How to unclog Sheaffer Fountain Pens

Each Sheaffer fountain pen, just as almost any fine writing instrument using ink, can get clogged. The ink flow can be stopped by two main factors: improper care and bad ink.

Improper fountain pen care implies, for example, keeping the fine instrument in the wrong position. When not used for some time (over several hours), a pen should be put in uphold position, the nib up.

Fountain pen can get damaged if wrong ink is used for filling and writing. No pen-o-phil in the world will ever recommend waterproof or Indian ink for fountain pens! It is like one of the commandments for any pen lover. Unless you want to make serious damage to your precious pen, never use waterproof or Indian inks in it.

There are special inks aimed just at using in fountain pens. Sheaffer itself produces nice ink of many colours, and what could be better of using Sheaffer ink in Sheaffer fountain pens? It gives you an absolute guarantee that no damage to the pen will ever occur. Of course there are superb inks made by Mont Blanc and Waterman, or you may find Noodler's to be what you really like most of all inks. I personally use Noodler's in my Sheaffer Agio Limited Edition.

With the above said, I am going to name some steps that will help you to unclog Sheaffer fountain pen.

Don't get nervous and stay away from panic. Avoid excessive shaking or other physical measures – remember, that your writing instrument most probably cost well over $100. It is that kind of things that need special care – always.

If you just don't know what to do or can't make up your mind, it is a good idea to bring the pen to a pen shop (if there's one in your area). For about 10 to 20 dollars, they will clean the pen out and return it back to you in perfect condition. Cleaning may take up to one day, so probably you won't get your pen back the day you bring it.

However, there's a good chance you can unclog Sheaffer's pen at home conditions. If you have any high soluble ink at hand, like Sheaffer Skrip, you may try to clean the pen with it. Such inks are reported to clean the clogged residues of ink.

But in most cases this won't suffice, and you'll have to use some chemicals for proper cleaning. Usually "chemicals" are a mixture of ammonia and water (1 part of ammonia, 10 parts of water). Use a converter, or a piston from your Sheaffer fountain pen to fill the nib section with the solution, drop it and leave it in the mixture overnight. Flush it well with water after soaking it. Gently blow water through the nib section toward a nib to clean up softened ink residue. Try not to use more than 5 parts of ammonia because it can seriously damage the precious writing instrument. Normally ammonia:water as 5:10 is used in most serious cases with stubborn clogging which happens quite rarely.