Fred Krinke of the Fountain Pen Shop in Monrovia, California, used to sell his own pen flush and called it Fred's Secret Sauce. He passed away back in 2019 and when you made your pen flush video today, it reminded me of him. That pH meter is much better than having to use litmus paper.
The short digression measuring the pH of the water and explaining why it's slightly acidic is what made this video for me. Thanks for another cool video.
I could have spent a bunch of time on the pH scale, how the meters work, etc but figured a short quick example for water would be something everyone could relate to. The pH meter will be back for some other stuff I'm planning :)
Oh - the bottle of President's Choice water gave me a total nostalgia trip! We lived up north of Grande Prairie, AB for 6 years, in the early 2000's and I still accidentally refer to our local grocery store chain as "Superstore." Thanks for the educational video on pen flush!
I keep searching for quick snippets on some topic (changing nibs for the first time on a Kaweco Sport), which leads me to a pen flush recipe video, and then I see a video of yours in the glorious algorithm-based suggested vids over on the sidebar. Hopefully I am not bugging you will all these comments (second today). Thanks for this one. It was just timely.
One quick tip, I've experienced multiple reused jugs splitting open on me and leaking out their contents. If your distilled water came in the type of jug that we typically for use for milk in the United States (gallon, half-gallon, or quart, square-ish in footprint with a seam diagonally across the bottom), do not reuse that jug for pen flush, multipurpose cleaner, or vinyl record cleaning solutions!
Not sure why I've never thought to make up a large amount at one time. I'm always using one syringe to measure out my water and a second syringe to measure out my ammonia and then using it to clean one pen. Make up a batch and store it. Brilliant!
When I saw the price of pen cleaner, I went straight to basically what you showed. Not as well measured, basically by eye, but it's still doing the job. I have a lot of vintage pens, that have generally needed a huge soak and clean (and frequently at least one run through the ultrasonic cleaner, so I always have a batch on hand.) Only time I've bought pen cleaner is a bottle of Koh I Noor technical pen cleaner to try to get dried India ink out of an Osmiroid 75. DIY pen flush has been spoken about by some others, but this is the first time I've seen a "recipe." Thanks!
I make a gallon at a time. I put the mix straight into the ultrasonic cleaner just enough to cover the pen and clean it. I have virtually the same ultrasonic, but mine starts at 3 mins and I have to press the + button to take it up to 5 mins. Great little machine. Clean's the wifes rings too. :). Hope others make instead of buying the expensive pen wash. Thanks for sharing. :)
@@Doodlebud I cleaned a Parker 17 last night. The ink was thick around the feed and 5 mins in the ultrasound and it was spotless, but I have it another 5 mins just to be fully sure as I cleaned all of the inner and section parts. The pen works a lot better now. It was taking what ithought was a full load of ink, but I think the breather tube was also blocked as the pen had some ink in the sac, but not writing. All cleaned out and perfect now. Going to try it out in a couple of days to see how well it does after sitting.
I learned through fermentation that the air had stuff to make the process work, so I always thought the pH would be base. However, it turns water acidic! Learned something new. Neat little Carbon atoms changing our consumption!
I use water and fairy dish washing liquid and a bulb syringe. I have to admit I don't clean my pens as much as I should but was doing just before I noticed your video.
I have a bottle of Rohrer & Klingerer pen cleaner, but I seldom use it as I find tap water to be enough. Mind you, I would use distilled water if I could find a shop which sold it.
Yes you are correct. Full strength would mess up ths PET. HPDE would be the ideal container, but due to the dilution I haven't seen any issues so far. Thanks for bringing that up 👍
I’m also up here in Canada! For the life of me I could not find ammonia for cleaning but saw that lemon scented one at Canadian Tire! Their site didn’t have an ingredients list or even tell me what concentration the ammonia was. Bleh. This obviously seems to be a solution you use often, do you find the addition of the lemon scent to be a detriment or is it whatever. I was so excited when I saw this video on reddit because i immediately knew you were using things I too could get up here in Canada! Thanks so much for making this!
