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How to care Inkstone
How do I care for an inkstone?
One day, a customer came to our shop saying their inkstone had “gone bad” and wanted to buy a new one.
When we asked about it, we learned that they had never washed the inkstone — the ink had simply hardened over time.
After checking it, we found it could still be used perfectly well with proper care.
We explained how to clean and maintain it, and the customer left very happy, ready to continue using their old inkstone.
Inkstones, when properly maintained, can last for many years — even a lifetime.
However, many people are not familiar with how to wash or care for them.
This may be because in Japanese elementary schools, calligraphy practice (technically called “Shosha,” not “Shodo” in the curriculum) does not include lessons on cleaning the brush or inkstone.
Students usually take their tools home after class and clean them there.
Even among those who continue to practice calligraphy later on, it’s common that they’ve never actually seen how to wash an inkstone — teachers often clean them, or plastic ink wells are used instead.
Here, we’d like to share some simple tips on how to properly care for your inkstone so you can enjoy using it for many years to come.
Things You Should Never Do When Cleaning an Inkstone
✖ Wash with Hot Water
The ink used in calligraphy contains nikawa (animal glue), which melts at around 70°C (158°F).
While hot water may seem to help remove dried ink more easily, it can seriously damage your inkstone.
Natural inkstones often contain fine layers of stone with small air pockets or invisible cracks.
When exposed to hot water, the trapped air can expand and cause the stone to crack or split.
👉 Always use cool water or lukewarm water (around body temperature) when washing your inkstone.
✖ Use Brushes or Scrubbers ✖
Inkstone materials are relatively soft and can scratch very easily.
Using a brush, scouring pad, or scrubbing sponge (especially those with abrasives) will leave fine scratches on the surface.
Even if these scratches seem minor, they can affect how ink grinds and flows.
If you accidentally scratch your inkstone, it can be repaired by re-carving (kaikoku), but this usually costs around 15,000 yen.
To avoid this, simply rinse gently with clean water and wipe lightly with a soft cloth.
✅ Exceptions:
Plastic or ceramic inkstones, and school-use ink wells (sumi-ike), are more durable.
You can safely wash them with warm water and a soft brush or sponge.
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Plastic Student Inkstones →
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Ink Wells →
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Ceramic Inkstones →
How to Properly Clean Your Inkstone
After finishing your calligraphy session, first remove any remaining liquid ink from the inkstone by gently blotting it with paper — a piece of used or scrap calligraphy paper works well.
Next, rinse the inkstone briefly under running water, then fill a small basin or bucket with clean water.
Use a piece of absorbent cotton or soft cotton pad to gently wipe the surface.
Rinse once more, wipe off excess moisture with a soft cloth, and let it dry naturally in a shaded area, away from direct sunlight.
Cleaning your inkstone immediately after use is very easy.
However, if you leave it for several days, the dried ink becomes extremely difficult to remove.
Liquid sumi ink is relatively easy to wash off while it’s still wet,
but once it dries, the glue (nikawa) in the ink hardens — almost like plastic.
In that case, soak the inkstone in a bucket of lukewarm water for a while to soften the residue,
then gently wipe it with absorbent cotton.
You may need to repeat this process several times — but with patience, the hardened ink will eventually come off and your inkstone will be clean again.
When Using Liquid Ink (Bottled Sumi Ink)
If you use liquid sumi ink (not hand-ground ink), be sure to wash your inkstone immediately after use.
The cleaning method is the same, but there’s one important difference to keep in mind.
Liquid ink contains preservatives and chemical additives.
When left to dry, these substances can harden and form a coating on the surface of the inkstone,
making it impossible to grind ink properly afterward.
Unlike natural ink made from an ink stick, this hardened layer cannot be removed with normal cleaning —
it must be polished away using a whetstone.
If you find that no matter how much you grind, the ink doesn’t become darker,
this chemical coating may be the cause.
For this reason, we recommend either:
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using a separate inkstone specifically for liquid ink, or
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using a plastic ink well (sumi-ike) instead.
Some people mix liquid ink with hand-ground ink,
but this can also cause the same problem — it may eventually damage the inkstone surface.
If you wish to adjust the tone, add the liquid ink after you’ve finished grinding the solid ink.
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Whetstones for Inkstone Maintenance →