I recapped the 2017 Arkansas Pen Show with Myke this week, and we mixed in a little Aurora Flex talk, plus your #asktpa questions.
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The deeper I fall down the fountain pen rabbit hole, the more interested I become in tools that help me maintain them. Micro mesh and brass sheets are two of my go-to items, and J.B.’s Perfect Pen Flush has been added to the list.
You will see bottles of J.B.’s around pen shows, and for good reason. It can clean out some of the oldest and hardest to reach ink in fountain pens of any age. I’ve always told myself I didn’t need it, and truth is, you may not either, but there are many situations when it comes in handy.
Flushing with water
Most modern cartridge and converter pens are easy to clean. Take them apart, run the parts under the faucet, power clean with an aspirator if possible, rinse, dry, repeat. No need for anything special. But as my tastes change toward unique filling systems or older pens bought second and third hand, sometimes a little extra cleaning is needed. That’s where J.B.’s Pen Flush comes in handy.
Flushing with J.B.'s Pen Flush
According to the instructions, you should flush your pen with water until it is as clean as possible. Then, follow the same process with J.B.’s. Finally, flush the pen with water once more. The initial step gets most of the ink out, with the pen flush taking care of any extra ink the original water flush didn’t get. The last step cleans the pen and has it ready to be inked once more.
These steps have worked well for me when cleaning out pens with a vacuum filling mechanism, especially older pens. The only step I don’t follow is that I pour J.B.’s into a small bowl to clean from as opposed to using the bottle directly, which the label recommends. It is usable over and over again, so I make sure I have a good batch of pens to clean so I am not wasteful with it.
Looking good!
One thing I need to try that others have done is to soak finicky parts overnight, like nibs with gunked up feeds. It also works well with a Q-Tip inside demonstrator barrels to make them shine once again.
J.B.’s Perfect Pen Flush is an excellent addition to your pen cleaning arsenal. Keep a bottle with all of the other tools you use on a regular basis. It will come in handy when you need it.
(Anderson Pens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter.)
With the Pilot Juice Paint Marker, Pilot brings their Juice brand to arts-and-crafts time. The versatile ink works on light or dark paper, or on nonporous surfaces such as glass or metal. It is water- and pigment-based, odorless, waterproof, and bleed-resistant. It is also meant to be opaque, though I had issues with that feature on all but white paper. The colors included in the 8-color set are black, red, blue, light blue, green, yellow, white, and pink. There are a number of other fun colors available as open stock or in other sets, including pastels and metallics.
On dark paper, some colors performed very well while others seemed watery. I tried shaking them and refreshing the ink in the tip, but they just didn't get to the level I was hoping for. They were really fun to use on glass. Again, some lacked saturation, but most worked well. They aren't permanent on glass, alas, so my now-lovely water glass will lose its luster when I wash it. But it does mean I can go crazy painting designs on my windows if I want (I do want).
The tip is bullet-shaped felt. It's firm, though I did get some fraying when I used them briefly on watercolor paper, which makes me question whether the tip will survive the lifespan of the ink supply. Only many hours of arts and crafts will tell.
The body of the pen is a wide hexagonal barrel in white plastic. The cap and grip section are the color of the paint inside. The grip is a little awkward in that it has four levels--the nose near the tip steps up to a narrow collar, which steps up again to the actual section (which is a bit short), which steps up again to the body. There's not an easy way to hold these without putting your fingers on an edge. None of the edges are sharp, however, and it's not the sort of pen you'd be gripping for very long periods of time, so an uncomfortable grip isn't a huge issue for these.
The cap slides in place, but doesn't click. It took me a minute to be reassured that it was securely closed. The cap does post, though not deeply.
They run a little pricier than other paint markers, but not by much. The sets are a little cheaper than buying open stock.
I'd say my biggest issue with the pens is their designation as a fine point. They're certainly fine if compared to a chisel tip, but they're among the broadest paint pens I've tried. I wouldn't recommend them for very fine detail work, but they're still fun for broader sketches. Especially on windows.
(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, which I am very grateful for.
Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!
