Pen Fungus? How to stop/prevent?

[AquaPenCatt]

I believe that I practice good pen hygiene, and none of my pens has ever had this until this prera "sprouted" some fuzzy fungus around nib and feed, and where nib/feed emerge from the section. Prera is new as of 3 months ago; I thoroughly cleaned/flushed it and allowed it to thoroughly air dry before inking it. Source bottle has no fuzzy stuff in it and is a near-new/nearly full bottle of Noodler's Blue.

Any thoughts how this happened, how to deal with it and prevent in future? Am I good if I dab the area with a q-tip dipped in alcohol?

thank you!

http://www.coffeeonmars.com/screenshots/fungus-1.jpg

http://www.coffeeonmars.com/screenshots/fungus-2.jpg

http://www.coffeeonmars.com/screenshots/fungus-3.jpg

[Laura N]

Wow, yuck.

I have carefully used very diluted bleach (1 part bleach to 9 parts water) but making sure the contact time was brief. There are risks to that, however.

I've read that Shaklee Basic-G is a safe and effective mold-killer for fountain pens.

[mhosea]

No idea what precipitated it, but just dabbing alcohol on is not going to clear the pen of mold. I'd disassemble and immerse the pen in the disinfectant. Shaklee Basic-G is based on quaternary ammonium salts. Basic G comes in concentrate form, enough to make many gallons of disinfectant, so the price will seem high unless you want to use it around the house as well. It may also be impossible to get in other countries, but there are probably products on the market that are based on the similar active ingredients. I personally would look for the ammonium salts in the ingredients and eschew products that have ethanol or isopropanol. Diluted bleach might work, but bleach is an oxidizer, and metal parts don't like it much. If you're in the US and/or can get Shaklee Basic G, I'd bite the bullet and get it. If this happened to you once, it will happen again, as it's most likely an environmental origin, so might as well buy something that will certainly work and is safe.

[fountainpenkid]

See? Noodler's inks are the devil and I don't trust them one bit.


;)

[Dreck]

See? Noodler's inks are the devil and I don't trust them one bit.


;)

LOL

[AquaPenCatt]

Thank you.. OK..I can probably grab some Basic-G..

safe to assume that the remaining ink in that pen is loaded with mold or fungus spores...?

[inklord]

safe to assume that the remaining ink in that pen is loaded with mold or fungus spores...?

Based on you not noticing any floating islands of fungus on your ink, I'd assume it's just a random environmental source. The semi-wet environs of the capped pen give the fungus a good place to sprout and form spore bodies (that's the fuzz), and the ink probably contains the nutrients. I'm not a Noodler's fan, but I'd say that that's actually a testimony as to how chemically mild, ph neutral and nutritious Noodler's Blue is! I also don't think that the fungus would attack the pen's material, but might clog up your feed if not treated. I'd pull the nib and wash feed and nib thoroughly in soapy water - this won't kill spores, but get your pen cleaned up for now. Overall a nuisance rather than a serious problem in a plastic pen.

[mhosea]

I expect Noodlers is using Dowicil 75 or a similar low toxicity preservative. It's excellent but not perfect, as nothing is. If this mold is in its spectrum, the ink is ok. If not, it's just a matter of time. I'd quarantine the bottle for awhile, see what happens.

As for the ink in the pen, treat every part of the pen as contaminated.

[KKay]

I wonder if you could soak it or spray it with a natural fungicide such as jojoba oil, neem oil, rosemary oil, citronella, or tea tree oil? Of course you would have to wash it before and after. Each one would have to be checked for the effects it may have on your material online. But it would be worth a try. If you are using regular tap water to flush, try distilled water only to flush it.