Late but household ammonia is roughly 10% concentration, commercial ammonia is usually around 25% give or take 5%. Keep it away from bleach or anything that has been recently cleaned with bleach as bleach does leave a residue that will interact for a while.
🙀I've never bought "pen wash" in my life! Never saw the point - also I'd never even heard of it until recently. Also never distilled my water ... only tap water for me. Everything is so expensive on this little island ... don't want to spoil 'em. I'm doomed!
Great video. I use shimmer inks that clog my nib when they dry a bit or get loads of shimmer. I'm using a pen I can easily take apart (TWSBI 580) for shimmer inks. But it would be nice to unclog pens without having to clean it every couple of days. Is the mylar sheet that comes with Pilot parallel pens good for cleaning between any fountain pen?
You didn't mention the #1 use for pen wash, at least for me: makes it a breeze to clean all the accumulated ink spots and splatters around the desk where you fill your pens. I'm also curious about your using it to clean your Diplomat Aero; I thought that it's recommended not to use pen wash or ammonia with aluminium pens.
Ahh, I haven't tried that yet but good idea. I found a nice cleaner that comes in spray bottle we use at home that seems to clean up ink splatters very well. I believe it would have to be at very high concentrations to have any reaction with aluminum, also the pen is anodized which gives a significant layer of protection. Copper (and brass) you have to watch out for. But again at this low concentration level, I "imagine" it should be ok. But I wouldn't leave a copper or brass pen soaking in it for a while. Clean out the pen and rinse off. I don't believe the brief interaction would cause any issues. Perhaps I can do a quick video to find out! :)
just curious - do you think there'd be any damage to the tip of the nib from having it in contact with the bottom of the shot glass while in the ultrasonic cleaner? it seems to me like all that vibration would wear it down. and besides that, might the plastic of the feed/housing/grip section not also wear down from being in contact with the metal of nib?
Maybe give my video on ultra sonic cleaners a look. Its sound waves travelling through the solution which causes micro cavitation bubbles. The interaction between the nib and glass is the force from the weight of the section which is very small (even lower since its in water). Its not really "rubbing" going on between everything, just tiny air bubbles pooping all around it.
Doodlebud, I absolutely LOVE everything you do, but... The idea of feeling a liquid to see if it feels slippery or not isn't something most scientists recommend. While in your example it's obviously harmless, I'd hate for inexperienced viewers to get the idea that it's a valid way to explore liquids of unknown composition out in the wild. I know, it's a nit, but what fun is life without a little nitpicking?
Oh I agree, the "put your finger in it" test isn't recommended when you don't know what you're dealing with. But sometimes even the biggest most obvious !!WARNING!! labels can't stop stupid. I've seen it in action many times LOL
Yep. When you think about it, probably every warning label ever created in the history of man has been the direct result of SOMEBODY doing something stoopid. It's fun to think about that whenever I see a warning label that seems odd or oddly specific.
We put 4 GIANT labels on an laser measurement scanner installed in a lumber mill that said "DO NOT USE AS WELDING GROUND!" And of course they clamped right onto it and blew out the electronics inside. I had to drive 10hrs in the middle of the night to go in, replace and recalibrate everything. I asked to speak with the "millwrong" who did the installation. The first question I asked: "Can you read English?" He followed up with "well I didnt think that welding would...." and I interjected with "well we agree on one thing, you didn't think." I'm a pretty easy going guy, but damn stuff like that drives me NUTS!
I was going to just do some pH's of inks, but then thought its not very helpful on its own. There is a long list of inks that were pH tested by Richard Binder online, and they used much better equipment. So no point in just having random pH levels without context. I have some other gear and tests I'm planning to do so there's a little more substance and hopefully useful info to the video.
Can we use 99% ethyl alcohol with a few drops of liquid dish washing soap as pen flushing solution as ethyl alcohol in my place is US$2 for 500 ml (16 oz.) ? .
