How to clean a fountain pen fully

[devilmanan98]

 

 

I need to know how to clean fountain pens so please help me

[wrath186]

Well what I do is run warm water through the nib and convertor assembly until it runs clear. I don't let pens sit for any length of time inked so there generally isn't any build up in the fins of the nib itself. However, if it is an older pen that has been sitting around inked you can soak it and then very gently use a soft toothbrush to clean the fins of the nib.

 

I then clean the barrel and cap using a q-tip and warm water.

 

Make sure that everything is dry then re-assemble the pen.

 

This usually cleans everything up and keeps the pen nice for storage.

 

Hope this helps.

[BillTheEditor]

Start with this article: http://www.richardspens.com/ref_info/pendoctor/20030815.htm . If you are new to fountain pens, spend some time looking around Richard's "Reference" information. He may save you a lot of grief.

 

Do not use warm or hot water. Many older pens use shellac or another similar temperature-sensitive adhesive to attach the sac to the section or to hold nib and hood assemblies together, and hot or warm water may soften these when you didn't intend to take them apart.

 

Casein (a type of plastic) and hard rubber do undesireable things when in contact with water. Know what you are working on!

Edited December 1, 2008 by BillTheEditor

[MYU]

This probably belongs in the Repair Q&A or Writing Instruments sub forum.

 

In any case, I second Bill's reference in addition to visiting the "Reference Info" section of Richard's website (I can't link directly there--some weird encoding issue).

Edited December 1, 2008 by MYU

[wrath186]

Start with this article: http://www.richardspens.com/ref_info/pendoctor/20030815.htm . If you are new to fountain pens, spend some time looking around Richard's "Reference" information. He may save you a lot of grief.

 

Do not use warm or hot water. Many older pens use shellac or another similar temperature-sensitive adhesive to attach the sac to the section or to hold nib and hood assemblies together, and hot or warm water may soften these when you didn't intend to take them apart.

 

Casein (a type of plastic) and hard rubber do undesireable things when in contact with water. Know what you are working on!

 

 

Excellent link. I'll have to remember to use floss on the nib fins.

[RayMan]

I clean the converter and nib/section separately. I clean the converter by flushing and reflushing until the water comes out clear. I flush the nib/section using a ear syringe (smaller size). I then let them dry overnight before refilling.

[Pink Ink]

If I can, I like to take the whole thing apart. Most pens I own, the collector pops right out. I feel very insecure about how clean a pen is if I can’t take it apart.

[laotzu]

Just adding that I use distilled water - probably overkill, just like pen (ha!). Two gelatin dishes. I fill one with water that I pull from using the converter and then the bulb syringe, expelling into the empy dish.

[devilmanan98]

 

 

Well I am really new to fountain pens . I am in 5th standard and have jus started wit these pens .

[Ondina]

I clean the converter and nib/section separately. I clean the converter by flushing and reflushing until the water comes out clear. I flush the nib/section using a ear syringe (smaller size). I then let them dry overnight before refilling.

 

I basically do the same but only let dry if is for storage. If the pen is to be refilled, I just do almost immediately.

Edited December 5, 2008 by Ondina

[lapis]

Sorta already been said above, but still....

(1) I don't have any vintage pens, so I just fill and empty the pen with warm (but not hot) tap water, usually up to 10 times until the water is colourless.

(2) I then repeat a few times with distilled (Brita filtered) water.

(3) Since I have my pens (all 10) all filled and write with them almost every day, I don't every need to clean fully. Clean fully only if you have a pen 1-100% filed with ink but never use it for months.

(4) w/a leave the pen filled with water overnight. Ditto, w/a use an ultrasonication.

(5) Some companies "offer" a cleaning" solution etc, e.g. MB. Never tried it out yet.

 

Mike

 

[devilmanan98]

I live in india and here we dont have montblanc , noodlers , waterman , shaeffer and others . Here we have chelpark , camel , parker mainly . And the inks in india are very cheap compared to the ones which you use . One $ = 50 rupees . And we get 60 ml ink (chelpark) - Rs. 15 . We get fountain pen of Rs.30 (a very good one ) . the cheapest fountain pen is of Rs. 2 !!!!

[vitix]

Well what I do is run warm water through the nib and convertor assembly until it runs clear. I don't let pens sit for any length of time inked so there generally isn't any build up in the fins of the nib itself. However, if it is an older pen that has been sitting around inked you can soak it and then very gently use a soft toothbrush to clean the fins of the nib.

 

I then clean the barrel and cap using a q-tip and warm water.

 

Make sure that everything is dry then re-assemble the pen.

 

This usually cleans everything up and keeps the pen nice for storage.

 

Hope this helps.

 

thank you for the information...

[3treasures]

This information is so helpful, thank you all for your expertise. I have a bunch of pens I haven't used in a long time, and although none have ink sitting in them, they were inked at some point, so I find when I rinse the nib section that there is still color in them, even after a dozen rinses. Is there anything that is safe besides water that might loosen the last of the stubborn dried ink from the nib?

[stonezebra]

You might also check here to learn more about fountain pens and how to clean/maintain them.

[Sandy1]

 

 

Hi,

 

Much has been written about FP cleaning.

 

We go from what's needed to keep a same pen+ink combo happy, to changing inks, to rescue/recovery of a pen with dried-out ink. Plus there's changing between families of inks, such as from simple aniline dye ink to nano-particle ink.

 

Much depends on the the type of filler (flush) system of the pen: a simple cartridge/converter to pens with more complex plumbing, such as the Sheaffer Snorkel.

 

This prior Topic, Limit to Soaking? , may be yet another point of departure: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/229245-limit-to-soaking/?p=2453755

 

Should you have any questions along the way, there are always Members who will respond in a generous and convivial manner. You are amongst friends.

 

Bye,

S1

Edited August 31, 2016 by Sandy1