Fountain Pen Care Guide

wet and wise blog care guide

Fountain pens are finely crafted writing instruments and should be treated as such. The better a pen is handled and cared for, the longer the life of the pen. We want your pen to be one that you want to use for a lifetime, so here are some suggestions and tips on caring for your pen.

MATERIALS:

Our pens are crafted from bespoke resins and while durable, must be handled with an amount of care. Avoid dropping the pen as it might crack or chip. The resins we use cannot be perfectly replicated batch to batch or pen blank to pen blank, if another part of the pen needs to be crafted for a repair, it is likely that the pattern will not match the remaining pen parts exactly.

Please do not use any harsh chemicals or aggressive abrasives to clean or polish the pens. Water works wonders. Our resins are somewhat chemical resistant, but continued use over time could cause wear and damage to pen body.

STORAGE:

Please store your pens in a safe environment when not in use. Avoid harsh or extreme temperatures and continued direct sunlight.

If they are inked up, store them nib up. in the event that a leak occurs it will not be assisted by gravity!

CLEANING:

There is a long debate about how often a pen should be cleaned. I typically clean a pen every 3-4 weeks or if I am changing the ink color. You can definitely clean it more often. We suggest regular cleanings of the pens, especially if the ink flow slows down, stops, or you are experiencing dry starts. We suggest the following when cleaning your bespoke pen:

  • Do not remove the converter every time you clean the pen. This can weaken the connection between the converter and the nib. If the connection becomes too weak, air can leak into the converter and you are now the newest resident of Leak City.
  • Purge any remaining ink from the converter and nib into an appropriate receptacle.
  • Fill a (plastic) cup with fresh cool (not hot!!) water.
  • Submerge the nib and use the converter to draw water in and flush it out. It may be necessary to dump and refill the cup several times. Continue this until the water runs clear.
  • Use a clean paper towel to gently wipe excess water from the nib and section. We suggest leaving the nib overnight to dry. If you need an accelerated drying time, you can gently wrap the nib in a clean paper towel to wick the water out of the nib and feed.
  • After the pen is dry, re-ink and enjoy!!

POSTING:

If one of our designs is specifically designed to post, rock on with the posting. We caution against attempting to post a non posting cap on a non posting body. This can result in damaging the cap threads and scratching the body of the pen.

INK:

Please only use inks that are designed specifically for fountain pens. Other types of inks can damage and clog nibs and feeds, leading to replacement of said part.

EYEDROPPER CONVERSION:

If you would like to eyedropper fill one of our pens, it will be necessary to apply some silicone grease to the threads on the back of the nib section (the portion that threads into the pen barrel). Unfortunately it is hard to predict how well the seal provided will work based on the materials that the pen is made of. Some materials, including those with fleck, or glitter like inclusions, will have slight variations in the thread patterns. We suggest that you fill the pen, and evaluate how well the seal works prior to carrying the pen.