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I have a Watermans pen from the 1920s era. It is the nice cardinal red color. I had it inked up and went to
unscrew the cap only to find that the ink had leaked onto the pen.
So the area that is under the cap is stained blue. A lot came off just by rubbing under water but its still pretty stained
Any suggestions? Thanks for any help
Baystate blue?
No, its a Waterman blue
Rapido-eze. See: https://www.kohinoorusa.com/rapidoeezeQuote:
Originally Posted by Pen Tom
https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3...9d48a~mv2.webp
I would progress first to washing the inside of the cap and the section in warmer water with a couple of drops of dish washing soap in there.
If that didn't work then I would try cleaning it with a pen flush or Amodex.
@Fred I can't see an image on your post.
Another early step, after Chrissy's water/dish-soap thing, is to attempt a cleaning of the stained exterior with toothpaste. Rub a small amount on the surface and polish with a soft dry cloth; add a few drops of water to liquify the paste if necessary. There are non-chemical abrasive powders in toothpaste and won't damage the plastic, but can often remove surface stains. Clean off with clear water.
It's a linked image from Koh-i-noor's website, a bottle of Rapido-eze. See: https://www.kohinoorusa.com/rapidoeezeQuote:
Originally Posted by Chrissy
I can see it still, using MacOS 11.1 and Safari 14.0.2.
It's a WebP Image. Unfortunately not all imaging software can render that.Quote:
Originally Posted by Chrissy
No image for me either, Fred.
I somehow managed to insert it...
https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3...53ac2d~mv2.png
Thank you very Jon and Fred, very helpful
Last night it occurred to me to try a bit of toothpaste and that worked very well. Still staining on the threads, but I will keep at it
Also the rapido-eze sounds good. I'm going to buy some
thanks again, Tom
Thanks Yazeh. :) I haven't managed to find any availability for the kit in the UK although I already have some Rapido-eze cleaning solution in a bottle.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yazeh
I think it was sold under the rotring/rapidograph brand in Europe and the UK, but not for years now. You can make something pretty similar with an ear syringe bulb though.Quote:
Originally Posted by Chrissy
I have had the good results on "Red" hard rubber with mechanical abrasive processes, as Jon Szanto posted. I would add, that the inside of the cap can be scrubbed with a test tube brush loaded with some abrasive paste as well, to prevent transfer of any ink residue that may be in there. For abrasive, I make a paste with Tin Oxide, or the more aggressive Tripoli (Rotten Stone) and water, though toothpaste works (especially if you are doing this at the bathroom sink). I suppose that if you use toothpaste you will also protect the pen from cavities if you brush regularly! Actually, using a tooth brush on the threads works pretty well. It's the pigment particles that are getting trapped in the irregular and clingy rubber surface. I don't think that the proprietary cleaning solutions can remove it all. As an added bonus, a well-polished surface is less prone to future staining. One area to focus on is if your cap lip scuffs the barrel when the cap is screwed down. Certainly a possibility if we are talking about metal cap-banded Waterman's. As to keeping the RHR feed clean...good luck.
Bob