Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 58

Thread: How often do you clean your fountain pens?

  1. #1
    Member calamum's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
    Posts
    36
    Thanks
    29
    Thanked 17 Times in 10 Posts
    Rep Power
    0

    Default How often do you clean your fountain pens?

    I've seen people on several blogs suggest that fountain pens should be flushed out monthly. That seems a little excessive to me, especially with dye-based inks like Diamine or Waterman, but I'm open to changing my mind if enough people who at least seem to know what they're talking about tell me that I'm wrong. I've gone a couple of months without cleaning some pens with no problems (yet), but I change ink colors often enough that sometimes I'll clean one after a week or two. But I'm talking about staying with the same ink. Thanks.
    Quid rides? Mutato nomine de te fabula narratur. — Horace
    (What are you laughing at? Just change the name and the joke’s on you.)

  2. #2
    FPG Donor ♕ Chrissy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    United Kingdom
    Posts
    11,404
    Thanks
    6,876
    Thanked 10,363 Times in 3,978 Posts
    Rep Power
    24

    Default Re: How often do you clean your fountain pens?

    I clean my pens frequently because many of them don't get refilled with the same ink. For the odd pens that are refilled with the same ink, yes, they just get refilled without being flushed in between fills.

  3. The Following 6 Users Say Thank You to Chrissy For This Useful Post:

    AzJon (April 21st, 2018), calamum (April 21st, 2018), gbryal (April 21st, 2018), JulieParadise (May 13th, 2018), KKay (April 30th, 2018), Morgaine (April 21st, 2018)

  4. #3
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Posts
    1,712
    Thanks
    4,746
    Thanked 4,642 Times in 1,129 Posts
    Rep Power
    12

    Default Re: How often do you clean your fountain pens?

    I'm not a frequent ink changer. I clean a pen if I've written it dry and plan to put it away for a bit. Otherwise I refill it with the same ink and carry on.

    Back when I used two pens and one ink all the time I'm not sure I ever cleaned a pen. My technical pens, on the other hand, spent more time being cleaned than used.

  5. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to catbert For This Useful Post:

    calamum (April 21st, 2018), JulieParadise (May 13th, 2018)

  6. #4
    Senior Member Pterodactylus's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Austria
    Posts
    3,885
    Thanks
    2,412
    Thanked 4,804 Times in 1,697 Posts
    Rep Power
    15

    Default Re: How often do you clean your fountain pens?

    Only when changing the colors or when put it back empty in a drawer.
    Otherwise just refill.

    Everything else is imho unnecessary.

  7. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to Pterodactylus For This Useful Post:

    calamum (April 21st, 2018), JulieParadise (May 13th, 2018), Yazeh (November 6th, 2020)

  8. #5
    Useless mhosea's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Boston, Massachusetts
    Posts
    1,580
    Thanks
    440
    Thanked 1,819 Times in 786 Posts
    Rep Power
    12

    Default Re: How often do you clean your fountain pens?

    Quote Originally Posted by calamum View Post
    I've seen people on several blogs suggest that fountain pens should be flushed out monthly. That seems a little excessive to me, especially with dye-based inks like Diamine or Waterman, but I'm open to changing my mind if enough people who at least seem to know what they're talking about tell me that I'm wrong. I've gone a couple of months without cleaning some pens with no problems (yet), but I change ink colors often enough that sometimes I'll clean one after a week or two. But I'm talking about staying with the same ink. Thanks.
    When staying with the same ink in a given pen, I just go with it until I get a hard start or until the ink seems too concentrated or until I just feel like cleaning the pen. No schedules. It's mainly my pens at work that get this kind of treatment because the ones at home rotate in and out of use too frequently. One of the pens at work has IG ink in it and routinely goes a few months or more between any kind of flushing, and the other has carbon ink in it, so I'm really living on the edge. At times they've gotten dried out in the feed enough that I had to flush it and re-ink them before I could write with them. Nothing bad happened.
    Last edited by mhosea; April 21st, 2018 at 02:25 AM.
    --
    Mike

  9. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to mhosea For This Useful Post:

    calamum (April 21st, 2018), JulieParadise (May 13th, 2018), welch (April 21st, 2018)

  10. #6
    Senior Member Deb's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Highlands of Scotland
    Posts
    1,747
    Thanks
    2,349
    Thanked 1,927 Times in 842 Posts
    Rep Power
    12

    Default Re: How often do you clean your fountain pens?

