Another helpful video Mr. Brown! One word of caution if I may. It's generally safer to add the ammonia to the water and not the water to the ammonia. Diluting concentrated chemicals can cause a bit of splashing and you would rather have the small amount of ammonia more quickly diluted by adding it to the larger volume of water in one pour. Sorry, it's the dorky and safety conscious chemist in me. Thanks again for the great videos.

I soaked the nib in your solution overnight, rinse it thoroughly, inserted the ink cartridge and for the first time in many months, my MB Starwalker started to write again! This is brilliant! Thank you so much!

It's a very cheap "solution" indeed...

Be aware that ammonia will pit chrome. Learned this with an expensive airbrush.

good money saving tip Stephen - I use just water & ammonia, as do most old-timers. The reason: soapy water enhances steel corrosion by increasing the conductivity of the solution & thus the redox potential. Also soapy residue may form over time. Also soap can break down the lubricants you apply to threads as I notice you like to do. Cleans the pen faster, but at a potential long-term cost. Not a problem if you flush out the solution thoroughly.

Was looking for flushes to buy, now that I’m getting into fountain pens again at 70 years old......you just saved my money! Thanks Lad. Enjoy your videos.

I watched this video and then went to the dollar store to find mini jars. They had expired food in them. I convinced management to give them to me for free since they couldn't sell them. I didnt count but it looks like 30 to 40 jars. This video brought me good luck. And they also had ammonia for sale!

I had never heard that ammonia could be used for flushing. When I was a kid (ball pens were forbidden in school) we used to clean our pens with a mixture of bleach and tap water. Pelikan sold a set of two little bottles (I still have one) with rubber stoppers with a glass applicator. It was used to erase any mistake you had made in your notebook! The liquid you applied first had a strong odor of bleach, the other was odorless.

I would be cautious using an ammonia flush on a vintage celluloid pen, vinegar flush better.

Q. How do you make a pen flush? A. Tell it the one about the traveling salesman and the two nuns.

Yay, the gift that keeps on giving. Thank you.

Thanks for posting the video. I was hoping to find something like this as a new fountain pen enthusiast.

Thank you for another informative video. I see you have a jar of Renaissance on your desk. As a part time woodworker, I use it on my chisels and plane irons to keep them from oxidizing. Does it have a FP application? I've been told it has many uses, including museums using it to archive paper documents.

Thanks for that Stephen. I've been wanting to make my own pen flush. The commercial stuff is crazy expensive delivered to Australia. The only ammonia I can get here is for household cleaning and is labelled "cloudy ammonia". I know it is a more dilute ammonia solution, but it appears to have some additives too. Do you know anything about this? Does the ammonia you buy have anything added or is it pure?

Perfect! I was looking for this.

Great video! Thanks for providing a low-cost way to keep pens clean when a straight water flush just isn't quite enough.

thank you. useful indeed . love the lilt of your speech.

Thanks a lot for this simple solution!!!

What's the pen grease "oleum" in the little bottle? Great video, thanks.

Simple. Practical. Thank you.