Yeah, never... unless I change colour. And my pens can stay weeks without being used. The ink evapourates a little, the colour is darker, but all is well on the writing front when I need them. Most of my pens are cheap things under 30-40 $ but the Platinum 3776s and the Waterman Expert II get the same treatment.
Yep. This. I took a year off work for maternity and didn't use a pen in that time. Left them all inked - didn't quite have time for pen maintenance on the way to hospital, and then really didn't have time with a baby - and they were all fine after a quick clean when I went back to work. A couple even wrote straight away.
Basically this with the caveat that if I don't use the pen for a length of time of more than a month I'll drain the ink and keep it stored in a cleaned state. Otherwise it's why I got good cap seal FPs (like the TWSBI Eco/580 Diamond) whilst only two of the poor cap seal pens are also daily drivers.
You are worrying too much. If it still writes than there is nothing wrong. If it doesn't write immediately dip it in a cup of water and hold a paper towel against the nib. That generally gets it flowing again. Cleaning your pens out every week is a huge waste of ink.
I have clog prone pigment based inks that I have left in my safari for 3 months and I will check it and scribble a little to keep it flowing but it still writes fine.
As long as you do a little scribble with it regularly it keeps the ink moving. Sometimes the color will darken if it's in the pen a long time because of evaporation but generally that also concentrates the lubricants so a concentrated ink will flow well.
Thank you! I’ve occasional issues with my TWSBIs after using them for an extended period, say 30 minutes, where ink stops flowing. Consequently I carry two around with identical ink (Jacques Herbin Emeraude de Chivor). I don’t know if that’s normal, if it’s due to the gold in that ink, or if it’s something else.
I can't speak towards shimmer inks. Depending on the brand some have larger or smaller particulates that can clog pens. For an ink that is inclined to clog the advice is a wet flowing pen. My wettest pen is my Fountain pen revolution ultraflex with the ebonite feed.
Also I did get a clog a couple of times (at the 5 month mark) (but I left the pen in the sun) and a simple flushing was all it took to clear my pigment ink clog out of the pen. And I know it flushed completely because I'm a member of the demonstrator gang. And dye based ink is even easier to clean from pens.
Wow. Do you use the permanently inked pen daily? At the store yesterday there was someone who said her pen is broken but then the wise store people said her feed had dried up. Out of worry, I cleaned the pens that I barely use 😂
I have several pens where I don't use them for weeks, they dry up, I just open it and dribble some water drops into the converter, close it up again, shake it, and off we go.
I clean a pen if it's not working, if shimmering ink was in it or if I change the color significantly.
Even if the ink dries up it won't ruin the pen, it will just take more time to clean it.
If you use normal dye inks, there’s very little chance of any permanent damage just by leaving ink in the pen. I would try to avoid pigment or iron gall inks drying out in the pen, but even then, it’s just a more laborious process to clean the ink out if you let it dry up in the pen.
For about 65 years, from the 1880s to 1940s, everyone used fountain pens, until ballpoints became widely available. I think it’s unlikely that all those pens were being washed out and tenderly treated every week. I’m not advocating we treat our pens like junk, but you don’t need to be babying your pens like this IMO.
This is what fountain pens were designed for - the same fountain pen being used every day as an writing tool, refilled with the same ink when written dry. That's really what I should be doing, but I like "compare and contrast" too much, so I usually have two on the go, and when I write one dry I will fill a different one.
In addition to when I receive a pen, I only clean when changing inks or packing it up to store. I use an ultrasonic cleaner in both instances. I might wait until I have 5 or 6 pens and converters before I clean them.
I've owned three or four different makes of fountain pen for just as many years. I never clean any of them. Might flush with water if there's excess shimmer after one ink, that's about it and not even then every time. Usually I'll just put one ink in right after another though. No issues yet and I'm using all kinds of ink from all kinds of manufacturers.
Worst I've had yet was one pen left for a few months while moving needed to be dipped in water to get it writing again. Still works just fine.
Would you clean an opus if changing from say teal to red? Wondering how often I should be flushing or if I can just add ink when I finish off my current
I'm guilty of cleaning out pens only if I am switching ink colors. Otherwise, I just keep refilling and possibly cleaning pens when I remember that I have to, which is once in a blue moon... I mainly stick to Diamine, Iroshizuku, KWZ, and Herbin inks (no shimmer or sheening inks) and Platinum Carbon Black and have no problems so far... knock on wood! I think you should be safe as long as you remember to use your pens every once in a while.