    Only when changing colours or putting it away.
    Regards,
    Deb
    My Blog

  11. The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to Deb For This Useful Post:

    calamum (April 21st, 2018), carlos.q (April 21st, 2018), JulieParadise (May 13th, 2018), NibsForScript (July 28th, 2019)

  12. #7
    Senior Member Kaputnik's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    By the long tidal river.
    Posts
    1,043
    Thanks
    2,713
    Thanked 2,570 Times in 695 Posts
    Rep Power
    14

    Default Re: How often do you clean your fountain pens?

    I have one pen that I've been refilling with the same ink for three or four months now, and I've seen no need to flush it. But I probably will put it away for a while in another month, and will flush it then.

    If I'm going to refill a pen directly from a bottle of a different kind of ink, I'll flush it first. But if I'm refilling it by a method that doesn't involve dipping the nib in an ink bottle, such as putting in a new cartridge or refilling the cartridge that's in there, I don't necessarily even flush it out when changing inks. I've had no problem with say, a Sailor blue gradually working its way down to a feed saturated with a Pilot green. I just don't want to contaminate the bottle by constantly dipping nibs and feeds that are saturated with other inks. Of course, some people don't want the effect of mixing particular inks, or any inks at all, but I use mostly Pilot and Sailor inks which seem to play well with each other.
    "If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly."
    G.K. Chesterton

  13. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to Kaputnik For This Useful Post:

    calamum (April 21st, 2018), JulieParadise (May 13th, 2018), Morgaine (April 21st, 2018)

  14. #8
    Senior Member Paddler's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2015
    Location
    Northeast Ohio
    Posts
    468
    Thanks
    61
    Thanked 602 Times in 307 Posts
    Rep Power
    9

    Default Re: How often do you clean your fountain pens?

    Quote Originally Posted by Deb View Post
    Only when changing colours or putting it away.
    +1
    If a feed has ink sludge in it, I hold it under running water for a few seconds and then keep writing.
    "Nothing is enough for the man to whom enough is too little." -Epicurus-

  15. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Paddler For This Useful Post:

    calamum (April 21st, 2018), JulieParadise (May 13th, 2018)

  16. #9
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
    Location
    GB
    Posts
    436
    Thanks
    219
    Thanked 383 Times in 169 Posts
    Rep Power
    6

    Default Re: How often do you clean your fountain pens?

    If I'm switching inks, I'll flush the pen. I'll do the same if I'm putting the pen out of use for a while. That clean is either holding it under a running tap, or drawing water in and pushing it out with the converter/piston. It's not a thorough deep clean. If I'm refuelling it with more of the same, then I wont clean it at all. The only other time is if the feed doesn't seem to be behaving properly.

    If a pen has been sat inked up and unused for a couple of weeks, then I have too many pens inked up. This will prompt me to either wash out and lay up that pen, or do the same to one of the others to get that first pen into use again. I don't like having pens inked up and not being used.

  17. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Wuddus For This Useful Post:

    calamum (April 21st, 2018), JulieParadise (May 13th, 2018)

  18. #10
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
    Posts
    10
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 5 Times in 4 Posts
    Rep Power
    0

    Default Re: How often do you clean your fountain pens?

    I only clean them when changing inks or putting them away.

    I once put away a Pelikan M605 and forgot to clean it out first, it sat for a couple of years with ink in it. After a soak and a flush it was fine, no staining.

  19. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Giant_Pens_Are_Silly For This Useful Post:

    calamum (April 21st, 2018), JulieParadise (May 13th, 2018)

  20. #11
    Senior Member southpaw52's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    Fort Smith AR
    Posts
    859
    Thanks
    450
    Thanked 231 Times in 141 Posts
    Rep Power
    14

    Default Re: How often do you clean your fountain pens?

    I prefer to clean my pens monthly. I tend to keep 12+ pens inked regularly, essential pen hygiene is needed monthly I feel. I rarely refill a pen with the same ink and also I do not refill between cleanings. If a pen runs out of ink during the month it is pulled from rotation and cleaned, it doesn't get refilled til the next month.


    InCoWri 2018, Letter Writers Alliance Member, Postable link: www.postable.com/bradharris, postcrossing

  21. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to southpaw52 For This Useful Post:

    calamum (April 21st, 2018), JulieParadise (May 13th, 2018)

  22. #12
    Member calamum's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
    Posts
    36
    Thanks
    29
    Thanked 17 Times in 10 Posts
    Rep Power
    0

    Default Re: How often do you clean your fountain pens?

