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Add Noodler's Ink company to that list....
I recieved my bottles of Noodler's three days ago (Luxury Blue and Manhattan Black), and was eagerly awaiting putting them to the torture test. this thread is a compilation of those few days torturing inks;
Day 1, I inked the test papers with Noodler's Luxury Blue and Manhattan Black, Waterman Blue-Black, a UniBall Signo 207, a Bic Crystal Gel, a Sharpie, a Fisher Bullet, and Zebra 701
the test paper was generic 20# bond scrap paper that had laser printer toner on the backside, one sheet was the Xylene test, the other, the 409
stage 1, water exposure (1 minute running water)....
Noodlers inks; unaffected
Uni-Ball; unaffected
Bic Crystal; slight feathering
Sharpie; unaffected
Fisher Bullet; unaffected
Zebra 701; unaffected
Waterman Blue-Black; 90% washed away
Stage 2 (home solvents, soaked until saturation then air dried);
Lysol Bathroom Cleaner with Bleach and the Goof Off 2 Citrus cleaner did nothing
Formula 409 Glass and Surface cleaner;
Noodlers inks; faint feathering
Uni-Ball; distinct feathering
Sharpie; unaffected
Bic Crystal; slight feathering
Fisher Bullet; unaffected
Zebra 701; unaffected
Waterman Blue-Black; 95% washed away
Stage 3; Original Goof Off Xylene formula (also known as offset printing press deglazing solvent, the stuff used to clean ink off the printing press ink rollers)
Noodlers inks; unaffected
Uni-Ball; unaffected
Bic Crystal; heavy feathering
Sharpie; heavy feathering
Fisher Bullet; light feathering
Zebra 701; heavy feathering and ink seperating into base colors (yellow and black)
Waterman Blue-Black; 99% washed away
**note, the Goof Off was also eating away at the laser printer toner on the back of the paper at this point, it's nasty stuff....
Stage 4; take the Formula 409 test sheet and expose it to water, let dry, then expose to Xylene;
Noodlers inks; unaffected
Uni-Ball; unaffected
Bic Crystal; 90% gone
Sharpie; heavy feathering and blurring
Fisher Bullet; medium feathering
Zebra 701; heavy feathering and ink seperating into base colors (yellow and black) 80% gone
Waterman Blue-Black; washed away
Stage 5; take the Xylene test sheet and expose it to Formula 409;
Noodlers inks; unaffected
Uni-Ball; unaffected
Bic Crystal; 90% gone
Sharpie; indistinct black blob
Fisher Bullet; medium feathering
Zebra 701; no further effects
Waterman Blue-Black; out of the running
Stage 6; expose the Xylene test sheet to water;
Noodlers inks; unaffected
Uni-Ball; unaffected
Bic Crystal; 95% gone
Sharpie; featureless black blob
Fisher Bullet; medium-heavy feathering
Zebra 701; no further effects
Waterman Blue-Black; Disqualified, nothing there at all
From this most unscientific (and confusing) test, I can gather the following info;
the clear winners in this test are the Noodler's "Bulletproof" inks, they *are* truly eternal, any ink that can stand up to Xylene exposure so powerful that it strips toner off the *other side of the paper* has real staying power, for some reason, however, the Noodlers took more damage from the 409 than from the Xylene, the 409 caused light feathering, but did not remove the ink from the paper
for some reason, the 409 was a tougher test than the Xylene for the Noodlers, yet the Noodler's shrugged off the Xylene which really hit the other inks bad
the Uni-Ball Signo did surprisingly well, not bad for a $2 pen, the pigment-based ink it uses is almost as durable as the Noodlers
the Sharpie was a surprise as well, it really was hit bad by the Xylene, and once damaged by it, other chemicals and even plain old water exposure really made it worse
the Fisher bullet feathered more than i thought it would, but it wasn't bad per se
the two biggest dissapointments were the Waterman Blue-Black, that failed the simple water test, and the Bic Crystal Gel wich just did nothing well, it was mediocre all around
the biggest surprise overall was the Zebra 701, it held up far longer than I thought it would
So; Day 1 final rankings;
First Place; Noodler's Luxury Blue and Manhattan Black, these inks are truly bulletproof
Second Place; Uni-Ball Signo; in terms of durability per dollar, it's a clear winner, the best value of any of the inks/pens
Third Place; Fisher Bullet; it feathered more than expected, but ended up just a hair behind the Uni-Ball in final readability
Honorable Mention; Zebra 701, it put up a valiant fight, and performed far better than expected, but ultimately it *did* fail
Biggest Dissapointments;
Sharpie and Bic Crystal, just no real durability to speak of...