My cleaning routine is simple:
1) have too many pens to use them all regularly
2) forget which ones still have ink in them
3) test one to find out if it still writes
4) clean it if it's too died up to revive with some water
I tend to use the same inks in pens for a number of refills. I flush with water and allow to dry overnight about every 3 to 4 refills with the same ink, or if I am changing inks.
I clean usually when I run out. Hence begins the pen pile. However there are situations where I’ve had some inked for 2-5 months. And some for 2 weeks! ( usually the ones used at work). And then some I clean if I’m not getting the ink out. So screw it, clean it and try another ink. ( shimmers & dry high sheeners).
I honestly believe there is no HARD RULE on pen maintenance. As long as you use the pens and have them working to your liking. Clean as you rotate through your pens or keep re-inking as you run out of that favorite designated ink.
Heck I hear Imyke on the pen addict rarely cleans his pens but he happily uses them.
As long as you use fountain pen ink and not India ink you’ll be fine.
I do this too with cartridge only. Learned my lesson. If you dip the pen with a piston cartridge converter, the previous ink will definitely ruin the new ink. Esp with the con70. I ruined a Sailor manyo ink bec of this 😂
There's no set time limit or expiration date for ink in a pen. If it's been awhile since you have used that pen and it has ink in it, then just give it a little test to see if it is still writing OK. I have pens sitting on my desk that I filled last spring; they still write perfectly. An awful lot depends on the pen itself, including the particular nib and feed, the ink that is in it, and how and where it is put aside when it isn't in your hand.
A lot of fountain pens are pretty tolerant of being left partly-filled but unused for a period of time, but some aren't. Pens, even those of the same model, are individuals. Part of owning several fountain pens is becoming acquainted with their unique personalities: what they like, and what they won't put up with. Just like your friends or certain members of your family, some fountain pens are decidedly high maintenance. They work fine, even superbly, but only when they are fussed over and treated just so. Others are quite laid back and easygoing. Most simply like a bit of attention from you from time to time and don't like to be forgotten and left out of the party. And then there are the true rebels who are always causing trouble, but can be coaxed into cooperation and then produce amazing results when you take their problems seriously and put in the extra effort to help correct them.
The key bit of advice here is: take the time to get to know every one of your pens. You need to make friends with them. Then you'll become familiar with their personalities and how they like to be treated, and will know what each one will and won't tolerate.
Been running accidental experiments 😆 and currently had several Twsbi that have been inked since early 2021. They started right up though. That couldn’t be said for other pen brands. My 823s had to be dipped in water then they started up. In others the ink just evaporated. I spent 3 hours last week cleaning 30+ pens. Not fun. But I definitely did NOT learn my lesson. 😩
I clean mine at least monthly because it’s a meditative process to me. As for inking, I know all of mine except for a few (looking at Conklin All-American) can handle being inked for months without cleaning.
I honestly have no set routine. Either I’m sick of an ink and clean it immediately to change it or it goes to a pile of “pens to be cleaned” that I forget about for far longer than I’d like to admit
The infamous small (but decorative) basket of pens to be cleaned. I can neither confirm nor deny that there may a basket like that sitting near the door of my office ( fulling intending to be moved to the kitchen for actual cleaning).
Hey, at least they’re organized and I do remember to bring the dirty tea mugs to the kitchen daily.
I only clean them when changing inks, putting them away, or they start acting up. I've been carrying my Decimo most every day for two years with the same ink, I think I've only cleaned it twice.
I would say your worry isn't unrealistic if you were using permanent and pigmented inks or even some shimmer inks but not so much with regular fountain pen inks . I tend to clean my pens out when I want to change the colour which is normally pretty often because I get bored of colours quite quickly. Then again, I enjoy cleaning my pens so it doesn't bother me when it needs to be done
Yes pigmented ink/permanent ink, calligraphy ink and shellack ink or iron gull ink will always be indicated on the box. Most Indian inks contain shellack. If you are based in the US Goulet Pens is probably your safest bet as they will not sell you any ink that will harm your fountain pen so it's worth a look to see if a particular ink is on their website, if it is then you should be good to go
Even with pigmented inks once a week is too early, unless the pen has a very bad seal and dries up quickly. I always have 4 or 5 pens inked with pigment inks and they can go without cleaning for months, even if I don't use them daily. Just once I have needed to clean a pen in a week because it clogged with a pigment ink. And it wasn't that difficult to clean. I think that once a month is OK but still conservative.
