Cleaning Your Fountain Pen Properly For Life Long Use

It is important that you care for your fountain pen by cleaning it at least monthly but this will depend on use. Taking it apart and flushing it with water is probably one of the best things you can do to insure that your nib will remain plug free.

It is recommended that you use two parts water to one part house hold ammonia when cleaning your pens. While this is a good idea, make sure your pen is not made form aluminum. Ammonia and aluminum do not mix well, or maybe a little too well. Ammonia dissolves aluminum.

An alternative is diluted bleach or just plain hot water- just use a lot of it. A simple ear syringe can be used to get a deep down clean. Another and cleaner option is to have your pen distributor or local pen shop clean it for you on a regular basis. Either way you decide, make sure that you maintain your fountain pen cleaning schedule and your pen will never fail you. Happy writing and if you are thinking about a Parker fountain pen, you are definitely looking at a lifelong companion who will never borrow $3 for coffee.

Lets take a look at a couple of popular fountain pens which have become very popular popular with fountain pen users and collectors worldwide.

Parker Fountain Pens
The Parker pen company has been the proud maker of pens since 1888. No, thats no typo, they have been around that long.

They have long been a top name in writing utensils making Parker fountain pens one of the most recognizable pens by people who use pens. That might sound like a silly statement until your lawyer pulls out a $.99 Bic and you wonder exactly how successful a lawyer you have hired.
Parker Fountain Pen

The Parker fountain pen holds a special place in the eyes of nearly everyone who owns one. They are more than a throwback to a bygone era; fountain pens are a luxury item that exudes elegance and a special form of aristocracy found in business and academia. A fountain pen screams class and success. And Parker fountain pens make a special statement about who you are and your ambitions and values.

Parker fountain pens are some of the best as regards quality, style and value. Parker manufactures some of the highest precision fountain pens on the market today. For the Parker pen company it is more of an art than a production process. Parker offers a level of customization that is unheard of in the rest of the market. From nib to barrel, they offer several choices to customize your writing experience. Barrel finishes range from a nice chrome to a black lacquer with gold finish. For a gift this can not be beat. Each order comes with five replacement cartridges and a gift box for storage.

Pelikan fountain pens
Pelikan fountain pens are incredibly attractive and functional and offer a huge range of pens to fit all budgets.

One of the functional elements that users of Pelikan fountain pens particularly like is the fact that generally you will know how much ink is left in your pen as most of the range have either ink windows or a transparent barrel. Generally you can hold one of the striped barrels up to the light and see what is left and other models have ink windows.

The M800 and M1000 have huge ink reservoirs which befits such large pens and the size of your Pelikan fountain pen is always indicated by the model number with the Souveran series M1000 being the biggest and the M300 the shortest.

The M300 measures about 111 mm in length and the M1000 measures about 146mm. Prices range from about $500 for the M1000 to $280 for the M300.

Pelikan Fountain Pens History
As indicated elsewhere on this site Pelikan only manufactured their first fountain pen in 1929, even though they had been manufacturing their famous Pelikan ink for some time.
The first Pelikan fountain pen was the Pelikan 100 which was a simple but highly functional, groundbreaking pen as it employed a new piston system which soon became the industry standard. Up to this point fountain pens used an eyedropper system for refilling which was a bit on the messy side.

The second world war had a huge impact on Pelikan as it caused the closedown of their pen plant in 1944.

After the war normal service was resumed with the introduction of the Pelikan 400 series which proved to be a design that was to influence greatly all subsequent fountain pen offerings from Pelikan as it proved to be a real hit with fountain pen lovers. The Pelikan 400 proved to be the forerunner for the Souveran series which is a series of pens which are essentially variations of the Pelikan 400 with slightly different designs and sizes offered.

Pelikan M800
The Pelikan M800 was introduced around 1987 and was the first large, top of the range, luxury pen manufactured by Pelikan while staying true to the original design of the classic Pelikan 400.

The M800 led to a whole range of limited editions and special editions from Pelikan.

So, these are two of the many pens available on the market today and which are well worth your consideration as you start or build your pen collection.