How To Clean A Fountain Pen! 

A bulb syringe is a must, the force of the flushing really makes quick work of the cleaning.

Thank you for this, very helpful. I was a bit distracted by the beautiful Seiko Arnie and had to rewind ☺️. Thank you for your content and all the best.

I use a bulb syringe to flush out the nib and feed while in the section. Also I take qpart the converters that can be and clean them with a q-tip after flushing them with water. I use a cup of water to soak the section before flushing, too! Another great video, Mr. Jones!!!

3 step process: 1) bulb ear syringe to flush out (at least 2x, or until it runs clear) the section that has the nib/feed unit. 2) blunt tip syringe to flush out (at least 2x or 10mls) the converter. 3) q-tip to clean out the lumen of the cap.

When I started in fountain pens I didn’t know you had to clean them. I used cartridges, kept the same color. When I got back into them. I found fun things like piston fillers, and demonstrators. It became a whole new world. Although, I had 2 pens inked for a year and a half(not used) that wrote right out of the case.

I'm finding that drawing air into and out of the body when cleaning provides some agitation to knock loose ink accumulated in the grip section. Once you have pulled up some clear water, expel some then back the converter back off to draw some air bubbles in and then push them back out...expel more water,...draw in some more air and back and forth with the conversation and the bubbles of air scrub the section etc. report. I find this is faster and more thorough than just rinsing and expelling a bunch of times. Plus it seems much cleaner afterward.

HJ- I use the same process as you do, only thing dofferent is that I use a lab beaker instead of the glass container you use to keep the clean water in to flush the pen. And I use some paper towels to wipe off all the water. -Sid

I flush the cap and barrel too. You'd be surprised how much ink is in both. Also a bulb syringe is a must. When a full syringe full of water has been flushed through the nib I continue to squeeze and blow air through the feed and nib expelling any remaining water. Good video Hemingway, thanks,

I use a bulb syringe and at the end I flush with distilled water and blot with a paper towel. This insures the minerals in regular water do not clog the feed and nib over time.. Thanks Hemmingway! Blessings

Thank you, sometimes what a pro feels is so easy, is actually useful to someone new to the subject.

Excellent video for a foundation as you said! I feel these videos are going to be great for beginners. They are short and to the point.

I sometimes leave the section/nib/feed and convertor in a jar of water for up to 4 days particularly in the case of really stubborn clogged feeds. You will see the water change colour so needs changing every day. Another method I use on some pens is to flush the pen out then fill it with water and leave it for a day and repeat this with clean water each day until clean.

I only just started my Writing and Fountain Pen journey. THese Video's are great, but cost me so much money already lol

😂🤣 You read my mind! I was going to start taking out the cup with water took out all my fountain pens, and I logged on RU-vid and this video came out 👍🏽, nice Seiko Tuna btw 😉

I use a a bulb syringe voor de nib part and the converter I use a normal syringe ...that is a cleaning method that progresses the fastest for me, especially when I have to clean a number of fountain pens

I use Parker sonnet pens and never claned them in the last 20 years hahahaha thank you . for this very hepful .

Pretty much the same as my own method. However, I do find a bulb syringe a useful tool as well. I once tried an ultrasonic cleaner but sadly it broke and after returning for a refund I didn't bother to replace it. I have never used a 'pen flush' solution preferring to trust plain water.

How to get that converter clean if you had shimmer ink in it?

Hemingway was that a seiko arnie on your wrist in that video?

If you clean a pen you can’t open, is it ok if there’s water inside where the ink was and does that dry up by itself?

I have ink trapped behind the cap on a Pilot 823. Any suggestions on how to clean that out? Thank you!

Yes..this is the way most fountain pens can get cleaned...but what about the various piston fillers, lever fillers, vac fillers, squeeze sac fillers? And how to lubricate or maintain vintage pens. There isn't much video footage of this compared to the common ones.

I basically do it in the exact same way. ...Basically. However, I either intend to separate the converter or not. If I intend to do that, I do it immediately. Instead of working the converter for flushing with water, I just hold the section with the point downwards under the faucet, and flush the converter separately. I do this just briefly, not meticulously. Then I instead fill the converter with water, and let the section lie in water. Later, it will be easier to flush them more clean. (this is, IMO, an easy method for all pens, vacuum and piston too, initial flush, then let them lie a while filled with water, before flushing them again). (EDIT: This is not a good idea if you've had Iron Gall or old classic acid ink in the pen, as those tend to make solid deposits, when diluted. So in that case, just wash out the pen as fast as possible. Don't dwell.) Normally, I don't like to overdo the cleaning. If I follow up with a somewhat similar hue of ink (like black-blue-green, or red-violet, and the ink is of the same type (there are 6 types of ink, if we don't count "shimmering", 8 with), I just flush with water a couple of times with the converter, without separating the converter. That will have to do, and usually do. If I am changing ink, however, it's important to me that the pen is dry, when I dip it into a different ink bottle. And I never pump back and forth, like Goulet sometimes demonstrate. Safe sex. It's not just dye and chemicals, it's things like risk of mold too. If I've had an Iron Gall ink, or nano-pigment, or one of the nastier cellulose reactive inks (like Kung Te Cheng or Luxury Blue), I never put the pen to rest for a time, without cleaning it more thoroughly, disassembly and small dental brushes. I never use "pen-wash" with ammonia. Just water and occasionally a drop of washing up when doing more serious cleaning. If you use only classic acid ink, or the new modern, completely water soluble, Ph neutral inks, you never need to clean or flush the pen. Just fill it up again.

I'd just used water frank in osewigo I'll wen are you going to have Brandon from a Atlas stationary?

I'm also curious on the possibility of celluloid shrinking? Or deteriorating? I never had a celluloid pen before so finding out that this could happen..how can I avoid it?

Do you use any pen flush when changing ink colors? Or will water alone suffice? TIA 😊

Well the way I do it most of the time is not good for making a video of it... I flush the nib, take out the converter, flush it out until it is clean and then I just put some water in my mouth and blow it through the nib like you would using a bulb syringe except it works a hundret times better. As I said, not suitable for a youtube video.

Lol. go figure. I just cleaned out and flushed out my twisbi 700R vac. iris. Going to ink it up with a new ink color today.

Now please show how to clean pens that you let the ink dry out in for several years please. Asking for a friend 😒