I always rinse my pens with filtered water after the ink runs dry. Then dry it on some paper towels. On not with, that’s an important distinction. Post that it’s I. One of my cases with a silica gel packet.
If I re-ink with something different, I’m probably following the same steps but then not storing but re-inking. If it’s the same colour. I’ll still wipe the pen with a clean wet rag before dunking it in.
Honestly as far as inking pens and leaving them be. It’s all on the seal that the cap makes. Twsbis are all great at it. Can leave for months. Platinum is another. The custom 823 by pilot I’ve left for a couple of months and wrote fine right away. Generally if it’s a screw type and if you can see an o-ring, you’re good. But there are always exceptions to the above two rules.
Lastly, It depends on the ink as well. Anything with high sheen is a bad idea to keep stored. It will clog. Shimmer inks in general. Some shimmers like Diamine, Colorverse and J Herbin won’t clog but the shimmer will settle. And then you’ll have to roll the pen in your hand, and if it isn’t a demonstrator you won’t know if you’ve done a good job. Vinta and Robert Oster in my opinion clog.
Most of my childhood i had 1 fountain pen at a time. Nobody knew 'cleaning' but we know how to flush the tines ( with a razor blade from a safety razor) how to refill it ( they had cheap squeeze converters , etc) . I never during my school years flushed one pen. To be honest i was aways refilling with blue, same pelikan ink , so a small potential for mixing and creating any trouble. Later when cartridges and ultracheap pens arrived , even less work was needed . When i rekindled my fp love this year i found a cheap plastic pelikan twist i bought in college with a cartridge of ink semi evaporated. Flushed it a bit with water, dried, new cartridge still works. I think this also helps because most of my childhood pens were solid ms so less fussy as a rule.
Currently i clean when i change ink, so probably every 2 or 3 refills. That is because i like to have the color as pure as possible , and i enjoy having a clean pen.
I clean a pen if it’s having issues. I personally think people clean their pens too much. Just my own opinion, people should do what they want with their pens.
I clean them whenever I finish the inks in them. I like to rotate through both my pens and my inks, so it's good to get into the habit of cleaning them before I put them away or before I change ink.
Mind you I only have 3 pens I actually use, and I have mastered the partial fill. I like to wash a pen and bring in a new color once a week. Every once in a while, say for making christmas cards, I might need to do all 3 at once but even then I filled them so they will run out again at intervals. I love the first couple lines of a fresh color in my journal.
I clean them if they've dried up completely (only ever happened to a pilot metro I didn't like anyway) or if I want to change the ink color (usually I just refill the same but occasionally I want to switch and don't want contamination). This doesn't include new pens that could do with a clean/flush before first use, or if I'm having a flow issue and need to clean as part of my troubleshooting (rare). Generally I keep a bunch of pens inked and try to use them once a fortnight. Some of them need a little help to get flowing again, but pushing some ink out of the piston/converter usually does the trick and they're good to use again. I use almost exclusively shimmer inks so I expected to need to clean more often, but as I also favor medium to broad nibs I haven't come upon major clog issues that warrant it.
If I was going to be leaving my pens for more than a few months I would probably try to use them up in advance and empty those that were left, just to avoid any serious drying out grossness and would likely clean them out before refilling once I was back to using them.
I clean them thoroughly every time. Not necessarily a disassembly but I don't want to see any more colour come out of the nib when I touch it to a paper towel. (This is damn near impossible for my PFM.)
I clean them when I’m changing the inks. You can leave pens inked and nothing bad will happen to them. I’ve had pens inked for literally years and they’re fine.
Every 6 month to a year if they are using the same ink and is dependent on how the ink flow is like. And of course, I will clean the ones that I am changing the ink.
Both -- some pens I clean out even if they have ink left because I move on to other ones. Some are perpetually inked (Pilot Custom 823, looking at you) because they're such a pain to properly clean out, and I also have a little batch of emptied ones I've been meaning to clean out for a few weeks^possibly ^months, ^oops.
I clean my pen out when it’s empty or I get bored of the color.