    Thank you to everyone who's contributed to this thread. I suspect the once-a-month admonition may be a ploy to sell more pen flush, which I've never had to use, but am glad to know exists in case I ever need it. When I used fountain pens in school æons ago I never flushed them out, but I always used the same ink.
    Last edited by calamum; April 21st, 2018 at 03:35 PM.
    Quid rides? Mutato nomine de te fabula narratur. — Horace
    (What are you laughing at? Just change the name and the joke’s on you.)

  23. The Following User Says Thank You to calamum For This Useful Post:

    JulieParadise (May 13th, 2018)

  24. #13
    Senior Member Pterodactylus's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Austria
    Posts
    3,885
    Thanks
    2,412
    Thanked 4,804 Times in 1,697 Posts
    Rep Power
    15

    Default Re: How often do you clean your fountain pens?

    Quote Originally Posted by calamum View Post
    Thank you to everyone who's contributed to this thread. I suspect the once-a-month admonition may be a ploy to sell more pen flush. When I used fountain pens for school æons ago I never flushed them out, but I always used the same ink.
    Me too, even on a color change we just put a different colored cartridge into the pens and enjoyed the color change in the writing (used mostly Pelikan 4001 colors at school).
    Flushing and cleaning a pen was unknown (at most used to bring a pen to live again if it stopped writing for reasons I better not write into a FP forum).

    That people clean their pens regularly, was a new learning experience decades later for me.
    Also that something like pen cleaning fluids exist to support pen cleaning fetishists was new to me (never used something like that and will also most likely never use it, I can’t imagine a single reason as long as water exists on this planet).
    Last edited by Pterodactylus; April 21st, 2018 at 03:35 PM.

  25. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to Pterodactylus For This Useful Post:

    ceebert (July 20th, 2019), jeffraffe (April 30th, 2018), JulieParadise (May 13th, 2018)

  26. #14
    Member calamum's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
    Posts
    36
    Thanks
    29
    Thanked 17 Times in 10 Posts
    Rep Power
    0

    Default Re: How often do you clean your fountain pens?

    Quote Originally Posted by Pterodactylus View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by calamum View Post
    Thank you to everyone who's contributed to this thread. I suspect the once-a-month admonition may be a ploy to sell more pen flush. When I used fountain pens for school æons ago I never flushed them out, but I always used the same ink.
    Me too, even on a color change we just put a different colored cartridge into the pens and enjoyed the color change in the writing (used mostly Pelikan 4001 colors at school).
    Flushing and cleaning a pen was unknown (at most used to bring a pen to live again if it stopped writing for reasons I better not write into a FP forum).

    That people clean their pens regularly, was a new learning experience decades later for me.
    Also that something like pen cleaning fluids exist to support pen cleaning fetishists was new to me (never used something like that and will also most likely never use it, I can’t imagine a single reason as long as water exists on this planet).
    While you were writing this post I was editing my earlier response to add that I've never used a pen cleaning fluid!
    Quid rides? Mutato nomine de te fabula narratur. — Horace
    (What are you laughing at? Just change the name and the joke’s on you.)

  27. #15
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    San Francisco, California
    Posts
    217
    Thanks
    178
    Thanked 114 Times in 58 Posts
    Rep Power
    11

    Default Re: How often do you clean your fountain pens?

    Quote Originally Posted by Pterodactylus View Post
    That people clean their pens regularly, was a new learning experience decades later for me.
    Also that something like pen cleaning fluids exist to support pen cleaning fetishists was new to me (never used something like that and will also most likely never use it, I can’t imagine a single reason as long as water exists on this planet).
    The existence of other people and other people's lives can act to make up for the deficiencies of imagination. If Pterodactylus is talking about his pens, filled by him (or is it her?) with water-soluble inks, the existence of water may indeed suffice.

    If he is talking about other people, into whose hands come pens that may be clogged with artists' inks, not soluble in water, not intended to be used in fountain pens, that is another story, is it not?

    Some among us repair pens, and are not often called upon if nothing more than filling the pen with water is the right way forward. Others collect used pens, and receive pens that have been abused. As the English say, it's a funny old world.

  28. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to Jerome Tarshis For This Useful Post:

    azkid (April 21st, 2018), calamum (April 22nd, 2018), JulieParadise (May 13th, 2018)

  29. #16
    Senior Member Pterodactylus's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Austria
    Posts
    3,885
    Thanks
    2,412
    Thanked 4,804 Times in 1,697 Posts
    Rep Power
    15

    Default Re: How often do you clean your fountain pens?