I took a look at the Xylene sheet that I exposed to 409 before heading home, at this point the paper was dry, a bit on the curly side, but still usable, however, there *was* some faint feathering from the Noodler's inks, still readable, i'd hazard a guess less than 5% feathering
*something* in that 409 really reacts with Noodlers......
later that evening, after work, I was looking through my old aquarium supplies, and found a bottle of Melafix (1% Melaleuca Alternafolia Tea Tree oil), Melaleuca oil is a very powerful natural solvent, even 1% is very pungent, has a kind of pine-y, citruss-y aroma
So I grabbed another sheet;
Noodler's Luxury Blue and Manhattan Black; definite feathering and runniness, probably 10-15% depending on how heavy the ink was laid down, definite blurring of letters, still readable though, and obvious that the ink had been tampered with
Cross Fine-Point ballpoint; maybe 5% feathering
Fisher Space Pen; 30% or so feathering, this one was hit hard by the melaleuca oil, letters are getting a little blobby
Waterman Blue-Black; GONE! nothing but a blue blur
Parker Quink; GONE! nothing but a black blur
expose the melaleuca treated sheet to water...
....Fascinating.....
the Noodlers inks actually got *less* feathery, it looks like the water was simply washing away some of the ink that didn't bond with the paper, ink that the melaleuca oil loosened
Cross; same thing, a little sharper
Fisher; same thing; the water was simply washing away the "excess" ink that didn't bond with the paper
Waterman Blue Black; wait a minute, I'm *sure* i wrote something here, but there's nothing to see, no evidence of ink....
Parker Quink; same thing, nothing there
so, the powerful solvent Melaleuca oil only loosened the excess ink on the Noodler's, Cross and Fisher line, but obliterated Quink and Waterman B/B....
then again, obliterating Waterman B/B and Quink isn't exactly difficult then, is it?
Yesterday at work, I decided to do a little "Check Washing" test, I grabbed one of my old voided checks, and inked it up with Noodlers, the Uni-Ball Signo 207, a generic Paper-Mate ball-point, a Bic Crystal Gel, a Fisher Bullet, and Zebra 701 ball-point, the check was allowed to dry completely between "treatments"
Test 1; Xylene exposure;
Noodlers; unaffected
Uni-Ball Signo; unaffected
Bic Gel; unaffected
Paper-Mate Ball-point; *heavy* feathering, and 50% reduction in ink intensity
Fisher Bullet; heavy feathering, but otherwise unaffected
Zebra 701; unaffected
Anti-Tampering features of the check; activated, the check is riddled with red and blue spots which do not fade after the xylene dries, it's obvious the check has been tampered with
Test 2; expose the Xylene-d check to a water rinse (one minute, hot water)
Noodlers; unaffected
Uni-Ball Signo; unaffected
Bic Gel; 90% washed away, only a faint residue of ink remains
Paper-Mate Ball-point; 95% washed away, almost completely gone
Fisher Bullet; heavy blobbing, the letters are starting to run together
Zebra 701; 10% reduction in ink intensity
Anti-Tampering features of the check; activated, the spots become more prominent with water exposure
Test 3; Expose the Xylene-d and hot water rinsed check to 409;
at this point, the check is unusable anyway, so at this point, all I'm trying to do is remove the Noodler's and Uni-Ball inks, both inks are pigment-based and bond with the cellulose fibers in the paper, in theory, making them unremovable without damaging the paper in the process
Noodlers; unaffected
Uni-Ball Signo; unaffected
Bic Gel; 97% washed away, only a faint residue of ink remains
Paper-Mate Ball-point; 98% washed away, almost completely gone
Fisher Bullet; heavy blobbing, the letters are starting to run together
Zebra 701; 50% reduction in ink intensity, the ink is black directly out of the pen, now it's a faint blue
Anti-Tampering features of the check; activated, the spots become more prominent with water exposure, but not much change with 409
Test #4; Lysol Household cleaner with Bleach applied to the Xylene/water/409'ed check;
Noodlers; unaffected
Uni-Ball Signo; unaffected
Bic Gel; Completely gone! like it wasn't even there....
