Thread: Another Fountain Pen Question

You may find addition of a little clear vinegar may speed the rinsing process, especially if the pen has been unused for some time. (Which isn't a good thing: if you know you aren't going to use your pen for a while, rinse it!)

Never blow the rinsing water through your nib, neither by mouth nor using the convertor. Just soak for a while (a night in severe cases) and then rinse by letting the water drip through by itself.

As for the temperature: lukewarm will do the trick. Ink residues will solve very slowly in very cold water, and good pens - made for being worn on your person, in waistcoat pockets atl - should be able to stand at least body temperature.

As for different inks: not only incompatabilty in terms of clotting (very true!) might be an issue; ink colours often depend on acidity and different inks (even of the same make) may differ greatly in this respect, thus often yielding disagreeable intermediate hues remarkably differing from what one would expect from mixing the original colours.

Good evening all,

I have a hundred or so fountain pens and do my own restoration. Warm water probably won't harm most plastic pens, but it can oxidize hard rubber. I never use warm water (over 100 degrees F) on pens, even though it may be quicker. I have several ear syringes, as Tony stated, and these speed up flushing, even with cold water. Forced flushing with a syringe will not harm the nib/feed/section assembly, unless you let the assembly go flying across the room. If the water is spraying out the breather (that's the hole in the slit of the nib, often shaped like a circle, half moon, or heart), hold your finger over the breather to plug it and force the water down the length of the nib.

If I have a pen with dried ink plugging the channels, I knock the nib/feed out of the section and clean everything with cool water and a tooth brush. I have the tools and know how to align the nib to the feed. If I didn't, I would soak the nib/feed/section in a glass of cool water until ink stopped bleeding from the feed. It might take overnight or several days. Change the water when it is colored.

Be careful with vinegar. It may discolor some plastics and hard rubber. I know folks that use dilute ammonia for cleaning, but be careful as it will also discolor plastics and hard rubbers. I have had nib/feed/sections that were so full of dried ink and crud that I could not safely knock them apart. Several days soaking in water did not help. I soaked them in isopropyl alcohol for a day or two and that disolved the ink so I could knock them apart.

I used to be very careful to not mix inks in a pen. I know many people who mix their own custom colors and some even mix different brands without problems. I still don't mix inks, but I'm not nearly as worried about some minor ink residue left in a pen when I switch inks. The exception is J. Herbin inks, which are vegetable based, I believe. Whatever the reason, they do not mix well with other inks. If you use J. Herbin inks, be extra careful when switching brands.

This is my $2 worth. I hope it helps. Sorry for the length.