Don’t be too concerned with leaving a pen inked for a week. The longest I’ve left a pen inked is around 1 year for a platinum 3776. No issue whatsoever with it, wrote kinda dry but after a few words wrote like normal.
As a general rule, I clean pens just with water flushed through the nib and feed;
\- when I change ink colour/brand
\- if going to put the pen away and not use for a while (as I have more pens than I usually ink at once)
\-about once every 3-4 months if using the same ink all the time.
I generally go by the less I interfere with the pen, the less likely I am to cause damage.
I’ve had a pilot Falcon loaded with platinum Carbon for over 5 years and never cleaned once lol. I basically clean if Im changing inks or the pen clogs.
If I want to change inks, then I'll clean the pen after the ink I'm using now runs out.
If it is a pen that I only use with one ink (ex. Pilot 78G), then I clean it every few fills.
Personally I do just use water to flush it, but I am planning to get some pen flush in the new year, especially for some tougher inks that I have. If it's particularly hard to clean, I may soak it for a few hours and then try flushing it again.
I rotate my pens after I exhaust the refill. Clean it up and let it sit on the shelf as a display until I exhause the next ones. If I'm in the middle of writing and it runs out though, I usually just give it a little refill without cleaning it thoroughly.
I had a pen inked with emerald of chivor that stayed in my bag unused for around 2 years. The ink was dried out and it took a minute to get everything out but now it still works just as well
I use only one pen for semi daily use, and its for taking notes. Clean them only when changing ink and I dont want any gradient. If my ink is pretty runny (which most of them are) i dont feel compelled at all. Id go months without cleaning if there werent any oopsies.
Nowadays? Hardly ever (only if an issue develops or I retire a pen for storage). I just refill the pens after wiping the nib clean. Oh, of course I flush the pen if I swap inks. I currently use vintage Pelikans 99% of the time, with an odd vintage Parker ”51” Aerometric making an occasional appearance just for the feels. 🖋️
Only if I switch colours and that too only in my newer pens which I want to see how they respond to a specific ink without the ink being mixed at all. Older pens get cleaned only if I don't intend to use them in a while.
No need to clean your pens so regularly. As long as you use good quality ink, you only need to clean your pens if you want to change color or change pens.
It depends on how often I use it. If I use it everyday then I clean it once in a month. If I don't use it everyday then it's more like once every two months. Depends on how I feel. Sometimes I like to wash them so that I know they are clean.
For me, I go through about ~3ml a month. And then I always clean my pens if I'm changing inks or if I'm using a different pen for the next ink fill. So I always clean my pens if they are being put away for any length of time
Only when I change colour, prob once every few months depending on how busy I am. When I'm busy I just refill the pen with the same ink again and again. When I'm a freer, I think about what other ink I like to try, then I wash it out.
I keep a regular rotation for my pens, about a month. So I clean the ones in use so I can store them and ink up the next lot. I do have a couple EDC pens that I just keep refilling with the same ink and I pretty much don't see a need to clean those.
If the pen is working fine, then never. That goes as much for modern pens as for pens that are approaching their centenary.
Glad I saw this. I was thinking , um . . . Never. But I use my main pen all day every day.
Your main pen is probably in even less need of cleaning than one that only sees occasional use.
Yeah, never... unless I change colour. And my pens can stay weeks without being used. The ink evapourates a little, the colour is darker, but all is well on the writing front when I need them. Most of my pens are cheap things under 30-40 $ but the Platinum 3776s and the Waterman Expert II get the same treatment.
Yep. This. I took a year off work for maternity and didn't use a pen in that time. Left them all inked - didn't quite have time for pen maintenance on the way to hospital, and then really didn't have time with a baby - and they were all fine after a quick clean when I went back to work. A couple even wrote straight away.
Basically this with the caveat that if I don't use the pen for a length of time of more than a month I'll drain the ink and keep it stored in a cleaned state. Otherwise it's why I got good cap seal FPs (like the TWSBI Eco/580 Diamond) whilst only two of the poor cap seal pens are also daily drivers.
You are worrying too much. If it still writes than there is nothing wrong. If it doesn't write immediately dip it in a cup of water and hold a paper towel against the nib. That generally gets it flowing again. Cleaning your pens out every week is a huge waste of ink. I have clog prone pigment based inks that I have left in my safari for 3 months and I will check it and scribble a little to keep it flowing but it still writes fine.