Paper-Mate Ball-point; completely gone, no evidence of any lettering
Fisher Bullet; blobbing is gone, but the ink has faded a good 90%, faint, grayish-black but still readable
Zebra 701; Completely gone!
Anti-Tampering features of the check; activated, hitting the check with Bleach *REALLY* activated the anti-tampering features, the check now has an ugly brown cast on it
Final thoughts;
It kind of scares me at how easy it was to remove the ball-point ink, and considering a large percentage of checks and such are written with the mundane, classic ball-point pen, it's a little unnerving to see the ink removed with so little effort, ball-points in general are less secure than pigment-based pens like the Uni-Ball Signo or Permanent fountain pen inks, pigment based inks actually soak into the paper fibers, bonding with the paper and staining the cellulose fibers, ball-point ink sits on top of the paper and if it bonds at all with the paper, it's barely with the top of the paper, bleach strips off ball-point ink terrifyingly effectively, it....just....dissolves
the solution is obvious, if you want the most secure ink for writing checks or signing legal documents, you need to use a fountain pen with Permanent ink, or a pigment based roller-ball (like the Signo) something that sinks into the paper fibers and bonds with them, nothing short of a direct thermonuclear blast will affect Noodlers or the Uni-Ball Signo ink, once it's on paper, it's permanent
Pen/ink ratings;
Noodler's "Bulletproof" inks; Honesty in advertising, this ink withstands every attempt to remove it, the only effective means of removing Noodler's will damage the paper beyond the point of usability, this ink *IS* permanent and eternal
Uni-Ball Signo 207; a great sleeper of a pen, in terms of value for the money
Bic Gel; smooth writing, but ultimately not secure
Paper-Mate; horrible performance and easily removed ink
Fisher Bullet; decent performance, the best ball-point of the group, even though the ink does run and feather when exposed to solvents, it doesn't become unreadable or fade completely away
Zebra 701; surprisingly good performance for a non-pressurized mundane ball-point pen, easily outperforms the Paper-Mate, but not the Fisher Bullet
Basically, if you want a durable ink in your fountain pen, the only real choice is Noodler's, if you just want a good, basic, secure pen and don't want to spend a lot, get the Uni-Ball Signo 207, it passed the same brutal chemical assaults that the Noodler's did
Before I went to my apartment last night, I decided to stop off at home and scare Mom and Dad with my newfound knowledge...
I took a couple voided checks, inked them up with various inks, and tried my final chemical test...
91% Isopropyl alcohol
the effects were *immediate*
Noodlers; unaffected
Uni-Ball Signo; unaffected
Cross ballpoint; 5 seconds for smearing to occur, ink gone after about a minute or so
Fisher Space Pen; 5 seconds for heavy smearing, ink 98% gone after about 2 minutes
Both Mom and Dad were shall we say, stunned at how easily ballpoint ink vanished from the check, but what scared me is the fact that the alcohol barely triggered the tamper-proof ink on the check, unless you knew what to look for, you wouldn't notice the tiny, faint blue and red dots on the check paper, and when the alcohol fully dried, the paper was just as pliable and unwrinkled as it was before it's alcohol bath.
a cursory glance of the check shows nothing suspicious, it looks like a _blank_ check (aside from the Noodlers and Uniball ink writing), there is just *no* ballpoint ink left on the check, the alcohol removed it totally
So, after i showed them how easy it was to wash a check, I gave each of them a Uni-Ball Signo 207, and reccomended they use it, they were quite appreciative, yes I should have given them fountain pens loaded with Noodler's, but neither of them would appreciate a "high maintenance" pen, sadly
It's great to have a technically-minded, analytical son who does all sorts of unneccecary but cool experiments...
for the Surefire and Spyderco references. 2 awesome companies for sure.