You can always try it out on a cheap pen. Here's a reference chart to understand how different clemicals react with plastics. The feeds are made from abs www.curbellplastics.com/Research-Solutions/Chemical-Resistance-of-Plastics
I use ‘Krishna Pen Flush’ which costs around 3USD for 25 ml.. I’m not sure if results of using the above Pen flush are better than results of this DIY Pen flush.. I’m too lazy to do anything DIY 😞
Beware : if you have special plastics in your pens. Ian Schon says Ultem does not like ammonia and instead recommends alcohol (but alcohol will instantly kill your TWSBI's and other PMMA plastics…). And then there's Delrin, PEEK… BTW it seems that in France, isopropyl alcohol is not available to the public, ; the cleaning supplies aisle only has ethanol (which I'm pretty sure would be fine, but still… or maybe it's the same? the labeling never says precisely what's in the bottle… confusing)
Good point especially with more interesting plastics being used. Here's a good chart as a reference for modern day materials. www.curbellplastics.com/Research-Solutions/Chemical-Resistance-of-Plastics
I've always been an ethanol fan over IPA whenever the materials allow me to use ethanol. I find IPA more picky and can leave a slight residue if its not done just perfect. Especially found this when cleaning optics. Used medical grade for both, but ethanol always seemed to do a better job quicker.
Hey doodlebud. I have to say you disappointed me... 😜 Ammonia is a solution and nobody ever tells the concentration. Is this household ammonia? What's that, about 3 mass percentages? And is this pen wash save for ebonite pens? Thanks again for a video well done 👍🏻💪🏻
This was just run of the mill household ammonia :) Have to balance the hard-core science stuff for the average viewer LOL. I could have spent about 15 min just talking about the little bulb at the end of the meter and how it works and how its made, which is very interesting. Ebonite I can look into. I know copper/brass reacts with ammonia, but this solution would have to be very concentrated or have to leave it in for a while. But was thinking I can do a follow-up video to see just how long it does take! :)
@@Doodlebud I was only kidding of coarse. I don't think I'd be too worried using ammonia this diluted in my Schondsgn pocket six (copper). I have no idea about ebonite. I guess it wouldn't be a problem, but I'm not sure.
Oh I know you're just grinding my gears a bit LOL. But I am curious about what it would take for it to react with other materials. It's a good question and I've had several people ask a few things so a follow-up vid to answer some questions people have with tests so it can give a definitive answer. I did that by making my quick'n'dirty vacuum chamber to test flying with pens. I love doing stuff like that!
Fred Krinke of the Fountain Pen Shop in Monrovia, California, used to sell his own pen flush and called it Fred's Secret Sauce. He passed away back in 2019 and when you made your pen flush video today, it reminded me of him. That pH meter is much better than having to use litmus paper.
The short digression measuring the pH of the water and explaining why it's slightly acidic is what made this video for me. Thanks for another cool video.
I could have spent a bunch of time on the pH scale, how the meters work, etc but figured a short quick example for water would be something everyone could relate to. The pH meter will be back for some other stuff I'm planning :)
Looks so easy. I wonder why I can't be bothered.
Oh - the bottle of President's Choice water gave me a total nostalgia trip! We lived up north of Grande Prairie, AB for 6 years, in the early 2000's and I still accidentally refer to our local grocery store chain as "Superstore." Thanks for the educational video on pen flush!
I keep searching for quick snippets on some topic (changing nibs for the first time on a Kaweco Sport), which leads me to a pen flush recipe video, and then I see a video of yours in the glorious algorithm-based suggested vids over on the sidebar. Hopefully I am not bugging you will all these comments (second today). Thanks for this one. It was just timely.
No worries glad you're enjoying my vids, no bother at all 👍
One quick tip, I've experienced multiple reused jugs splitting open on me and leaking out their contents. If your distilled water came in the type of jug that we typically for use for milk in the United States (gallon, half-gallon, or quart, square-ish in footprint with a seam diagonally across the bottom), do not reuse that jug for pen flush, multipurpose cleaner, or vinyl record cleaning solutions!
