I really like writing with fountain pens (not super expensive, but I have a pair of these and a couple others). What’s the best way to clean them? I feel like I should clean them every few refills (I use bottles of ink and not cartridges), but I don’t know if that’s true or not.
Any advice out there?
Warm water is best. Try not to use regular tap water is yours is particularly full of minerals.
I agree. I always use warm water.
Third (fourth?) the warm water. You might need to let it soak for a bit.
If you always use the same kind of ink, you won’t need to change it as often. If you change brands, you should clean the pen first. If you change ink colors it’s a good idea (but if you don’t, you can get custom colors!).
I have found Waterman ink is great. Mont Blanc is also good, but in my pens (which are not Mont Blanc pens) it tends to clog them after a couple of refills. Waterman never does. (My pens are Waterman and Parker.)
Levenger and Private Reserve are inks that are highly regarded.
Me: Montblanc pens, Montblanc ink. Never used anything but warm water.
Yep. I use all Private Reserve except for one Levenger ink called “Fireball.” I’ve got way more inks than I do pens, though.
I usually use warm water, but I didn’t know if there was something better. I enjoy getting colors that are a little different every time. I use a lot of blues, but they’re all different enough that the mix is unique.
So is it hijacking if I ask for what reason do you use fountain pens? Do you use them professionally? Do you write a lot of letters?
I just like to use them. I’ve always had a thing for pens of different types. I take notes with them (I’m in academics). I just like the feel of the way they write and look of the ink on the page. It’s all aesthetics for me.
I’m speaking from experience using fountain pens to write music, back in pre-computer days, and I am assuming that modern fountain pens aren’t much different.
We had to use more opaque ink (near-india) than you probably do, so cleaning was even more important. You may be surprised to learn that all pen nibs that I ran across could be taken apart into 3 components, and were held together by compression only. There is a metal pen point, a plastic support mechanism (I don’t know the official names for any of these) and a sleeve that holds the other two parts together. The sleeve has a screw thread to attach to the barrel.
The ink travels in a groove at the top of the support from the barrel to the slot in the metal tip. The rest of the support (like the little fins at the bottom) serves no purpose except to provide rigidity. So cleaning out the groove and slot with a razor blade and toothbrush is the way to go to make it flow well. We used warm water with dilute liquid soap. Dry everything and re-assemble.
You might also experiment with reshaping the tip that meets the paper. In music copying, a new pen was not useable until we ground it down a little, which made a wider line. We used 600-grit sandpaper and a lot of care.
Of course if your pens have a different construction, you can ignore this.
second the warm water. I found for really dirty pens, or ones that I had let dry out, that distilled water at room temperature, or warmed in the microwave to slightly steaming in a GLASS container, really broke the old ink down faster and cleaned out the nib faster. Also, if you can get 5 or 10 CC syringes with needles, you can use them to force water through the nib. If not, user kleenex or paper towels to suck the water out of the nib.
But if your pen is in regular use, and doesn’t get a chance to dry out, you really don’t need to rinse it out, unless you are going to a lighter coloured ink. The ink itself will clean the pen as it flows. It’s dry ink you have to worry about.
-trupa, *pen geek, Parker, Pelican and MontBlanc owner. I love Herbin’s Bleu Myosotis and Private Reserve’s Black Cherry inks. *
I’ve just been made a gift of this pen (sorry for the ugly site; the pen was limited and it’s hard to find info on it) and I’m trying to decide what color ink to use. I’m leaning toward a dark burgundy or maroon, or maybe a rich brown. I’d love one that’s black with a glint of red; like dried blood. The Montblanc color I like is scented, which, ew? But I’ve never used any other ink. Are the inks you mention–Herbin, Private Reserve–are they good for use with a Montblanc?
I share you colour taste, and so really urge you to check out the Private Reserve Black Cherry. It’s fine ink, and I would have no qualms in using it in your pen. Exactly like you describe, almost black, with reddish brownish tinges. Less bright & showy than the Montblanc burgundy, but richer & more distinguished, imho. It looks gorgeous on a , cream or parchment coloured heavy paper stock.
The Herbin Bleu Myosotis was my favourite for years, in my quest for a really royal royal blue. Liked it even more than the Pelican Konigsblau (sp?)
Both have a nice high but even pigment density/concentration without being so thick as the old Parker Penman blue-black that was famous for clogging even the most generous free-flowing nibs.
Also, with modern inks, you don’t have to worry about high acidity anymore, the reason for precious/exotic metal nibs.
So go ahead, enjoy, & don’t worry, you’ll be fine.
I have to say, that’s quite an attractive pen at a very attractive price.
I have an assortment of the old Sheaffer fountain cartridge pens, back when Sheaffer was not a Bic division. Sometimes I buy them from eBay or other online stores, and of course they are almost all used. I don’t pay much for them, so I’m comfortable with soaking them in warm tap water…and I usually add a few drops of plain soap in the soak water. I wouldn’t advise using soap on any pen that costs more than about twenty bucks, though, or whatever amount of money you’re willing to throw away if it gets ruined. I almost never pay more than five bucks for these pens, because let’s face it, they are really not of highest quality. I tend to eventually lose them, or one of the cats will knock them off my desk or fish one out of my drawer and lose them. At any rate, I’ve never noticed that a soapy soak has harmed any of my pens, and I have been able to get pens working after a soapy soak when a plain warm water soak hasn’t done the trick. I only use PLAIN soap, though, it’s not antibacterial, it doesn’t have lotion in it, it’s nothing but soap. It’s Ivory dishwashing soap, in fact, which is as plain a soap as I can think of.
ONe of the things I like about fountain pens is they kind of adapt themselves to your writing style.
I don’t really like for other people to use my pens because it changes the feel of the pen. It’s like somebody else wearing your shoes.