushed the plunger in, the inkpot shot off the top of the pen and coated my hands, ample paunch and bedroom carpet in gray.

 

No one told me that you're supposed to keep hold of the inkpot AND the pen... or maybe they did and I just didn't read the instructions...

[Fernan]

It was a long, long time ago, when I was still in primary school. In those days, a little more than half a century ago, we still carried our ink bottle to school and back home almost every day. By then, I was in grade five (or six). I already had graduated from dip pens to a fountain pen.

 

On that fateful day, the snow plow had gone down the streets just before the end of the school day, depositing a fresh layer of snow on the snow banks, that kept growing as we were well into a Quebec City winter. I remember it was already dark outside. On our way back home, my brother and I could not resist the urge to slide down this alluring little mountain. We only noticed the disaster when we arrived home. By then, there was nothing to be done. The Waterman blue-black ink had somehow leaked out of the bottle, and had lined the interior of the school bag. The schoolbook edges had soaked the ink, as had the notebooks. My brother and I had a hard time explaining how we had to slide down these little mountains of snow, as we were not allowed onto these snowbanks in the first place.

 

We were not allowed to join our friends outside after school for a few days, to play hockey or other winter activities our imaginations invented all the time. I had to suffer the humiliation of carrying my ink-tainted schoolbag, a testimony to my bad behaviour, for the rest of the year. I still had to do my homework that night. I'm sure I was scolded for being a bad influence on my brother, who got off more lightly than I did, since I was the one to blame, being the older of the two.

 

Fernan

[cfclark]

If memory serves Dad spent two months or so cleaning the office

...

thanks dad for everything. You are an amazing father, I miss you every day(he is at home in the U.K ,I 'm in the U.S.A) .

 

Stubnut.

 

Based on the story you told, he may well be thankful he has an ocean between you and him!

 

I have a Visconti traveling inkpot as well, and am just waiting for the day that I'm at the office, decide to refill a pen, and have the seal not quite seal completely as I turn it upside down...I have taken it through airport security dozens of times, without ever once removing it from my bag and putting it in a Ziploc (I am sure that would engender more questions anyway). I have my explanation ready for the TSA: "It's ink--not anything dangerous, but if you try to open it here and now, you're going to make a hell of a mess."

 

[JSorrell]

I only have two minor incidents.

 

The first was when I was filling up a pen with Baystate Blue in my new apartment. I forgot that BSB stains ceramics and turned my sink blue. Luckily, you can't tell anymore unless you look really close.

 

The second involved a Platinum Preppy filled with with Noodler's Nikita. I was taking calculus notes, as I love to do, in bright red ink when I noticed my hand was red. I looked at the barrel of the pen and there was a small drop of ink on it. I wiped it off, kept writing, and noticed my hand was getting covered in ink. More drops on the barrel. I wiped it off, started looking at it, and the pen barrel had cracked in three places, emitting tiny droplets of red ink. I had screwed the barrel on too tightly after filling it and caused tiny cracks. Oh well, it was a free pen and I didn't ruin my notes.

 

 

[johnboz]

A couple of weeks ago I got my Pilot Custom 823 clear from Ujuku and I also saw a Visconti traveling inkpot on the sale board. Well I heard that a traveling inkpot is the best way to ensure that the pen is completely full so I jumped at it. Well I didn't want to ink my most expensive pen to date with any old ink so I ordered some Iroshizuku fuyu-syogun from Ujuku.

 

Well the ink arrived today so I came home from work and (with incredible foresight) took my shirt off as it's a bit warm. I filled the inkpot to the line, pulled the plunger out of the 823 and put the pen into the pot. I turned the whole thing upside down and marveled at the lack of leak with this contraption. I pushed the plunger in, the inkpot shot off the top of the pen and coated my hands, ample paunch and bedroom carpet in gray.

 

No one told me that you're supposed to keep hold of the inkpot AND the pen... or maybe they did and I just didn't read the instructions...

 

I love this... It's an ink rocket!

 

I have never had an accident that was "my fault", but they never are, are they?

 

I received a 32oz bottle of red Quink in the mail. These have large bodies, but narrow necks and a small nozzle that you unscrew to pour the ink. Well, this ink had somehow become pressurized in transit and when I opened it up, ink sprayed everywhere within about a 3-foot radius. It wasn't a fountain or anything, but more of a mist with splatters in the immediate vicinity. Luckily, it was in my pen work area, so a few stains were no big deal. Nothing was permanently damaged, but I sure learned my lesson about opening ink for the first time after shipping!

[Wildoaklane]

Veering a bit closer to present day reality, another friend-of-a-friend has a papermaking business, with barrels of blue indigo, normally sealed tightly to avoid oxidation. She also has a white Persian cat, who comes into the studio regularly. OK so far? Well, one day, she's dyeing paper with the indigo, has the barrel top off, and Fluffy comes in to investigate. She hears a jump, a shriek and a wet plop! behind her. Turning around, she finds Fluffy swimming around in the indigo, its nose barely out of the vat. For weeks afterwards it was the bright blue cat with a white snout. :roflmho:

The blue cat and the blue goat are the best so far! :roflmho: :roflmho: :roflmho:

I'm really hoping the indigo vat was not one of the fermented urine types of vats....eeeew!

[sharonspens]

 

So, this happened yesterday. I was visiting my dad in the hospital, and needed to write a note. I pulled out my Stipula Passport, eyedropper-filled with Iroshizuku Asa-Gao. Unscrewed the cap, and much to my surprise found myself with a handful of blue ink. Yep, the cap was too, and instead the pen unscrewed itself from the section. Tan shorts, pale hospital floor, and light grey shoes.Not to mention a 3 hour drive back home.

 

SIGH.

 

Thank goodness the ink was not red. I am not sure I could have survived the attempts to rush me into the emergency room to "save me" from the crisis. HAHAHAHAH

 

Sharon in Indiana

 

[cimmerian]

Nice topic resurrect, Sharon! I didn't this topic existed. Now to share my story:

 

Last month spouse and I were buying a new car so I wanted to sign the contract with a fountain pen, right? Pulled my Pilot Metropolitan from my bag and uncapped it... to find it leaking all over my hands. Noodler's Blue.

 

Fortunately, mothing spilled onto the contract or the seller's desk, but I walked around for a couple of days with blue hands. To this day I don't know what happened. Maybe the converter wasn't inserted very firmly.

[sharonspens]

Oh. My

 

Nice topic resurrect, Sharon! I didn't this topic existed. Now to share my story:

Last month spouse and I were buying a new car so I wanted to sign the contract with a fountain pen, right? Pulled my Pilot Metropolitan from my bag and uncapped it... to find it leaking all over my hands. Noodler's Blue.

Fortunately, mothing spilled onto the contract or the seller's desk, but I walked around for a couple of days with blue hands. To this day I don't know what happened. Maybe the converter wasn't inserted very firmly.

Oh. My. Goodness. I bought (and returned . . . long story) a new car two days ago. This could have been disastrous had I dumped ink in that car!