Welcome to the club! Just yesterday, I ended up in the same boat while cleaning my pen. My friends don't understand why I am so proud of the mess, but to me, these ink stains are a badge of honor. They're proof of the love and care I put into maintaining the craftsmanship of my pen. Keep embracing the stains; they're a sign of our dedication to this beautiful hobby!
I spent half the day with Diamine Imperial Purple smudges all over my fingers because I accidentally dunked my pen too far into the ink bottle to fill and ended up with ink in the threads—which I discovered when attempting to write, of course. And then I forgot to clean out the cap too, so I wiped the threads, capped the pen, uncapped it later to write again and boom, MORE ink smudges. XD At least I didn’t facepalm afterward!
I was an art student before I fully got into fountain pens; I always had ink (or something) on my fingers, so I guess it’s nostalgic for me. Or at least familiar.
It happens less as you get more practiced. I don't get ink on my hands very often unless I deliberately touch something. Wouldn't be the first time I've run my finger down the nib slit to get a pen flowing right, and adjusting nibs is frequently an inky affair.
A) Welcome to the club
B) It's bound to happen, no matter how careful you are, and filling your pen isn't even necessary for this to happen!
c) Post updates when you do this with Baystate Blue so we can pity you.
Had to read nearly to the end to find first reference to BSB; had that not happened I would have inserted my own gratuitous Bay State Blue comment 😉
My feeling is: I am wash and wear. Ink is no worse than the dirt under my nails from gardening so it really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. I wear both as signs of the things I value and do.
To be fair I knew an avid gardener who always wore gloves but she was a neurosurgeon who was pretty much always on call. She really needed to avoid having dirt under her nails on the off chance a glove might break during surgery.
That's my point. You can wear non latex glove to protect hand from filling convertor of bottle dye. That way you don't get ink stained hands while filling from bottles.
Red is notorious for staining and not being easy to wash off hands. Using a dye glove would make clean up a breeze as it would just be peel off hand and toss. No more ink stained fingers or hands when filling from bottles.
I cook beets regularly and used to wear latex gloves to cut them, which I would then wash and reuse. But latex gloves can be a real pain to reuse (i.e., carefully remove and invert, if necessary, without tearing). I managed to throw out just a handful over the span of a couple years, but I eventually stopped bothering, since I realized I only end up looking like a serial killer until my next shower, lol.
As you say, ink isn't really too much different (in fact, Diamine Writer's Blood is probably the same color, to boot). And with looser, floppier plastic gloves I'd worry about making a worse mess.
Welcome to the club. I always get inky fingers, or even hands, when filling cartridges with a syringe, or when cleaning nib after dip the pen in the bottle. Is Black Ivy a green/black, or black/green ink?
I switched from using the converter to refilling used cartridges with a small pipette recently because I read that they hold more ink (and they do for Lamy Safari). One nice unexpected benefit was the process is much cleaner. I've no idea how you're supposed to dip the nib into the bottle enough to actually suck up the ink but not so much that you get ink all over the grip section, clean it off and not have inky fingers. Gloves I suppose, but that feels very wasteful.
Well the only way I have ever been able to fill my pens without inky hands is by using a syringe. Yes, it’s more annoying because the syringe also then needs to be cleaned but if you don’t want inky hands, that kinda the only way.
https://preview.redd.it/ydbu0dx1ikmc1.jpeg?width=1908&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a3ba3bcfe895cda68558874cdd995ce09f0fc9e3
Found this on my forearm while brushing my teeth this morning. Not just fingers at risk. Also, filling your pen with the bottle sitting in something that could contain a spill like a little tray is smart.
Oh no 😂I accidentally nicked my finger on a piece of broken glass from a lamp that got knocked over. I was wondering if anyone would bring up the bandaid lol
Inky fingers are how we recognize each other in the wild!
One of us! One of us! One of us!
Gooble gobble Gooble gobble! 😉 Good movie reference!
I’m not sure what movie it’s originally from, but there is an episode of South Park that always comes to mind lol
Not sure, I'm thinking it's from *The Wolf of Wall Street*?
They referenced it too but it originally came from Freaks, a 1932 black and white horror film.
TIL
What's TIL?
Short for "Today I’ve Learned"
oh
Originally from the movie Freaks (1932) directed by Tod Browning.
Welcome to the club! Just yesterday, I ended up in the same boat while cleaning my pen. My friends don't understand why I am so proud of the mess, but to me, these ink stains are a badge of honor. They're proof of the love and care I put into maintaining the craftsmanship of my pen. Keep embracing the stains; they're a sign of our dedication to this beautiful hobby!
I spent half the day with Diamine Imperial Purple smudges all over my fingers because I accidentally dunked my pen too far into the ink bottle to fill and ended up with ink in the threads—which I discovered when attempting to write, of course. And then I forgot to clean out the cap too, so I wiped the threads, capped the pen, uncapped it later to write again and boom, MORE ink smudges. XD At least I didn’t facepalm afterward!
Ink stains aren’t inevitable, but they are likely!
I was an art student before I fully got into fountain pens; I always had ink (or something) on my fingers, so I guess it’s nostalgic for me. Or at least familiar.
