Ink Facts
Ink is a fascinating part of fountain pen use and many seem to be on the quest for the perfect ink. The following contains some random thoughts on the inks we carry and ink properties in general. We get asked a lot of questions about ink and we hope this section on inks will answer many of those questions and help you on your quest for your perfect ink!
Color Variances
Ink colors can vary greatly due to several factors. The width of the nib you use affects color perception - broad nibs put down a much more colorful line of ink than a fine nibbed pen because you *see* more ink on the paper. White paper will make colors appear the truest, ivory or other colored paper may make the ink appear differently. Also, different papers may absorb ink better than others resulting in color variance.
Paper and Feathering
There are a wide range of papers available in the world today. Fountain pens can be very persnickety about which paper they perform best on. Most expensive does not necessarily equate to better paper for fountain pen writing. Ink may feather on paper for several reasons including the humidity level in your particular geographic area. The moisture can draw ink further into a piece of paper thus causing feathering. Broad or wet writing pens may be more prone to feathering. Certain inks seem to agree better with certain papers for no obvious rhyme or reason. The bottom line is you are going to have to experiment a little to find which of your pens and inks are compatible with which paper. We offer a wide variety of fountain pen friendly stationery and papers including Clairefontaine, a favorite of many.
Fountain Pen Ink Permanency
One of the questions we are asked most frequently is which of the inks we carry are waterproof. NO fountain pen inks are waterproof or permanent. They are ALL water based inks, as they must be in order to work properly in your fountain pen. Some inks have more water resistancy than others, but none of them are permanent. Many older inks, especially Sheaffer Skrip and Parker Quink inks from the 1930s - 1950s indicated on their labels whether they were washable or permanent. This does not apply to their permanency on paper, but to how easily they would wash out of clothing. We carry Pelikan Fount-India inks which are safe for fountain pens and exceptionally water resistant.
HINT: If you're concerned that envelopes addressed in fountain pen ink might get wet and the address smeared, try rubbing a plain white candle over the address area. You can't see this and the address is protected.
PLEASE NOTE - Some of the above info on permanency has changed a little bit due to the research and efforts of Noodler's Ink. We now have available truly permanent (still water based) fountain pen inks that employ cellulose reactive dyes. These dyes are completely water soluble in your pens and in the bottle, but the cellulose reactive dyes react with the paper and when dry are totally waterproof and permanent. Great invention! All three of our Pendemonium Exclusive colors have the "bulletproof" designation.
An ink designated by Noodler's as "bulletproof" means it stands up against bleach, UV Light, industrial chemicals, etc., making it impossible to forge a check! The cellulose reactive dyes are completely water soluble in your pens and in the bottle, but once the ink dries on the paper, it is totally waterproof and permanent!
Note: If you mix the bulletproof inks with regular ink, they may lose their bulletproof properties, and revert to regular ink. As with any ink, we advise you to mix small test quantities of inks together first to be sure they will not harm your pens.
What is Fountain Pen Ink?
Fountain Pen ink is composed of water, dye and surfactant, a detergent based agent used to help control flow in your pen.
NOTE: Drawing and drafting inks contain shellac which can be harmful to your fountain pens. There are also several inks out on the market marked Calligraphy Ink and further marked for use in fountain pens. We suggest you check these carefully, we've found most of the Calligraphy Inks to contain shellac and unsafe for fountain pens. Never use any ink other than those made specifically for fountain pens in your pen. If in doubt about a particular ink, feel free to contact us.
Inks & Pens Can be Quirky!
Not all pens and inks are created equally! Sometimes it takes a little experimenting to find the right pen-ink combo, you know what I'm talking about - the perfect flow and color in just the right pen. So remember a few basics because to achieve this you need to remember that this is a little bit of science with a lot of common sense thrown in. Don't panic if Ink A doesn't flow the same as Ink B in your favorite pen, clean out your pen, go back to Ink A or try another ink and put Ink B in a different pen! Did ya'll follow that?
*** Not all inks work equally in all pens ***
Each ink, even inks of the same brand, are formulated just a little differently from each other. Same goes for fountain pens - each one is a little different. Even two fountain pens exactly the same can behave vastly differently. Fountain pens are not like ballpoints, they require lots of TLC and some maintenance just like your car. Always remember to clean your pen with room temp water (NOT hot water & NO chemicals) when you change inks, it's a good idea to do this every few weeks even when you're not changing inks just to keep them up to snuff!
Cartridge vs. Converter
In many modern day fountain pens you have an option of using an ink cartridge or a converter. Cartridges can be very convenient to use since all you have to do is plug one in. However, I recommend you use bottled ink whenever possible and even if you're hopelessly addicted to cartridges, try to use a few converters full of ink from time to time. When you use a cartridge ink flows only OUT of the pen, but when you use a converter and bottled ink, ink is pulled INTO the pen as well as pushed OUT of the pen - this offers some small measure of cleaning action and helps to keep pens flowing properly.
Ink Staining and Dyes
Just a few comments on ink staining in pens. Inks contain dye and dyes can stain. Red, violet and pink inks (red dye) will be more prone to staining than most colors. We suggest you give some thought prior to using the red dye based inks in clear or translucent pens. Blue inks are generally least apt to stain.
