Another one of my favourite inks...

I'm loving the ink fest you've started here.

I have to keep the conversation going. I hate it when there is no chatter here!!!

Does it fade that badly?

By remarkable drying time, I assume you mean very quick. As a point of reference, could you compare it to WM Florida Blue? THANKS

Hi Southpaw,

I'll have to do a little test, but from experience I would say that they are about the same, with WM FB maybe slightly faster.

Don't have any PQ WB in the house, though, at the moment...

The moment I do, I'll do the test, with the same pen .

Warm regards, Wim

I really like the washable blue color... of parker quink. I have also found that Skies of Blue from Levenger gives the same type of color as does the Parker washable blue.

I must admit I have never thought of washable blue being watery until I tried a recent bottle which is paler and more blue. Previous bottles have been more like a paler version of the blue black - but not really watery. The cartridges seem to be a somewhat different shade to the bottles. I have a preference for the color of the Quink Blue rather than the washable version though there is not much in it.

John

I've used it and found it does, but not nearly as badly as their blue-black. His scan looks better than I remember it being. I found it a rather flat color.

-Bruce

I think its changed somewhat - sometimes it looks more like Florida Blue - at least the latest bottle I have.

John

Just a word of caution, to see the TRUE colour of Washable Blue, use a dip pen!

Washable Blue does seem to take up the colour of the ink that was in the pen before, no matter how well you flush it in my experience. I use it as an ink to clean out a pen, the colour change can be in hours or days, but it does change. I estimate you would need to go through at least three fill/use/flush cycles before a FP was running true with Washable Blue.

The older Solv-X ink does seem to be deeper, richer colour than the new stuff though. I don't know if it is caused by age, but all the older Quinks seem darker than the newer stuff.

Just my .02 worth. Oh and I never use Washable Blue as a 'permanent record ink', but I do use it for notes, shopping lists, to do lists and all the other day to day stuff, normally because it is in whatever pen I am working with at the time, today it is a Parker 65, tomorrow depends on getting lucky on eBay.

Jim

I think the old washable blue lasted well - I was just looking at my 30 year old notes from University and they are fine still.

I use Washable Blue as my everyday ink. It's the Volkswagen of inks; not flashy, totally reliable and there when you need it. It's thinner than any other ink I have, and I notice the variation in density between pens, papers, first ink to paper or a paragraph down. But that's part of its charm, I guess.

I actually prefer non-washable blue quink. In my opinion, washable blue is too pale, and it does have a fading problem - in a couple of weeks, it turns grey (at least on the paper I use). Waterman Florida blue is a nice colour when you write with it initially, but as it ages it darkens. Non-washable blue quink is a nice bright blue, and remains roughly the same colour as it ages, from my experience...

I have a bottle of washable blue that found along with some old fountain pens. I believe I may have bought it myself about twenty-five years ago, judging from the cost ($1.25 for 2 1/2 oz.). The color is definitely blue-black, much darker than in the example posted.

I agree. Pelikan Blue especially is the best washable blue, but fades in the light like ghost ink and after some written lines, the colour looks even paler! But they're reworked the formula, so perhaps the ink is better now ... but I think there is no real compromise between saturation and colour intensity and washability

I prefer watercolory, weathered looking inks, so QWB appeals to me. This look says FP user loud and clear.
Its flow is great and it has never caused a problem in any of my pens. My oldest entries with QWB are still clearly legible.

hey, if you want to be really adventurous, try putting food colouring (straight from the bottle) into your pen's cartridge using a syringe... it works perfectly and doesn't fade! It worked fine with my cheap "Reynolds" pen, with no problems even over an extended period of use (just don't try it in a vintage pen because the old plastics might be attacked by the high water content of the stuff). It's really cheap too, but the colour might be a bit off - for example, the "blue" colouring I tried is actually dark green on paper, however the red I tried is an actual deep red on paper

Even though QWB is not my favourite ink because it is not overly saturated, I must say that on paper, it is a clear statement that the user wrote with a fountain pen. I have never seen anything else that looks like QWB on paper, and in some circumstances the muted colour of this ink can be really nice. It is a very safe ink and decently washable from my experience.

I did some fade tests of various inks including QWB if anyone is interested in its lightfast qualities. There was significant fading over three weeks, but it would still be legible

http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...showtopic=58316.

Ovidus,
Thanks for refering to your fade test. I didn't see it before, and it's very much appreciated.
As a book collector, I never expose my books to strong sun, so I've always kept things I've written away from sun too, which explains why my entries written with QWB look fine over the years. Now reading back on what I've written in those entries, perhaps I should take them down to Florida and leave them out on the beach.

I would add that when I see a highly saturated fp ink on paper, I honestly can't tell if it's from a fp or a nibless pen, so it loses some of its appeal to me in that respect. But I can appreciate why some people just like a more saturated look. In fact, for dark stationery, it would work better.

Earlier I said that my old bottle of QWB was producing writing darker than in the sample. I was using an Estie with a fine point 9550 nib. I had much the same results with a Parker 45 with a medium nib. However, using a newly purchased broad stub nib, a 2314b, the color appeared to be paler for some reason. Odd.

I use it all the time. A Sheaffer Javelin with medium point was too wet with PR American Blue, but is a superb performer with this ink. Also, it is very good for a FP ink on thermal receipts.