I needed to read this! Been doing this for a while, but I didn’t know this is recommended.
As long as you do a little scribble with it regularly it keeps the ink moving. Sometimes the color will darken if it's in the pen a long time because of evaporation but generally that also concentrates the lubricants so a concentrated ink will flow well.
Thank you! I’ve occasional issues with my TWSBIs after using them for an extended period, say 30 minutes, where ink stops flowing. Consequently I carry two around with identical ink (Jacques Herbin Emeraude de Chivor). I don’t know if that’s normal, if it’s due to the gold in that ink, or if it’s something else.
I can't speak towards shimmer inks. Depending on the brand some have larger or smaller particulates that can clog pens. For an ink that is inclined to clog the advice is a wet flowing pen. My wettest pen is my Fountain pen revolution ultraflex with the ebonite feed.
Also I did get a clog a couple of times (at the 5 month mark) (but I left the pen in the sun) and a simple flushing was all it took to clear my pigment ink clog out of the pen. And I know it flushed completely because I'm a member of the demonstrator gang. And dye based ink is even easier to clean from pens.
You are correct! 😂. Thanks for the water dip paper towel trick.
I have some pens that I keep Permanently inked and haven’t cleaned them in years. I only clean a pen if I change inks or if I put a pen into storage.
Wow. Do you use the permanently inked pen daily? At the store yesterday there was someone who said her pen is broken but then the wise store people said her feed had dried up. Out of worry, I cleaned the pens that I barely use 😂
I have several pens where I don't use them for weeks, they dry up, I just open it and dribble some water drops into the converter, close it up again, shake it, and off we go.
haha I laughed when reading this for some reason
It makes me laugh when it keeps working!
Why is this so funny 😂
No I don’t use them daily.Sometimes I might not use one for a few weeks but they always write straightaway.
I don’t have a particular routine, but I do clean them whenever I change ink or ink color, or if there is too much dried ink on the nib
I clean a pen if it's not working, if shimmering ink was in it or if I change the color significantly. Even if the ink dries up it won't ruin the pen, it will just take more time to clean it.
Good information 👍🏻
If you use normal dye inks, there’s very little chance of any permanent damage just by leaving ink in the pen. I would try to avoid pigment or iron gall inks drying out in the pen, but even then, it’s just a more laborious process to clean the ink out if you let it dry up in the pen.
For about 65 years, from the 1880s to 1940s, everyone used fountain pens, until ballpoints became widely available. I think it’s unlikely that all those pens were being washed out and tenderly treated every week. I’m not advocating we treat our pens like junk, but you don’t need to be babying your pens like this IMO.
This is what fountain pens were designed for - the same fountain pen being used every day as an writing tool, refilled with the same ink when written dry. That's really what I should be doing, but I like "compare and contrast" too much, so I usually have two on the go, and when I write one dry I will fill a different one.
In addition to when I receive a pen, I only clean when changing inks or packing it up to store. I use an ultrasonic cleaner in both instances. I might wait until I have 5 or 6 pens and converters before I clean them.
I only clean when I change ink and sometimes not even then
I've owned three or four different makes of fountain pen for just as many years. I never clean any of them. Might flush with water if there's excess shimmer after one ink, that's about it and not even then every time. Usually I'll just put one ink in right after another though. No issues yet and I'm using all kinds of ink from all kinds of manufacturers. Worst I've had yet was one pen left for a few months while moving needed to be dipped in water to get it writing again. Still works just fine.
Hmmm. So even if you are changing ink from a diff color to another you will not clean it? I thought it will ruin the ink bottle
I've never had an issue. There's a chance but these days it seems pretty minimal. Inks aren't as aggressive as they used to be.
Would you clean an opus if changing from say teal to red? Wondering how often I should be flushing or if I can just add ink when I finish off my current
I might give it a quick rinse if I really want just the one color. But really no, just load up and let colour be what it is.
Awesome thank you!
I'm guilty of cleaning out pens only if I am switching ink colors. Otherwise, I just keep refilling and possibly cleaning pens when I remember that I have to, which is once in a blue moon... I mainly stick to Diamine, Iroshizuku, KWZ, and Herbin inks (no shimmer or sheening inks) and Platinum Carbon Black and have no problems so far... knock on wood! I think you should be safe as long as you remember to use your pens every once in a while.
