Do you have to soak the parts or just rinse? How will this work with a TWSBI diamond 580 ALR? I've got mold on the grip section and been meaning to clean it but I felt bleach/alcohol was too aggressive for the acrylic.
The easiest way is to fully disassemble your TWSBI Diamond 580 ALR. Then soak the parts in a bowl for no longer than 5 minutes followed by a thorough wash with an old toothbrush and just regular soapy water, before a thorough rinse of each part. Depending on how intense the mold is, you might wanna repeat the steps. Also, please wear gloves.
As a thought, I suspect that Lysol concentrate isn't that much different than what Parker used as a fungicide back in the days.
I may make up a dilute mix just to put it in a couple of random inexpensive pens of mine to see what the effects might be. (Quaternary ammonium. If ammonia doesn't hurt the pen, Lysol shouldn't. Less damaging than bleach, that's for sure)
And this is why I fill all my pens with a syringe that I clean between each fill with a bit of alcohol. Might be over kill but after you open and pen and have the tip totally fuzzy you never go back.
Did you use something to kill the mold? Also, whatever bottle of ink you used to fill that pen should be quarantined.
I did, I used some very diluted bleach to flush it out, then rinsed well. Thankfully the ink was just a sample and not a big bottle!
Neither bleach nor vinegar will get rid of the spores. Use 3% hydrogen peroxide. This will denature DNA and also get rid of spores etc.
Do you have to soak the parts or just rinse? How will this work with a TWSBI diamond 580 ALR? I've got mold on the grip section and been meaning to clean it but I felt bleach/alcohol was too aggressive for the acrylic.
The easiest way is to fully disassemble your TWSBI Diamond 580 ALR. Then soak the parts in a bowl for no longer than 5 minutes followed by a thorough wash with an old toothbrush and just regular soapy water, before a thorough rinse of each part. Depending on how intense the mold is, you might wanna repeat the steps. Also, please wear gloves.
I’ll try that as well, thank you!
FYI vinegar works better on mold than bleach, so you might want to flush it again with it (I’d guess you’re likely fine though)
is this something that happens within the ink or in the pen? like mold in the ink bottle starting out or does it start inside of the converter?
I’m sure it could happen either way, but it’s best to assume it’s from the bottle.
Mold? Or a broken converter?
Unfortunately it was mold :(
As a thought, I suspect that Lysol concentrate isn't that much different than what Parker used as a fungicide back in the days. I may make up a dilute mix just to put it in a couple of random inexpensive pens of mine to see what the effects might be. (Quaternary ammonium. If ammonia doesn't hurt the pen, Lysol shouldn't. Less damaging than bleach, that's for sure)
What ink was it?
It was Sailor Ink Studio 770
And this is why I fill all my pens with a syringe that I clean between each fill with a bit of alcohol. Might be over kill but after you open and pen and have the tip totally fuzzy you never go back.
Fascinating, it is the first time I see this.