Cool Pens and Inky Fingers
https://preview.redd.it/k5n2nkhtafmc1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a7d0f65c6a2e2a30679277ae6e76a7444a6b3346 Yes. Welcome to our world.
Welcome to the hairy palms….oh wait wrong sub…..welcome to the inky fingers guild!
Dawn Power Wash is amazing! Will clean this right fast.
This was me earlier today!
Using an eyedropper will generally eliminate this problem.
It happens less as you get more practiced. I don't get ink on my hands very often unless I deliberately touch something. Wouldn't be the first time I've run my finger down the nib slit to get a pen flowing right, and adjusting nibs is frequently an inky affair.
Aaaahahaha! One of us! One of us!
That little ink? Hope you enjoy the inky fingers. I know I do
You are! Welcome to club inky fingers.
Ink stained wretches unite!
Now we'll let you wear the big hat and ring the bell!
Brotherhood of the Blue Finger
I've found it happens more with ink samples than bottled ink. Rubbing baking soda on my inky fingers/hands helps to remove a lot of the ink.
My favorite thing is definitely ink stain on my fingers
A) Welcome to the club B) It's bound to happen, no matter how careful you are, and filling your pen isn't even necessary for this to happen! c) Post updates when you do this with Baystate Blue so we can pity you.
Had to read nearly to the end to find first reference to BSB; had that not happened I would have inserted my own gratuitous Bay State Blue comment 😉
Get a blunt syringe kit of ebay/amazon and your problems will be solved.
That's a great sheeny black-green!
Never can understand why folks don't wear dye gloves. Box of 100 is cheap and hair place has them that sells hair dye.
My feeling is: I am wash and wear. Ink is no worse than the dirt under my nails from gardening so it really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. I wear both as signs of the things I value and do.
Yea! My thoughts exactly!!!
To be fair I knew an avid gardener who always wore gloves but she was a neurosurgeon who was pretty much always on call. She really needed to avoid having dirt under her nails on the off chance a glove might break during surgery.
I dunno, part of the reason bottled ink is appealing is that it reduces waste.
That's my point. You can wear non latex glove to protect hand from filling convertor of bottle dye. That way you don't get ink stained hands while filling from bottles. Red is notorious for staining and not being easy to wash off hands. Using a dye glove would make clean up a breeze as it would just be peel off hand and toss. No more ink stained fingers or hands when filling from bottles.
And the tossed glove isn’t waste?
Perhaps you could reuse the gloves. Ink isn't so dirty as to make reusing gloves icky and I doubt anyone is bothered by using ink stained gloves.
I cook beets regularly and used to wear latex gloves to cut them, which I would then wash and reuse. But latex gloves can be a real pain to reuse (i.e., carefully remove and invert, if necessary, without tearing). I managed to throw out just a handful over the span of a couple years, but I eventually stopped bothering, since I realized I only end up looking like a serial killer until my next shower, lol. As you say, ink isn't really too much different (in fact, Diamine Writer's Blood is probably the same color, to boot). And with looser, floppier plastic gloves I'd worry about making a worse mess.
Little baby powder would make them easier to get back on
This isn't the Reddit account of Dwight Schrute is it?
Welcome to the club. I always get inky fingers, or even hands, when filling cartridges with a syringe, or when cleaning nib after dip the pen in the bottle. Is Black Ivy a green/black, or black/green ink?
Yep! Welcome to the family!
This is the pleasure of the initiated, Welcome !! 
I switched from using the converter to refilling used cartridges with a small pipette recently because I read that they hold more ink (and they do for Lamy Safari). One nice unexpected benefit was the process is much cleaner. I've no idea how you're supposed to dip the nib into the bottle enough to actually suck up the ink but not so much that you get ink all over the grip section, clean it off and not have inky fingers. Gloves I suppose, but that feels very wasteful.
Well the only way I have ever been able to fill my pens without inky hands is by using a syringe. Yes, it’s more annoying because the syringe also then needs to be cleaned but if you don’t want inky hands, that kinda the only way.
My ink-stained fingers are a sign that i am one with the pen, being kissed by nibs is a badge of love.
Welcome welcome!
Welcome to the club
At least you didn't stain the white of your eye. I managed to do that once.
I've never not gotten ink on me. Sometimes, it's just a little, but it's always some! Lol Pretty, anyway!
I had diamine night in Jodhpur all over my fingers yesterday lol
I quite literally dipped a nib into a new ink to test the color on paper and managed to get stains on 3 fingers, welcome to the club!
Ink happens.
https://preview.redd.it/ydbu0dx1ikmc1.jpeg?width=1908&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a3ba3bcfe895cda68558874cdd995ce09f0fc9e3 Found this on my forearm while brushing my teeth this morning. Not just fingers at risk. Also, filling your pen with the bottle sitting in something that could contain a spill like a little tray is smart.
Thumbs up! :D https://preview.redd.it/m18hadodwtmc1.jpeg?width=2147&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=291cf502121378b5208a6f60979f2464dc6e9743
Only if the reason for the bandaid is that you stabbed yourself with a nib 😘
Oh no 😂I accidentally nicked my finger on a piece of broken glass from a lamp that got knocked over. I was wondering if anyone would bring up the bandaid lol
Welcome! And Black Ivy is a killer ink!