INTRODUCTION

Maintaining your fountain pen is essential to its reliability and will ensure an enjoyable, smooth writing experience.  This guide will show you how to keep your fountain pen clean.

I love fountain pens.  I collect vintage fountain pens and I use several different pens frequently.  The varying line width created by a fountain pen nib adds character to one's writing.  There is little to compare with the feel of a good fountain pen gliding across a sheet of quality writing paper.  It puts me in mind of a graceful figure skater swirling across the ice.

When you pick up your fountain pen, you want it to write -- immediately -- instead of skipping or not starting at all!  I generally rotate three or four different pens for current use and I sometimes neglect one for too long and it dries up on me.  Luckily, there is a relatively simple solution.

A Note of Caution!  Keep in mind we are talking about a "modern" fountain pen here.  For me, the definition of a modern fountain pen is one that uses a replaceable ink cartridge or fills from a bottle with a piston convertor.  Likewise, I define a "Vintage" fountain pen as one that uses a lever or some other filling mechanism.  Although, technically speaking, some of the 1960s "cartridge" type pens qualify as Vintage, they can generally be cleaned using the methods found in this guide.  Cleaning a vintage fountain pen is another matter and will be covered in a separate guide.

SIMPLE CLEANING METHOD

Most of the time, if your pen is just clogged from a short term lack of use, you can simply run cool water from the kitchen faucet over the feed/nib section until the dried ink in the feed is flushed out.  Then, BEING VERY CAREFUL NOT TO SQUEEZE TOO HARD CAUSING DAMAGE TO THE NIB, take a sheet or two of clean soft paper towel and gently squeeze it around the feed section to dry it off.  Try writing with the pen.  If this hasn't cleared the feed section proceed with deeper cleaning as follows.

DEEPER CLEANING METHOD

PREPARATION

• A very handy tool many pen people use for cleaning is a small rubber syringe (like an ear syringe).

• Clear an area around the kitchen sink or laundry tub.

• Get yourself a roll of soft paper towels and a small clean plastic container.  Recycle a clean yogurt cup or margarine tub for this purpose.

• Disassemble the cap, barrel, nib/feed section, and ink cartridge or piston convertor.

                      Cap removed from barrel.    

Nib/feed section removed from barrel & separated from converter. 

DEEP CLEANING

1. With the nib pointed down -- again, using care not to damage the nib -- run a fairly strong stream of cool (never hot) water over the open nib/feed section.



2. Place the nib/feed section in the plastic container filled about half way with water and gently swish the section around in the container.  If the water remains clear you should be good to go.  If you see ink residue, let the section soak for 10 - 15 minutes.  As an alternative, if you have a syringe, force water through the section in both directions.  Or you can gently blow it like a whistle.

3. Repeat the last step until the water remains clear.

4. Using the paper towels wrapped around the section, gently dry and then reassemble your pen.

TIPS FOR SUCCESS

• If you are going to store your pen(s) for more than a few days, always store it clean and without ink.

• Clean the outside of your pen by wiping it with a clean lint free cloth to remove surface dirt and skin oils.

• Store pens avoiding excessive sunlight and temperature extremes.

• Most of all, write often, use quality writing paper, and enjoy your fountain pens!

We hope you found this guide helpful.  For a wide selection of quality writing instruments and refills, we would like to invite you to visit our It's All Write eBay store. 

Copyright 2008 by Timecatchers