Good Blue Ink For Cheap Paper

[Wigglesworth98]

Hello Fountain Pen Network! This is my first post ever, so any advice will be greatly appreciated. I am looking for an ink that will perform well on cheap paper (loose leaf, copier, notebook), mainly because I am a 15 y/o in high school. I really love how my pen writes (TWSBI mini, fine nib) it's just that I cannot really use it on some of the cheap paper that I have access to. Right now I have a deep purple Noodler's ink that bleeds quite a bit. I like the color, it is just that it bleeds a bit too much for double-sided assignments I must do. I did some reading about iron gall ink, which sounds great for cheap paper, but I do not want to risk my pen as it is just my second one. I use it every day so any quick advice would be greatly appreciated. One last thing, I would like to get blue ink, if there are any recommendations that fit the kind of ink I'm looking for. Thanks!

[moylek]

I find Lamy Blue to be good on cheap paper. And it seems to dry pretty quickly, too.

[Rita_K]

Welcome to FPN Wigglesworth98 !

 

I've had good luck with Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue and R&K Salix.

The Salix is an iron gall ink but I have been using it for more than a year and have not had any problems.

I think the new iron gall inks are much safer than they used to be.

[carlos.q]

+1 for Salix. Modern IG inks are generally safe for FPs as long as you flush your pen every now and then. Salix is also great at keeping your notes safe from water spills.

Lamy blue, Pelikan 4001 and Waterman blue are great inks for cheap paper but have zero water resistance.

[GazKubat]

I've been using Waterman's Florida/Serenity (Is there an agreed upon name for this? I don't want to offend anyone) on cheap paper and have found it to perform well.

 

+1 for Salix. Modern IG inks are generally safe for FPs as long as you flush your pen every now and then. Salix is also great at keeping your notes safe from water spills.
Lamy blue, Pelikan 4001 and Waterman blue are great inks for cheap paper but have zero water resistance.

+1 to the Waterman. I don't have experience with the others.

[WayTooManyHobbies]

Welcome!

 

If it's not too late, I'll put in a vote for Organic Studios Aristotle. It's an iron gall ink as well, and performs brilliantly on bad (or good) paper.

 

Another suggestion would be to order some samples of a few candidates from the Goulets, isellpens, or the Andersons.

[WaskiSquirrel]

Parker Quink is what I always used in high school (black, blue, and blue black).

 

Now I use Noodler's Black, which isn't exactly the blue you were asking about, but I thought I'd throw it out there.

[flatline]

Noodler's Blue seems to do just fine on mediocre paper.

 

Nothing writes well on truly bad paper except pencils and ballpoints. I have a recycled notebook that I can't even use rollerball pens on because of feathering and bleedthrough.

 

--flatline

[mirosc]

Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue - designed for cheap school paper decades years ago and working ever since.

ESSRI

[The Good Captain]

Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black. Great water resistance too!

[SallyLyn]

Don't forget that adding water to your current purple ink might make it better behaved on your school paper. Don't know the filling system on your pen but there are ways to add water to a cartridge (blunt syringe). Using something like a shot glass or tube like glass can mix a small amount of ink and up to 50%, 1:1

(start smaller like 1:10) water for other type filling pens. Do not add the water to your ink bottle even if you like the result. Something could change and you want and need the full strength ink. Always better to mix small amounts.

Check the reviews for your ink in the Ink Review forum. There maybe discussion of how the ink works on cheap paper and how adding water works on different papers, situations.

 

Adding water to ink may not work for your papers if they are truly almost like toilet paper. The water will only make the ink lighter when it bleeds.

[hungh]

+1 R&K Salix.

I have the TWSBI 580 EF, and I can say that I've never had any problems with it, it was easy to clean and all.

[swanjun]

I really do think a modern TWSBI would do just fine with an iron-gall ink. Especially since it'd be easy to take apart and clean and all that. I understand being hesitant if you've only got two pens, but I bet you wouldn't have any problems.

[Scycotic]

R&K Salix, and if you need black, Noodler's Black.

 

I would recommend Quink Blue-Black if you can get the old formula. The current one changes to a teal colour.

[Blue_Moon]

Waterman Serenity Blue (Formerly Florida Blue) is the best I've found and I've recently done a good bit of research on this.