    Quote Originally Posted by Jerome Tarshis View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Pterodactylus View Post
    That people clean their pens regularly, was a new learning experience decades later for me.
    Also that something like pen cleaning fluids exist to support pen cleaning fetishists was new to me (never used something like that and will also most likely never use it, I can’t imagine a single reason as long as water exists on this planet).
    The existence of other people and other people's lives can act to make up for the deficiencies of imagination. If Pterodactylus is talking about his pens, filled by him (or is it her?) with water-soluble inks, the existence of water may indeed suffice.

    If he is talking about other people, into whose hands come pens that may be clogged with artists' inks, not soluble in water, not intended to be used in fountain pens, that is another story, is it not?

    Some among us repair pens, and are not often called upon if nothing more than filling the pen with water is the right way forward. Others collect used pens, and receive pens that have been abused. As the English say, it's a funny old world.
    Sure you understood the question of the thread creator?

    The question is not about restauration projects, itˋs about “How often do you clean your FP’s”

    The deficiencies of understanding asked questions and responses often can be fixed by reading the original post and the responses carefully.

  30. #17
    Senior Member welch's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    New York City
    Posts
    1,031
    Thanks
    1,504
    Thanked 510 Times in 344 Posts
    Rep Power
    12

    Default Re: How often do you clean your fountain pens?

    I clean a pen only if I and putting it away. I will flush a pen if changing inks, but accidental ink-mixes can be interesting...remains of one ink with a fill of the next. Of course, I write with various blue and blue-black inks. Have never had a problem.

    Sometimes, people write as if it is required to tear a pen down to parts when changing inks. That seems excessive and more likely to wear or break a component...pens are meant to be refilled, but torn down only if something needs to be repaired. "If it's not broken, don't act like you are fixing it".
    Last edited by welch; April 23rd, 2018 at 07:46 AM.

  31. The Following User Says Thank You to welch For This Useful Post:

    JulieParadise (May 13th, 2018)

  32. #18
    Member calamum's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
    Posts
    36
    Thanks
    29
    Thanked 17 Times in 10 Posts
    Rep Power
    0

    Default Re: How often do you clean your fountain pens?

    Quote Originally Posted by Pterodactylus View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Jerome Tarshis View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Pterodactylus View Post
    That people clean their pens regularly, was a new learning experience decades later for me.
    Also that something like pen cleaning fluids exist to support pen cleaning fetishists was new to me (never used something like that and will also most likely never use it, I can’t imagine a single reason as long as water exists on this planet).
    The existence of other people and other people's lives can act to make up for the deficiencies of imagination. If Pterodactylus is talking about his pens, filled by him (or is it her?) with water-soluble inks, the existence of water may indeed suffice.

    If he is talking about other people, into whose hands come pens that may be clogged with artists' inks, not soluble in water, not intended to be used in fountain pens, that is another story, is it not?

    Some among us repair pens, and are not often called upon if nothing more than filling the pen with water is the right way forward. Others collect used pens, and receive pens that have been abused. As the English say, it's a funny old world.
    Sure you understood the question of the thread creator?

    The question is not about restauration projects, itˋs about “How often do you clean your FP’s”

    The deficiencies of understanding asked questions and responses often can be fixed by reading the original post and the responses carefully.
    I thought it was a very useful addition to the discussion, and not not really off-topic. I have some old fountain pens with italic nibs that I used for calligraphy, and recently dusted off after about 20 years. It's only by great good fortune that I apparently knew not to use India ink in them, and cleaned them well before putting them away, because they still write.
    Quid rides? Mutato nomine de te fabula narratur. — Horace
    (What are you laughing at? Just change the name and the joke’s on you.)

  33. #19
    Senior Member fountainpenkid's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Nouvelle Angleterre
    Posts
    3,675
    Thanks
    3,483
    Thanked 1,222 Times in 598 Posts
    Rep Power
    18

    Default Re: How often do you clean your fountain pens?

    Only when changing inks--which I do frequently.
    And the few times I've let ink sit in a pen for more than a month or so and it has begun to gunk up...
    Will
    If my p.m box is full, feel free to email me at dabantur@gmail.com.

  34. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to fountainpenkid For This Useful Post:

    calamum (April 22nd, 2018), JulieParadise (May 13th, 2018)

  35. #20
    Senior Member FredRydr's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    Carlisle, Pennsylvania USA
    Posts
    4,908
    Thanks
    1,396
    Thanked 6,390 Times in 2,505 Posts
    Rep Power
    18

    Default Re: How often do you clean your fountain pens?

    Whenever there's room in the dishwasher.

  36. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to FredRydr For This Useful Post:

    calamum (April 26th, 2018), fountainpenkid (August 5th, 2019)

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •