Fountain pens rarely fail dramatically. They start a sentence, then stall on the second line. They skip on the downstroke, or the nib begins to feel as though it is dragging over fine grit. Most of the time nothing is broken — dried ink has collected in the feed, and twenty minutes of careful cleaning will put it right. The routine below is the one worth keeping: it protects the nib, keeps ink flowing evenly and takes less time than brewing a pot of tea.

What You Need, and What to Keep Away From

Gather everything before you start, so you are not hunting for a cloth with inky hands.

• Cool or lukewarm water — never hot. Heat can distort resin and soften the adhesives holding a section together.
• A soft, lint-free cloth or a couple of sheets of kitchen roll.
• A shallow glass or mug.
• A rubber bulb syringe (the sort sold at pharmacies for ear syringing works well).
• The ink you plan to use next.
• A blunt-tipped syringe if you refill cartridges.

Keep alcohol, nail varnish remover and acetone well away from your pens. They cloud and craze plastic finishes and can strip plating from a clip or nib. A drop of washing-up liquid in a cup of water will shift stubborn ink, but rinse until the water runs clear — detergent residue changes how ink behaves on paper.

How Often to Clean a Fountain Pen

A pen in daily use benefits from a flush every four to eight weeks. Clean it sooner if you are changing ink colour, and always before you put a pen away for more than a fortnight. Inks that contain pigment particles, iron gall or shimmer need more attention: once a week for pigmented ink, and after every fill or two for shimmer, which settles in the feed and clogs it quietly.

If you are swapping between ink types, clean between them. Mixing a pigmented ink with a dye-based one in the same feed invites sediment, and you will not notice until the pen starts skipping.

Flushing the Pen Safely

1. Uncap the pen, unscrew the barrel and remove the converter or cartridge. Set the cap and barrel aside somewhere they cannot roll off the desk.
2. Hold the nib section under a slow trickle of lukewarm water, nib pointing down, so water runs through the feed and out rather than back into the barrel.
3. If you have a bulb syringe, fill it and push water through the back of the section, where the converter sits. Then reverse and flush from the nib end. Two or three passes usually clears the feed.
4. For a converter, fill and expel water repeatedly in a cup until the water stays clear. Never fill a pen directly from a running tap — the pressure can force water past the seals.
5. Stubborn ink? Stand the section nib-down in a shallow glass of water for an hour, changing the water when it colours. A proprietary pen flush, used exactly as the maker instructs, is the next step. Follow it with plenty of plain water.
6. Dry the section by pressing the nib gently into kitchen roll, then stand it nib-down on a folded piece of towel in a mug overnight. The paper wicks moisture out of the feed.

Pens that need gentler handling

Vintage pens deserve caution. Casein, used on some older British pens, is water-soluble — soaking it will ruin the finish. Hard rubber fades in water and dislikes sunlight. If you are unsure what a pen is made of, wipe rather than soak, and keep the water shallow.

Refilling Without the Mess

Once the pen is dry, refill it properly. Immerse the nib completely in the ink, up to the point where the grip section begins. Draw ink slowly, then lift the pen and turn the piston or converter to push two or three drops back into the bottle. Retract it again to pull ink out of the feed — this reduces the burping and blotting that ruins the first page after a fill. Wipe the nib and section with a soft cloth and you are ready to write.

Cartridges, including refilled ones

Push a new cartridge firmly into the section until it punctures, then wait a minute for ink to travel down the feed. You can refill an empty cartridge with a blunt syringe and reseat it, which is useful for inks sold only in bottles. Reuse each cartridge a handful of times at most; the plastic lip wears and starts to leak.

Nib Care Between Washes

• Write with a light hand. Let the nib rest on the paper; pressing splays the tines and makes skipping worse.
• Cap the pen during pauses. Ink dries at the tip in minutes in a dry room.
• If a nib has dried out, dip it briefly in water or touch it to a damp cloth. Never scratch at the slit with a fingernail or a pin.
• Store pens out of direct sunlight and away from radiators, and never leave one in a hot car.
• Keep a folded tissue to hand for quick wipes; a clean nib writes more consistently than a crusted one.
• If the tines look misaligned or the nib scratches in one direction only, leave it alone. That is a job for someone with a loupe and experience.

A Routine You Will Actually Keep

Weekly: wipe the nib, cap the pen when you stop writing, and check there is ink in the reservoir. Monthly, or whenever you change ink: a full flush and a fresh fill. Before storage: flush, dry the feed overnight, and put the pen away empty, either horizontal or nib-up.

Rotate three or four pens rather than twelve. The ones you use stay healthy, the ones you neglect do not, and a pen that is cleaned before it is stored will still write beautifully the next time you pick it up.

Photo: todabasura / Pixabay