[hbquikcomjamesl]

One thing to keep in mind about blue FP ink:

 

Most (perhaps all) fluorescent yellow highlighter inks do NOT play well with blue FP inks (or at least, with Sheaffer and Pelikan blue FP inks). The highlighter ink tends to bleach out the FP ink. Do yourself a favor, and special order some non-fluorescent highlighters, or (I've heard about them, but haven't actually tried them) highlighting pencils.

 

In my own experience, there are only a few really cheap papers that don't get along reasonably well with the FP inks I use. And most of them are newsprints.

[SeeksAdvice]

If you don't mind the maintenance ... Salix or Registrar's Ink. Those behave well on many papers. If you can find the old IG formula, MB Midnight Blue is a pretty good performer. Sailor Sei-Boku is also pretty good on mediocre paper, if you don't mind the expense.

My suggestion is this: check with a pen/ink store that sells samples, such as Goulets (I think that there is at least 1 other in the US). Goulet's doesn't carry Montblanc or Sailor products. Get samples first. While it's a terrible way to buy on a cost/quantity basis, it's better than buying a bottle only to discover it's not what you want.

We have "Universal" brand writing pads at the office that are truly the most dreadful stuff I have ever used. Wal-Mart spiral notebook paper is better. Montblanc Midnight Blue (IG formula), Salix, Diamine Registrar's Ink all feather badly, and other inks bleed through (even Iroshizuku inks out of a Sailor EF). Sometimes, there is no "one" solution. Some day I shall have to post scans of writing results on this insult to paper everywhere.

Liquid based highlighters will likely give most inks some grief. The blue component of Salix, Registrar's Ink, and MBMB (if you can find the IG formula) will likely smear. If you want to highlight over writing using liquid, then you're kind of entering the realm of Noodler's "bulletproof" blue inks. I have never experimented with trying to highlight Sei-Boku, Sailor's "nano" pigmented blue-black ink. I have experimented on various IG inks that I have, and found them to smear.

Even some of Noodler's "bulletproof" blue inks will release various colors when wet. Bad Blue Heron releases a turquoise like color, Bad Belted Kingfisher also loses a component, as does the "eternal" Luxury Blue.

I don't know which "dark purple" Noodler's ink the OP has. Some of Noodler's purples are simply horrid in terms of behaviors. La Reine Mauve comes to mind as one that folks complain about, along with Concord Bream (which isn't terribly dark). You can even tell from Goulet's sample of Concord Bream that it's not going to cooperate in most situations.

So, my thoughts are:

 

If not highlighting over with liquid:

R&K Salix - still retains a "bluish" appearance

Diamine Registrar's Ink -oxidizes to pretty much various intensities of black

Sailor Sei-Boku - supposedly a "blue-black" with some red tinges

Montblanc Midnight Blue - if you can get the IG formula

If highlighting over with liquid:

Noodler's Upper Ganges Blue - has done relatively "okay" for me on various papers, though like all "bulletproof" inks I've tried, it can't compete with the IG's on truly terrible paper. It does stay put on the page in response to water though. Plus, it's a fairly light blue, so it doesn't show through too badly.

 

 

 

 

[cwhite5]

I started using Rohrer & Kligner Salix 3 weeks ago, and it works amazingly on all of my notebooks, pads, flashcards, etc. I find that even on my worst paper it may feather a bit, but will not bleed through. I got caught in the rain with some notes the other day and it's fairly waterproof too.

I just cleaned my pen for the first time since then, and it left no residue. I think that as long as you're using the pen regularly, and not letting it sit for more than a day, the pen should be fine.

 

Before that, I'd gone through about half a bottle of Noodler's Midnight and found it worked pretty well on all but the very worst paper. I changed though because I completely lost an essay outline written with it due to a coffee spill.

[Ada]

+1 for R&K Salix. If you're willing to consider other colors, R&K Sepia (brown), R&K Scabiosa (dusty purple), and Diamine Registrar's ink (black) all have worked well for me on cheap paper. Salix, Scabiosa and Registrar's ink are all iron gall inks. Sepia is not, but should never be mixed with other inks (according to R&K), so you should clean your pen out well before switching to another ink.

[I like mango cheesecake]

I second that for Parker Quink.

 

that blue is pretty much a tank of an ink. writes on just about anything, with even the cheapest of nibs.