Just bought some ammonia on Amazon. Thanks for the inspiration!
Not sure why I've never thought to make up a large amount at one time. I'm always using one syringe to measure out my water and a second syringe to measure out my ammonia and then using it to clean one pen. Make up a batch and store it. Brilliant!
Glad it helped 👍
As a newbie I need all the tips I can get! Will go to your video on Ultrasonic cleaners next. Thanks!
Thanks Mr. Wizard. I was just about to buy some now I don’t have to.
When I saw the price of pen cleaner, I went straight to basically what you showed.
Not as well measured, basically by eye, but it's still doing the job.
I have a lot of vintage pens, that have generally needed a huge soak and clean (and frequently at least one run through the ultrasonic cleaner, so I always have a batch on hand.)
Only time I've bought pen cleaner is a bottle of Koh I Noor technical pen cleaner to try to get dried India ink out of an Osmiroid 75.
DIY pen flush has been spoken about by some others, but this is the first time I've seen a "recipe." Thanks!
Same here! It lasts forever. I'm afraid to use it in my vintage pens, though. Not sure what it'll do to them...
Nice trick!
Thank you for this. I have not used pen flush before. Just distilled water and a bulb syringe.
That will do the trick most of the time but definitely helps with some pens that have been left a while or stubborn inks.
I make a gallon at a time. I put the mix straight into the ultrasonic cleaner just enough to cover the pen and clean it. I have virtually the same ultrasonic, but mine starts at 3 mins and I have to press the + button to take it up to 5 mins. Great little machine. Clean's the wifes rings too. :).
Hope others make instead of buying the expensive pen wash. Thanks for sharing. :)
Its very simple stuff to make but makes it a breeze to clean up some stubborn inks!
@@Doodlebud I cleaned a Parker 17 last night. The ink was thick around the feed and 5 mins in the ultrasound and it was spotless, but I have it another 5 mins just to be fully sure as I cleaned all of the inner and section parts. The pen works a lot better now. It was taking what ithought was a full load of ink, but I think the breather tube was also blocked as the pen had some ink in the sac, but not writing. All cleaned out and perfect now. Going to try it out in a couple of days to see how well it does after sitting.
I learned through fermentation that the air had stuff to make the process work, so I always thought the pH would be base. However, it turns water acidic! Learned something new. Neat little Carbon atoms changing our consumption!
I use water and fairy dish washing liquid and a bulb syringe. I have to admit I don't clean my pens as much as I should but was doing just before I noticed your video.
Nice and informative video, thank you for that.
No problem 😁
Thanks for the money saving tip.
THANKS for the informative video! I will make some!
Helpful, thanks for the info.
I have a bottle of Rohrer & Klingerer pen cleaner, but I seldom use it as I find tap water to be enough. Mind you, I would use distilled water if I could find a shop which sold it.
Some pharmacies sell for putting in humidifiers. 😀
Thanks. I'll try it.
Not sure where you're located but I can find it at pretty much any large grocery store here, some dollar stores, and pharmacies as well.
I live in the uk. I will, however, take up a suggestion by one of your commentaters to try a pharmacy.
I know the flush is diluted, but ammonia should be stored in a HPDE container. I believe the water bottle you are using might be a PET plastic.
Yes you are correct. Full strength would mess up ths PET. HPDE would be the ideal container, but due to the dilution I haven't seen any issues so far. Thanks for bringing that up 👍
... and something that could be mistaken as drinkable (eek).
Don't you have blue bottles with skull and crossbones in Canada?
I’m also up here in Canada! For the life of me I could not find ammonia for cleaning but saw that lemon scented one at Canadian Tire! Their site didn’t have an ingredients list or even tell me what concentration the ammonia was. Bleh. This obviously seems to be a solution you use often, do you find the addition of the lemon scent to be a detriment or is it whatever. I was so excited when I saw this video on reddit because i immediately knew you were using things I too could get up here in Canada!
Thanks so much for making this!