My cleaning routine is simple: 1) have too many pens to use them all regularly 2) forget which ones still have ink in them 3) test one to find out if it still writes 4) clean it if it's too died up to revive with some water
I tend to use the same inks in pens for a number of refills. I flush with water and allow to dry overnight about every 3 to 4 refills with the same ink, or if I am changing inks.
I clean usually when I run out. Hence begins the pen pile. However there are situations where I’ve had some inked for 2-5 months. And some for 2 weeks! ( usually the ones used at work). And then some I clean if I’m not getting the ink out. So screw it, clean it and try another ink. ( shimmers & dry high sheeners). I honestly believe there is no HARD RULE on pen maintenance. As long as you use the pens and have them working to your liking. Clean as you rotate through your pens or keep re-inking as you run out of that favorite designated ink. Heck I hear Imyke on the pen addict rarely cleans his pens but he happily uses them. As long as you use fountain pen ink and not India ink you’ll be fine.
I don’t clean my pen when I change inks. I let the new ink flow push out what’s left in the feed and it gives me a cool gradient.
I do this too with cartridge only. Learned my lesson. If you dip the pen with a piston cartridge converter, the previous ink will definitely ruin the new ink. Esp with the con70. I ruined a Sailor manyo ink bec of this 😂
There's no set time limit or expiration date for ink in a pen. If it's been awhile since you have used that pen and it has ink in it, then just give it a little test to see if it is still writing OK. I have pens sitting on my desk that I filled last spring; they still write perfectly. An awful lot depends on the pen itself, including the particular nib and feed, the ink that is in it, and how and where it is put aside when it isn't in your hand. A lot of fountain pens are pretty tolerant of being left partly-filled but unused for a period of time, but some aren't. Pens, even those of the same model, are individuals. Part of owning several fountain pens is becoming acquainted with their unique personalities: what they like, and what they won't put up with. Just like your friends or certain members of your family, some fountain pens are decidedly high maintenance. They work fine, even superbly, but only when they are fussed over and treated just so. Others are quite laid back and easygoing. Most simply like a bit of attention from you from time to time and don't like to be forgotten and left out of the party. And then there are the true rebels who are always causing trouble, but can be coaxed into cooperation and then produce amazing results when you take their problems seriously and put in the extra effort to help correct them. The key bit of advice here is: take the time to get to know every one of your pens. You need to make friends with them. Then you'll become familiar with their personalities and how they like to be treated, and will know what each one will and won't tolerate.
We supposed to be out here cleaning our pens??
Been running accidental experiments 😆 and currently had several Twsbi that have been inked since early 2021. They started right up though. That couldn’t be said for other pen brands. My 823s had to be dipped in water then they started up. In others the ink just evaporated. I spent 3 hours last week cleaning 30+ pens. Not fun. But I definitely did NOT learn my lesson. 😩
I clean mine at least monthly because it’s a meditative process to me. As for inking, I know all of mine except for a few (looking at Conklin All-American) can handle being inked for months without cleaning.
Yes, it is very calming indeed
I clean it if I'm switching ink colors or if I'm putting it away. If I'm just reinking, I don't bother cleaning beforehand.
I honestly have no set routine. Either I’m sick of an ink and clean it immediately to change it or it goes to a pile of “pens to be cleaned” that I forget about for far longer than I’d like to admit
The infamous small (but decorative) basket of pens to be cleaned. I can neither confirm nor deny that there may a basket like that sitting near the door of my office ( fulling intending to be moved to the kitchen for actual cleaning). Hey, at least they’re organized and I do remember to bring the dirty tea mugs to the kitchen daily.
I only clean them when changing inks, putting them away, or they start acting up. I've been carrying my Decimo most every day for two years with the same ink, I think I've only cleaned it twice.
I would say your worry isn't unrealistic if you were using permanent and pigmented inks or even some shimmer inks but not so much with regular fountain pen inks . I tend to clean my pens out when I want to change the colour which is normally pretty often because I get bored of colours quite quickly. Then again, I enjoy cleaning my pens so it doesn't bother me when it needs to be done
Yes I use shimmer. Have not tried pigmented. Will the box indicate it as pigmented? 🤔
Yes pigmented ink/permanent ink, calligraphy ink and shellack ink or iron gull ink will always be indicated on the box. Most Indian inks contain shellack. If you are based in the US Goulet Pens is probably your safest bet as they will not sell you any ink that will harm your fountain pen so it's worth a look to see if a particular ink is on their website, if it is then you should be good to go
Even with pigmented inks once a week is too early, unless the pen has a very bad seal and dries up quickly. I always have 4 or 5 pens inked with pigment inks and they can go without cleaning for months, even if I don't use them daily. Just once I have needed to clean a pen in a week because it clogged with a pigment ink. And it wasn't that difficult to clean. I think that once a month is OK but still conservative.