Pigments - There are NO pigments in Fountain Pen Inks! Just a pet peeve of mine - fountain pen inks contain dyes, but not pigments!
Ink Removal
My fingers tend to get pretty inky over the course of the day and since it's my full time job to fiddle with pens and inks, inky fingers don't bother me much. But, I know that many of you prefer clean fingers. All sorts of thinks will remove ink from your skin: bleach, pumice stone and heavy duty soaps. I find that shampoo works splendidly, it's rare that I still have inky fingers after shampooing my hands.
Removing ink from clothing and other fabrics can usually be done quite handily with Amodex. It is best not to tamper with the stain first - let it sit and then use Amodex followed by normal laundering. Oxyclean type products can also be useful in removing ink stains. http://amodexink.com
Ink Mixing
Many people enjoy mixing inks to find unique and unusual colors. 99% of the time different colors and different brands of inks mix together perfectly with no ill affects. However, we advise you to mix in small batches initially since every now and then two inks can react poorly with each other creating an undesirable sludge! Also, best to mix by drops initially, since a small amount of color can make a big difference! Try to keep track of your measurements ratios so when you end up with the color you're after, you'll remember how to mix it the same way in the future. Small batches also mean you'll waste less ink as you experiment and I can almost guarantee you will come up with some ugly ones along the way!
The http://handprint.com website has extensive information on color mixing, color wheels and complementary colors, all of which are the basics for how to make new colors successfully!
Gunk in your Ink
ACK! There is something in my ink that shouldn't be there! Ink doesn't cost very much, compared to the price of your pen. If there is something floating in your ink or something stringy for that matter anything other than just plain 'ol ink, we suggest you flush that ink bottle.
Old Inks in Your Pens
Many people ask us if they should use old ink and we believe this is another one of those common sense issues! We use 50+ year old ink frequently in new fountain pens and vintage fountain pens with excellent results. Before using old inks, you need to take a few precautions.
Vintage Ink Precautions:
- Check to make sure there is no sediment, mold or other non-ink substance floating around or in the bottom of the bottle. Solids don't flow well, keep them in the bottle and out of your pens.
- Look at the color of the ink, if it has taken on an odd hue that just doesn't look right - keep the ink in the bottle.
- Unscrew the lid and take a little sniff, if you notice any unusual odor, screw the lid back on and refrain from using the ink.
Vintage Blue and Blue-Black Inks
These seem to have survived the years better than other colors of inks and are a pretty good place to start if you're looking to try vintage inks. Older Sheaffer Skrip, Parker Quink and Carter's Inks are generally pretty stable inks and we've had good results using these.
Never, never, ever use Drafting, Drawing or India Inks in a fountain pen - these contain shellac which can gum up the insides of a fountain pen quickly. Early iron gall based inks can also be very corrosive to a fountain pen and I urge that you try them out with a dip pen or glass pen instead of a fountain pen.
MYTH: From time to time people are told that they should buy a fresh bottle of ink at least once a year and that ink only lasts a year. This is nonsense! As long as your bottle of ink looks and smells good, keep using it, no need to toss out perfectly good ink.
Vintage Ink & Bottle Related Resources
Evan Lindquist's Gallotannate Ink Recipe
Evan Lindquist, artist, printmaker, penman and retired Professor of Art at Arkansas State University has experimented extensively with Gallotannate and other old style inks. We invite you to visit Evan's website to see how inks of days gone by were made. http://evanlindquist.com/othermedia/oldink.html
Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors
This association site offers up all sorts of ink bottle information as well as info on glass in general. http://www.fohbc.org/
Pottery Ink Bottles
An article by Ed and Lucy Faulkner, well researched text and many illustrations of early ink bottles. http://www.fohbc.org/PDF_Files/PotteryInks_Faulkner.pdf
The Carter Ink Company
An article by Ed and Lucy Faulkner, history of Carters, many photographs of unusual early Carter's Ink bottles. http://www.fohbc.org/PDF_Files/Ink_Sp2003.pdf
The Original Higgins Ink, A Nevada Invention
An article by Fred Holabird, fascinating account of the first Higgins ink bottles (not the ones made in Brooklyn!) http://www.fohbc.org/PDF_Files/HigginsInk.pdf
Dating Older Ink Bottles
Digger Odell has some excellent general antique bottle information on his website, in particular a good section on how to determine when your ink bottles were made based on bottle characteristics such as mold seams, embossing, type of lid, etc. http://www.antiquebottles.com/dating.html
Old Inks in Your Pens
Many people ask us if they should use old ink and we believe this is another one of those common sense issues! We use 50+ year old ink frequently in new fountain pens and vintage fountain pens with excellent results. Before using old inks, you need to take a few precautions.
Vintage Ink Precautions:
1. Check to make sure there is no sediment, mold or other non-ink substance floating around or in the bottom of the bottle. Solids don't flow well, keep them in the bottle and out of your pens.
2. Look at the color of the ink, if it has taken on an odd hue that just doesn't look right - keep the ink in the bottle.
3. Unscrew the lid and take a little sniff, if you notice any unusual odor, screw the lid back on and refrain from using the ink.
Follow us on Facebook!