I recently bought a Parker 45 Flighter with a fine 14k gold nib. It was in its original case in almost mint status, and included an original converter probably unused. It looked quite clean, but I cleaned then nib, feeder and section to remove any rest of ink.

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Since I wanted to check if the squeeze converter was in working order after all this years (I was aware that the sac would be damaged because of the age) I filled it plunging it directly into the ink bottle.

After a few minutes, I checked the writing which seemed ok. But, when I was about to finish my testing, I discovered that inside of the cap was a thin white layer that looked pretty much as mold.

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I cleaned the cap and put it into a dilution of vinegar at 50% for 20 minutes. After that, I cleaned it again with hydrogen peroxide.

Now, I have a few worries:

1) The cap seems clean now but I can see very little white dots inside. It well might be dust, or any rest of the cotton swabs that I used for the cleaning but, in the case that they are mold residues, is the vinegar enough to kill it forever?

2) I've quarantined my Diamine ASA Blue, even if I'm convinced that the converter is clean. How long should I wait to use that ink with my other pens? Should I better buy another bottle?

3) I've read that some inks, specifically Japanese brands, includes phenol in their composition to prevent mold. Is safe to put phenol in my Diamine, Waterman and Herbin inks? If so, which proportion would be used?


Thanks in advance.