Haven't seen any difference with the lemon scent. Hope you're able to make a batch now 👍
Late but household ammonia is roughly 10% concentration, commercial ammonia is usually around 25% give or take 5%. Keep it away from bleach or anything that has been recently cleaned with bleach as bleach does leave a residue that will interact for a while.
i saw a reddit post last of someone asking if u can make pen flush out of diluted windex. the replies were varied but that would be convenient
🙀I've never bought "pen wash" in my life! Never saw the point - also I'd never even heard of it until recently. Also never distilled my water ... only tap water for me. Everything is so expensive on this little island ... don't want to spoil 'em. I'm doomed!
Here in New Zealand, you can't generally buy straight ammonia so would cloudy ammonia + omitting the dishwashing detergent (dish soap) work?
Yeah tough to get straight ammonia here too. I think it should work fine
Great video. I use shimmer inks that clog my nib when they dry a bit or get loads of shimmer. I'm using a pen I can easily take apart (TWSBI 580) for shimmer inks. But it would be nice to unclog pens without having to clean it every couple of days. Is the mylar sheet that comes with Pilot parallel pens good for cleaning between any fountain pen?
Yup you can use that shim on any pen
Should you push water through until the water is clear (if using a bulb syringe)? I don’t that Noodler’s is particularly resistant to cleaning
Having waaay too much fun with that pH probe!
The word probe always makes as certain part of my body clench! LOL
Good luck finding distilled water here in Colorado
How would I clean the moonman a1?
can i use powder ammonia in water ? we dont have liquid ammonia here.
Most likely. Just have to make sure you follow the correct dilution ratio
You didn't mention the #1 use for pen wash, at least for me: makes it a breeze to clean all the accumulated ink spots and splatters around the desk where you fill your pens. I'm also curious about your using it to clean your Diplomat Aero; I thought that it's recommended not to use pen wash or ammonia with aluminium pens.
Ahh, I haven't tried that yet but good idea. I found a nice cleaner that comes in spray bottle we use at home that seems to clean up ink splatters very well. I believe it would have to be at very high concentrations to have any reaction with aluminum, also the pen is anodized which gives a significant layer of protection. Copper (and brass) you have to watch out for. But again at this low concentration level, I "imagine" it should be ok. But I wouldn't leave a copper or brass pen soaking in it for a while. Clean out the pen and rinse off. I don't believe the brief interaction would cause any issues. Perhaps I can do a quick video to find out! :)
will this work for carbon black ?
Haven't tried that particular ink but it has worked for all other inks I've used.... other than Baystate Blue
just curious - do you think there'd be any damage to the tip of the nib from having it in contact with the bottom of the shot glass while in the ultrasonic cleaner? it seems to me like all that vibration would wear it down. and besides that, might the plastic of the feed/housing/grip section not also wear down from being in contact with the metal of nib?
Maybe give my video on ultra sonic cleaners a look. Its sound waves travelling through the solution which causes micro cavitation bubbles. The interaction between the nib and glass is the force from the weight of the section which is very small (even lower since its in water). Its not really "rubbing" going on between everything, just tiny air bubbles pooping all around it.
@@Doodlebud Thanks
OMG dood!
Aren't you worried goulet will put a hit out on you?
XD
Will this work for dip pen nibs as well
I've used when practicing my calligraphy with some stubborn inks especially
Doodlebud, I absolutely LOVE everything you do, but...
The idea of feeling a liquid to see if it feels slippery or not isn't something most scientists recommend. While in your example it's obviously harmless, I'd hate for inexperienced viewers to get the idea that it's a valid way to explore liquids of unknown composition out in the wild. I know, it's a nit, but what fun is life without a little nitpicking?
Oh I agree, the "put your finger in it" test isn't recommended when you don't know what you're dealing with. But sometimes even the biggest most obvious !!WARNING!! labels can't stop stupid. I've seen it in action many times LOL
Yep. When you think about it, probably every warning label ever created in the history of man has been the direct result of SOMEBODY doing something stoopid. It's fun to think about that whenever I see a warning label that seems odd or oddly specific.
