What is good pen hygiene? How do I do it? Why do I care?

In my opinion, good pen hygiene is essential to ensure a long life for your pens. How often I clean out my pens varies depending on how I use them. As a general rule, I never leave a pen inked for longer than 2 months (there are some exceptions). If I’m refilling a pen with the same color over and over again I will generally rinse the pen after two or three consecutive fills or one month. If I’m changing colors I rinse the pen out before filling it with the next color. Once a year I give all my regularly used pens a thorough rinsing.

I often use an ear bulb or syringe to force water through the feed. It speeds this process up tremendously. If you don’t have one or the other I can guarantee you it will be the best $5 you’ll spend on this hobby.

Here’s directions to the various rinses I do. Everyone does this differently, but this is what I do:

Rinse for pen to be inked with the same color again:

1. Once the pen has run dry on ink I cycle water through it over and over again until the water runs mostly clear.
2. I swaddle the nib in paper towel and place the pen nib down in a shot glass. I let the pen sit until the paper towel has wicked most of the moisture away.
3. I refill the pen with the same ink.

I do this after every 2-3 fills or every month depending.

Rinse for pen to be inked with a different color:

1. Once I decide to change ink colors I empty the pen of any ink.
2. I cycle water through it over and over again until the water runs absolutely clear.
   • (To Switch from an Iron Gall Ink to a regular ink: rinse with diluted distilled white vinegar and follow with a pure water rinse before proceeding to step 3.)
3. I swaddle the nib in paper towel, grip the pen firmly in my hand, and shake any residual water out of the pen (like you would shake the mercury down on a thermometer).
4. I swaddle the nib in a new piece of paper towel and place the pen nib down in a shot glass. I let the pen sit over night to ensure that all the moisture is out of the pen.
5. I refill the pen  with the new ink.

I do this every time I change inks.

Major Rinse:

1. I empty the pen of any ink.
2. I cycle water through it over and over again until the water runs clear.
   • (If Iron Gall ink was in the pen: rinse with diluted distilled white vinegar and follow with a pure water rinse before proceeding to step 3.)
3. I take a shot glass, fill it with water, add one drop of dish washing liquid, and cycle all of it through the pen.
4. I cycle water through the pen to rinse out the soap.
5. I take a shot glass, fill it with an ammonia solution that is roughly 10:1 water to ammonia, and cycle all of it through the pen.
6. I cycle water through the pen until I’m sure I’ve gotten all the ammonia out.
7. I swaddle the nib in paper towel, grip the pen firmly in my hand, and shake any residual water out of the pen (like you would shake the mercury down on a thermometer).
8. I swaddle the nib in a new piece of paper towel and place the pen nib down in a shot glass. I let the pen sit over night to ensure that all the moisture is out of the pen.
9. If the pen is a piston filler, plunger filler, or any other type of filler that requires lubrication  I lub it up with pure silicon grease (this may require some simple disassembly or judicious use of a toothpick).

I do this before filling a pen for the first time, once a year as a part of routine maintenance of the pen, when I’m getting ready to sell a pen or if I’m going to store a pen for an extended period of time.

Pen restorer and nibmeister Richard Binder has an excellent article on how to take care of your pens. I suggest you read it. Care and Feeding: How to Pamper your Pens.

Updated December 11, 2010