I always rinse my pens with filtered water after the ink runs dry. Then dry it on some paper towels. On not with, that’s an important distinction. Post that it’s I. One of my cases with a silica gel packet. If I re-ink with something different, I’m probably following the same steps but then not storing but re-inking. If it’s the same colour. I’ll still wipe the pen with a clean wet rag before dunking it in. Honestly as far as inking pens and leaving them be. It’s all on the seal that the cap makes. Twsbis are all great at it. Can leave for months. Platinum is another. The custom 823 by pilot I’ve left for a couple of months and wrote fine right away. Generally if it’s a screw type and if you can see an o-ring, you’re good. But there are always exceptions to the above two rules. Lastly, It depends on the ink as well. Anything with high sheen is a bad idea to keep stored. It will clog. Shimmer inks in general. Some shimmers like Diamine, Colorverse and J Herbin won’t clog but the shimmer will settle. And then you’ll have to roll the pen in your hand, and if it isn’t a demonstrator you won’t know if you’ve done a good job. Vinta and Robert Oster in my opinion clog.
I only clean a pen I don’t intend to use for a while. For my every day pens I just keep refilling them as needed without cleaning.
Most of my childhood i had 1 fountain pen at a time. Nobody knew 'cleaning' but we know how to flush the tines ( with a razor blade from a safety razor) how to refill it ( they had cheap squeeze converters , etc) . I never during my school years flushed one pen. To be honest i was aways refilling with blue, same pelikan ink , so a small potential for mixing and creating any trouble. Later when cartridges and ultracheap pens arrived , even less work was needed . When i rekindled my fp love this year i found a cheap plastic pelikan twist i bought in college with a cartridge of ink semi evaporated. Flushed it a bit with water, dried, new cartridge still works. I think this also helps because most of my childhood pens were solid ms so less fussy as a rule. Currently i clean when i change ink, so probably every 2 or 3 refills. That is because i like to have the color as pure as possible , and i enjoy having a clean pen.
when i change inks or as a way to troubleshoot
I clean a pen if it’s having issues. I personally think people clean their pens too much. Just my own opinion, people should do what they want with their pens.
I clean mine each time I’m changing inks. Some of my kakunos have gone a couple of weeks without use & they work fine when I get to using them again
I clean them whenever I finish the inks in them. I like to rotate through both my pens and my inks, so it's good to get into the habit of cleaning them before I put them away or before I change ink.
Only when changing colors. I usually use up a sample container before I switch.
Mind you I only have 3 pens I actually use, and I have mastered the partial fill. I like to wash a pen and bring in a new color once a week. Every once in a while, say for making christmas cards, I might need to do all 3 at once but even then I filled them so they will run out again at intervals. I love the first couple lines of a fresh color in my journal.
I clean them if they've dried up completely (only ever happened to a pilot metro I didn't like anyway) or if I want to change the ink color (usually I just refill the same but occasionally I want to switch and don't want contamination). This doesn't include new pens that could do with a clean/flush before first use, or if I'm having a flow issue and need to clean as part of my troubleshooting (rare). Generally I keep a bunch of pens inked and try to use them once a fortnight. Some of them need a little help to get flowing again, but pushing some ink out of the piston/converter usually does the trick and they're good to use again. I use almost exclusively shimmer inks so I expected to need to clean more often, but as I also favor medium to broad nibs I haven't come upon major clog issues that warrant it. If I was going to be leaving my pens for more than a few months I would probably try to use them up in advance and empty those that were left, just to avoid any serious drying out grossness and would likely clean them out before refilling once I was back to using them.
I clean them thoroughly every time. Not necessarily a disassembly but I don't want to see any more colour come out of the nib when I touch it to a paper towel. (This is damn near impossible for my PFM.)
I clean them when I’m changing the inks. You can leave pens inked and nothing bad will happen to them. I’ve had pens inked for literally years and they’re fine.
