What can I say, I love cleaning fountain pens! Why? Who can really say. But we all have certain little unexplainable intricacies that make up our personalities, and mine seems to be that when I’m no longer using an inked fountain pen regularly, I love returning it to that (almost) brand new state it was in prior to inking it.
If you look around my desk, you would be shocked that cleaning fountain pens would be one of my things. I will admit that the process isn’t a picnic at the park, but I’ve learned how to clean fountain pens fast and well over the past decade. Here are a few givens when I clean pens.
Tap water is fine.
I’ve only ever used my kitchen sink to clean, including water directly from the faucet. For context, I practice good fountain pen maintenance. I’m never in a situation where ink has gunked up the inner workings of a pen, stained it, or had any other issue caused by it sitting for months on end, unused.
If I did find myself in that situation, I would use my sink setup as much as possible, and then move to a bath with distilled water in an ultrasonic cleaner. I cannot tell you the last time I broke out the ultrasonic clear - it’s been that long.
If the pen is still not clean after that, it may be time to look at a fountain pen flush, or make your own.
Last note on my sink - it’s stainless steel. I wouldn’t use any other surface to splash ink around in. If that isn’t an option, an ultrasonic cleaner may be more of a priority. This is the one I bought in 2016 (Amazon affiliate link,) and I think it is still a good recommendation.
Nibs and feeds can sit and soak.
When possible, I like to remove the nib and feed from the housing. This isn’t always possible, nor is it always necessary. But for nibs where this is easy to do (Jowo #6 nib, for example,) I’ll always disassemble them. This allows me to get any stray ink my regular flushing didn’t clean all the way out.
Disassembling a fountain pen nib and feed, and dropping the parts in a bowl.
Once taken apart, I’ll rinse them out in my hand (be sure your drain isn’t going to gobble these small parts up!) If they are clean after that, I’ll set them on the towel to dry. If the feed is still holding ink, I’ll drop it in a bowl and let it soak for an hour or so. Rinse and repeat, literally.
Modernize your Booger Suckers.
As an avid believer in the nasal aspirator cleaning method, I’ve modernized my tools over the years. I mainly use the Schon DSGN Luer Syringe Pen Cleaning Tool System, which has custom fittings to seal off many different sized pens for easy cleaning.
I own three - Jowo, Pilot, and Sailor - and those cover me for the majority of my cleaning needs. Are they mandatory? No. Do they make my life easier? Yes. I still have the booger suckers as backup.
Hot Schon DSGN Luer action. Watch as I move the nib around into clean water so I can see how it’s working.
Inky hands are expected.
This was the last picture taken just to show the results of any inky remnants after cleaning seven pens. Once I got over my fear of the mess - which I admit was a struggle in my early fountain pens days - everything became easier.
When cleaning pens, you are going to get ink on your hands. It’s a given, so I own it. I want my pens as clean as possible when I’m storing them away, so sometimes that means getting under the hood while there is still ink present. Once I’m done, I wash my hands with hot water and dish soap and go on about my day.
I’m lucky that I work from home, where inky hands are the rule, not the exception. If I had a presentation to give at work on Monday morning, and I had just gotten in a fight with a pen inked with Diamine Oxblood the day before, then yes, that might be an issue. For those cases, check out this list of tips for your options. For the rest of you, enjoy some of the Horror Stories from podcasts past.
Final notes.
I didn’t set a timer, but I’d wager I spent less than 20 minutes cleaning these seven pens. As I stated up top, my pens are clean to begin with, used as much as possible when inked, and don’t sit more than a week or two without being used. If you keep up with your fountain pen hygiene, it’s an easy process.
The aftermath.
I do set up a workspace on the counter, with an 18” x 24” cutting mat, topped with a microfiber cloth. The cloth serves to catch any stray ink, like when I unscrew the barrel to get to the converter and need to set the nib down. It’s also for keeping pen barrels and small parts from rolling away. The mat underneath makes it so I can grab the entire setup and relocate the unassembled masses to a counter out of the way to dry, probably overnight.
And I think that’s it! I wasn’t intending this to be a step-by-step process for beginners, but rather a “hey look, this is pretty simple!” process. If you have any specific questions please don’t hesitate to leave a comment below and I’ll answer them ASAP.
BONUS SEGMENT!
While all of your pen cleaning stuff is out, be sure to fill any annoying pens with an eyedropper or syringe. The Pilot CON-70 is the best worst converter Pilot makes, and I never fill it in the pen. Grab a bottle of ink and blunt-nose syringe, load it, fill it, and since all of my cleaning stuff is still out, clean the syringe out right away before storing the rest of the goods.
Pilot Custom 845 Vermillion, inking with Nagasawa Kobe x Nolty Lapis Lazuli.
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