Is there a faster way to clean fountain pen nibs?

[swan_tower]

Every time I want to clean out a fountain pen and change inks, I swear, it takes forever. I have a bulb I use to flush water through the feed and the nib, but even after I've put through probably two hundred times as much water as there can possibly be ink remaining, it's still coming out visibly colored. I have one of those sonic jewelry cleaners, too, but I feel like it just leaves the pens marinating in inky water (especially if I don't clean them the other way first); I have to change it out enough times that I'm not sure it's really faster or all that much less labor-intensive than flushing them by hand. Is there a faster way I'm just overlooking, or is this simply how it goes with fountain pens?

(originally posted at Swan Tower: https://is.gd/H0F2jF)

Comments

[jazzlet]

In my experience it's just the way it goes, I ended up with two pens as, many years ago, I had a job where I had to use both black and red to denote credits and debits. There was no point in my writing anything with biros as it is illegible to anyone else, and not always clear to me.

Sorry I have no quick fix.

[swan_tower]

Now that I have multiple pens that are good about not drying out very fast, yeah, I think I'm headed in that direction. But even when I stay with the same color ink, it's good to clean them occasionally. I guess the labor is just part of the cost of using fountain pens.

[havocthecat]

Kind of just how it goes. I use distilled water, I buy pen flush from Goulet Pens that speeds the process a little, so it's cleaning the nib and feed probably half to a quarter the usual amount of times (so long as it's not a vintage pen, because it's a mix with ammonia, dish soap, and water, and the ammonia is bad for the vintage pen materials). I mostly alternate between pen flush and distilled water these days.

I think most online FP companies sell some kind of pen flush? But I usually buy it from Goulet; I just like the company generally.

[swan_tower]

I like Goulet, too. I might consider buying some of their pen flush; none of mine are anything like vintage.

[havocthecat]

I hope it works out for you the way it did for me. It sped up the cleaning process a lot. Are you familiar with their YouTube videos? In case not, they have a tutorial on how to use the pen flush.

[karanguni]

I accept multiple pens as my ultimate destiny and just walk away after dunking something in a cup, and/or enjoy inks fading into one another.

[mrissa]

I am another multiple pen advocate.

[swan_tower]

Of course, the problem with this is that -- as when I made this post -- then I might find myself cleaning out three nibs at a time, thus compounding my problem. :-P

[mrissa]

I inked another pen when I read this, just in case.

[via_ostiense]

What kind of pen do you have? If possible, I like to disassemble my nib and feed and run them under the tap. It seems to get them cleaner faster than flushing water through them in situ.

[swan_tower]

Do you mean removing the feed from inside its casing? I'm nervous about trying that, for fear it won't go back together again properly. The pens I use the most often are Pilots, though, if that's relevant.

[via_ostiense]

Do you mean removing the feed from inside its casing?

Yep! I use a Pilot Kakuno and Pilot Penmanship. They're both friction-fit, which means you can tug out the nib and feed together. To put them back in, you align a notch on the underside of the feed with a notch in the pen body, and just shove them back in.

ETA: the Metropolitan is also friction-fit.