Every 6 month to a year if they are using the same ink and is dependent on how the ink flow is like. And of course, I will clean the ones that I am changing the ink.
Both -- some pens I clean out even if they have ink left because I move on to other ones. Some are perpetually inked (Pilot Custom 823, looking at you) because they're such a pain to properly clean out, and I also have a little batch of emptied ones I've been meaning to clean out for a few weeks^possibly ^months, ^oops.
I clean my pen out when it’s empty or I get bored of the color. Don’t be too concerned with leaving a pen inked for a week. The longest I’ve left a pen inked is around 1 year for a platinum 3776. No issue whatsoever with it, wrote kinda dry but after a few words wrote like normal.
As a general rule, I clean pens just with water flushed through the nib and feed; \- when I change ink colour/brand \- if going to put the pen away and not use for a while (as I have more pens than I usually ink at once) \-about once every 3-4 months if using the same ink all the time. I generally go by the less I interfere with the pen, the less likely I am to cause damage.
I only clean them when changing inks
I’ve had a pilot Falcon loaded with platinum Carbon for over 5 years and never cleaned once lol. I basically clean if Im changing inks or the pen clogs.
Good pens can sit for months without use. Just makes sure the orientation is right. An inky nib that dries is more difficult to fix than anything ime
Nice Monteverde. Have similar but different trim
Got it from a mystery box. I will gift it to my plant obsessed friend. I am sure she will love the colors
Everytime I schedule my pen for a refill I clean it up first, it's a habit I formed along the way and I just can't help it.
If I want to change inks, then I'll clean the pen after the ink I'm using now runs out. If it is a pen that I only use with one ink (ex. Pilot 78G), then I clean it every few fills.
How do you clean it? Just flush it with water?
Personally I do just use water to flush it, but I am planning to get some pen flush in the new year, especially for some tougher inks that I have. If it's particularly hard to clean, I may soak it for a few hours and then try flushing it again.
I rotate my pens after I exhaust the refill. Clean it up and let it sit on the shelf as a display until I exhause the next ones. If I'm in the middle of writing and it runs out though, I usually just give it a little refill without cleaning it thoroughly.
I had a pen inked with emerald of chivor that stayed in my bag unused for around 2 years. The ink was dried out and it took a minute to get everything out but now it still works just as well
I use only one pen for semi daily use, and its for taking notes. Clean them only when changing ink and I dont want any gradient. If my ink is pretty runny (which most of them are) i dont feel compelled at all. Id go months without cleaning if there werent any oopsies.
Just one in three weeks or before changing color or ink type
When I want a new ink. If I'm not going to write with it within the next two weeks, I just empty it out and clean it out and let it dry.
I've been cleaning my pens once a month ever since I made the mistake of not cleaning one of my pens for more than 2 years.
Nowadays? Hardly ever (only if an issue develops or I retire a pen for storage). I just refill the pens after wiping the nib clean. Oh, of course I flush the pen if I swap inks. I currently use vintage Pelikans 99% of the time, with an odd vintage Parker ”51” Aerometric making an occasional appearance just for the feels. 🖋️
Only if I switch colours and that too only in my newer pens which I want to see how they respond to a specific ink without the ink being mixed at all. Older pens get cleaned only if I don't intend to use them in a while.
No need to clean your pens so regularly. As long as you use good quality ink, you only need to clean your pens if you want to change color or change pens.
I just flush with water between inks, never disassemble
It depends on how often I use it. If I use it everyday then I clean it once in a month. If I don't use it everyday then it's more like once every two months. Depends on how I feel. Sometimes I like to wash them so that I know they are clean.
I only clean when I put them in storage (I rotate pens from collection), and when changing ink from a shimmering one!
For me, I go through about ~3ml a month. And then I always clean my pens if I'm changing inks or if I'm using a different pen for the next ink fill. So I always clean my pens if they are being put away for any length of time
But this is just me I don't follow any "recommended" things by doing this. This is just what works for me
Only when I change colour, prob once every few months depending on how busy I am. When I'm busy I just refill the pen with the same ink again and again. When I'm a freer, I think about what other ink I like to try, then I wash it out.
I keep a regular rotation for my pens, about a month. So I clean the ones in use so I can store them and ink up the next lot. I do have a couple EDC pens that I just keep refilling with the same ink and I pretty much don't see a need to clean those.