We put 4 GIANT labels on an laser measurement scanner installed in a lumber mill that said "DO NOT USE AS WELDING GROUND!" And of course they clamped right onto it and blew out the electronics inside. I had to drive 10hrs in the middle of the night to go in, replace and recalibrate everything. I asked to speak with the "millwrong" who did the installation. The first question I asked: "Can you read English?" He followed up with "well I didnt think that welding would...." and I interjected with "well we agree on one thing, you didn't think." I'm a pretty easy going guy, but damn stuff like that drives me NUTS!
Doodlebud, some time ago you said you were going to test the pH of some inks you own, but you never posted any video. Any reasons?
I was going to just do some pH's of inks, but then thought its not very helpful on its own. There is a long list of inks that were pH tested by Richard Binder online, and they used much better equipment. So no point in just having random pH levels without context. I have some other gear and tests I'm planning to do so there's a little more substance and hopefully useful info to the video.
Can we use 99% ethyl alcohol with a few drops of liquid dish washing soap as pen flushing solution as ethyl alcohol in my place is US$2 for 500 ml (16 oz.) ? .
You can always try it out on a cheap pen. Here's a reference chart to understand how different clemicals react with plastics. The feeds are made from abs
www.curbellplastics.com/Research-Solutions/Chemical-Resistance-of-Plastics
@@Doodlebud , thank you very much .
I use ‘Krishna Pen Flush’ which costs around 3USD for 25 ml..
I’m not sure if results of using the above Pen flush are better than results of this DIY Pen flush.. I’m too lazy to do anything DIY 😞
$3 for only 25ml, damn!
@@Doodlebud Note that this ink flush needs to be diluted with water before use, so just a couple of drops per flush..
Ahh concentrated!!!
Beware : if you have special plastics in your pens. Ian Schon says Ultem does not like ammonia and instead recommends alcohol (but alcohol will instantly kill your TWSBI's and other PMMA plastics…). And then there's Delrin, PEEK…
BTW it seems that in France, isopropyl alcohol is not available to the public, ; the cleaning supplies aisle only has ethanol (which I'm pretty sure would be fine, but still… or maybe it's the same? the labeling never says precisely what's in the bottle… confusing)
Good point especially with more interesting plastics being used. Here's a good chart as a reference for modern day materials.
www.curbellplastics.com/Research-Solutions/Chemical-Resistance-of-Plastics
@@Doodlebud good to know; in fact ethanol even seems a bit safer with Ultem than isopropanol
I've always been an ethanol fan over IPA whenever the materials allow me to use ethanol. I find IPA more picky and can leave a slight residue if its not done just perfect. Especially found this when cleaning optics. Used medical grade for both, but ethanol always seemed to do a better job quicker.
Hey doodlebud.
I have to say you disappointed me... 😜
Ammonia is a solution and nobody ever tells the concentration. Is this household ammonia? What's that, about 3 mass percentages?
And is this pen wash save for ebonite pens?
Thanks again for a video well done 👍🏻💪🏻
This was just run of the mill household ammonia :) Have to balance the hard-core science stuff for the average viewer LOL. I could have spent about 15 min just talking about the little bulb at the end of the meter and how it works and how its made, which is very interesting.
Ebonite I can look into. I know copper/brass reacts with ammonia, but this solution would have to be very concentrated or have to leave it in for a while. But was thinking I can do a follow-up video to see just how long it does take! :)
@@Doodlebud I was only kidding of coarse. I don't think I'd be too worried using ammonia this diluted in my Schondsgn pocket six (copper).
I have no idea about ebonite. I guess it wouldn't be a problem, but I'm not sure.
Oh I know you're just grinding my gears a bit LOL. But I am curious about what it would take for it to react with other materials. It's a good question and I've had several people ask a few things so a follow-up vid to answer some questions people have with tests so it can give a definitive answer. I did that by making my quick'n'dirty vacuum chamber to test flying with pens. I love doing stuff like that!
This guy reminds me of AVE