Pen Cleaning Tips - Needed

[Alacrity59]

Due to Covid - 19 I've been working from home a lot of the time. While I wait for meetings to start and computers to generate reports I've been cleaning my pens just a bit more thoroughly than normal.

Some things I've looked up and or figured out:

• A little ammonia and a few drops of dishwashing soap in the ultrasonic cleaner does wonders for the collectors and nibs
• I'm not supposed to leave vulcanite or ebonite in water very long . . . . I've avoided this.
• A little warm water can help unscrewing parts that have had a little shellac added

A thing I've not figured out:

• Some pens such as the Conklin Durograph have screw in nibs. I'm guessing the collector is buried in the assembly that does not come apart, so far as I can tell. What is the best way of cleaning this thing we can't see? From cleaning other pens that have a collector you can reach I can see this is something that needs cleaning sometimes. I.e. it gets gunked up and you can soak, flush, for a long long time and still have some ink coming out.

Maybe others with questions and advice can add to this thread.

 

[EB Newfarm]

I try not to do too much. A flush with warm water or with warm water and a small amount of mild dish soap is about all I ever do. I think it is easy to overdo it and cause damage. Patience is important when dealing with gunked up pens, stronger soaps or solvents are risky. If a pen is writing properly, I would only do a quick rinse with warm water between refills.

 

[Doc4]

I use a bulb syringe to get a lot of water through a nib/feed for any pen that uses a cart/converter.

 

[Marco63]

Alternatively to the bulb syringe I have discovered that empty and washed ketchup or honey squeeze bottles are perfect for flushing a nib/feed assembly. you insert them in the cap hole, that is of silicon, and while holding the nib/feed you squeeze the container and out goes the water through the nib. More water than a bulb syringe

 

[Tirvine]

Nothing to add about the cleaning process, but it provided a much needed reminder. Now that I am retired the ancient Pelikan that was always in my hand or pocket for blue black and the Waterman I used for red for editing are not getting their daily use. I need to use them so they don't dry up and create problems! I think I'll drain the Waterman. I do not foresee editing anything.

 

[Alacrity59]

I had a flash back moment today as I was cleaning a Platinum Plaisir. Cursive writing was taught in grade 3. And of course we all had the same pen . . . kinda like we had the same school uniform all bought at one store in our town that became a city around the same time.

I remember about 7 guys in the washroom changing the cartridges in our pens . .. blue black ink being rinsed out (washable ink was important) and cleaning bits with toilet paper. I really can't remember what happened if you ran out of ink in the middle of a class.

This was the mid 60's . . . Mom used to talk about being in school and being in charge of mixing the ink powder with water to put in the jars that fit into the hole in the desk that was still on the student desks when I went to school a couple of decades later.