How do I disinfect a pen?

Hello!

I just received an excellent question from one of my customers:

What would you recommend for people who want to keep their pens clean? Let’s say they have to still go to work and want to make sure their pens are disinfected. What’s the best method without harming the pen material?

This is a complicated question to answer because the most common pen materials respond differently to the efficacious disinfectants, I am aware of, which you can get. 

I am not a public health expert.

  1. There is no one, single effective liquid disinfectant I know of that is safe on everything I have used in the pens I manufacture. Any disinfectant you want to use obviously must be compatible with the material on which it is applied.

  2. Pen materials I have used include:

    1. Ebonite

    2. Acrylic (PMMA)

    3. Delrin

    4. Cellulose Acetate

    5. Cellulose nitrate (celluloid)

    6. Wood

    7. Galalith

    8. Stainless Steel

  3. Also, it pays to ensure that you choose a disinfectant method that works on what you’re concerned about.

    1. This is a very abbreviated list of disinfectants recommended by the Center for Disease Control for COVID-19. Go to the link and scroll down until you see it.

    2. This is the longer list, on COVID-19, on the “Complete disinfection guidance” button.

    3. This is everything. Broad swaths. You read this, understand it, pathogens will tremble before you.

  4. Once you’ve established what you want to disinfect (a pen), what you want to remove through disinfection (some pathogen), all you have to do is pick the best choice, dictated by what you can get, obviously.

General advice: In my professional opinion, based on knowing what agents my customers have access to, probably feel comfortable with, and what their pens are made of, I recommend this pretty underwhelming advice:

  1. If the pen or parts of it is porous (i.e., wood), leave it home. If not, use soap and water on the outside of your pens applied with a soft towel. Scrub it with that soft towel the way you would wash your hands.

  2. Rinse it off and quickly wipe it dry with a fresh towel you know is free of whatever you’re trying to clean off.

  3. Let it air dry, and don’t let anyone else touch it. Keep it in your pouch/carrying case so no infected dust or moisture droplets can get to it.

  4. Don’t undercut your own efforts; Make sure you only use your own pens with washed hands if you can help it. You don’t want to get your hands fruitcaked, and then touch your own pens.

Specific advice:

  1. Agents to which I know most people have access:

    1. Bleach solutions, (usually 10%)

    2. Hydrogen Peroxide

    3. Soap and water

    4. Ethanol/Isopropyl alcohol. Don’t use methanol. No need.

  2. Detailed thoughts: 

    1. Ebonite: 3. It’s very resistant to everything you can throw at it mechanically, but it can pit, etch or change colors, and you probably don’t want to risk that.

    2. Acrylic (PMMA): 3. It’s very tough, and resistant to many things on a momentary basis, but I don’t feel comfortable recommending those things for long term use. 

    3. Delrin: Anything you have.

    4. Cellulose Acetate: 1, 2, 3, NEVER 4. It’ll melt in alcohol, and I only use clear cellulose acetate, so no danger of bleaching.

    5. Cellulose nitrate (celluloid): 3 only. 

    6. Wood: 4. Most wood is hygroscopic, and you don’t want it to undergo bleaching. You may have to re-oil/wax it. I’d just leave it home. 

    7. Galalith: 4. It is severely hygroscopic over time, though it can handle brief interaction with water. Like a “water resistant” watch; splashes are okay, immersion isn’t.

    8. Stainless Steel: 3,4. I use 303 stainless, and it’s able to be in contact with bleach solutions for the durations of disinfection, but if you leave it in contact with bleach solutions for too long, it can etch. Just use alcohol.

I hope this clears things up.

Pierre MillerComment