Cotton tends to be nice and absorbent!ĭon’t get me wrong: you can use a paper towel to quickly dry off your nib between cleanings as you’re writing. Try to use non-fibrous cotton cloth for cleaning your calligraphy nib. You often won’t see those fibers until you go to write, and then - surprise! - the tiny stray fibers pick up ink and follow their own inky agenda. Stray paper towel fibers tend to get caught on the shoulders or the tip of the nib. Some people use paper towels to dry off their nibs, but paper towels can be more of a headache than they’re worth. Just dip the nib in water, dry it off well, and once the pen has dried, reinsert the nib. Oblique pens will be tricker, and you’re probably best off just leaving the flange nib-free for a while to dry and hoping for the best! As for the nib, it’s easier to clean than the pen. If you’re working with a straight pen, you might be able to achieve this with a cotton swab. If you do happen to dip your nib too far in ink or water, immediately remove the nib from the pen and try your best to get the moisture out of the pen. Then, swish the nib in water up to the point that you dipped the nib in ink! Only dip your nib in ink up to just above the nib’s reservoir. Worse, if you get ink inside the pen, it will act like a glue, and it’s nearly impossible to pull the nib out then! That will become a problem when the nib wears out and needs to be replaced. If a nib develops rust inside your pen, you’ll have a lot of trouble getting it out. Here’s why we can’t do that with dip pens: they rust. Otherwise, I notice that students tend to haphazardly dunk the pen in water, as you might do with a paintbrush. I do this before anyone has had the opportunity to even touch their dip pen. When I teach calligraphy workshops, I always demonstrate how to dip a nib in ink and subsequently swish the nib around in water at the very beginning. Once you’re finished writing, you’ll give your nib a final swish in the art water, then dry it off with a non-fibrous cloth (more on that in a moment). Thinner inks, like iron gall or walnut, will require less cleaning. Paint-like inks, like Ziller or Bleed Proof White, might require you to clean more frequently. You’ll find that some inks require more dipping than others. Then, quickly pat the nib dry with a cloth and start writing again. Every couple of minutes, when your ink flow starts to get impeded by ink drying on the nib, swish the ink off in your “art water” for about two seconds. It might seem too simple to be true, but regular water does a great job of cleaning calligraphy nibs - no need to buy any special pen cleaners! Just fill up a cup with tap water, and keep that cup beside you as you create calligraphy. ![]() The nib will just look a bit duller than brand-new nibs! I like to use a potato to prepare my nibs, but there are several alternative methods that you can use instead. As a side note, removing a nib’s oily coating and then waiting a few weeks or months to use a nib won’t cause it any harm. ![]() If you want to keep your nibs in excellent condition, don’t remove the coating until you are ready to use the nib. This protective coating helps to ensure that a nib stays clean and rust-free while sitting in storage, waiting to be sold. Don’t Prepare Your Nibs Until You’re Ready to Use ThemĮvery nib comes coated with oils or waxes from the manufacturer. Swish them around in a bit of water and you’re good! But there’s a lot to unpack there: how long do you swish? Do you dunk the whole nib in water? Do you use tap water or distilled? Is it better to use some sort of pen cleaner? Today, we’re going to take a look at these questions and more in this guide to cleaning calligraphy nibs. For many calligraphers, cleaning calligraphy nibs is an obvious concept.
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