Today I noticed to my dismay a thin film resting on the surface of the one of my favourite inks: Private Reserve's Velvet Black. I think that I simply left it uncovered overnight, thereby permitting a bit of dust to accumulate on the surface of the ink. (Not that there is ever any dust at all in my study, mind you. I cannot imagine how any dust got in there...heh.) There is no odour to indicate mould, fermentation, bird droppings, or anything similarly untoward. Is it a reasonable idea to think of filtering the dust out and using the ink? Or should I even worry about a wee bit of dust to begin with? I'd hate to dispose of the ink unnecessarily, but likewise I'd hate to do something strange to my pens if I've misdiagnosed the ink's problem.

Ever yours against the dust bunnies,
Christopher G.

The only thing I could think of to strain dust out of ink is a paper coffee filter. Of course, a lot of the ink would get sucked up into the filter and the entire process would certainly be messy. Were it me, I wouldn't do it.

If I were certain it was only dust, I suppose I would just try to suck up the surface ink with the dust into an eyedropper. After that, I would just immerse the nib and fill as usual.

On reconsideration, I'd just get a new bottle of ink or use it only with a dip pen.

Good luck and let us know what you decided to do and how it worked out.

Put the cap back on and go to Tryphon to order a vial of Ink Safe. When it arrives, treat the ink with it per directions. Use the ink.The dust won't hurt your pen, and the Ink Safe will keep anything from growing in the ink.

Good ideas, chaps. Thanks! I'll start experimenting and see what happens.

Best wishes,
CG

The InkSafe arrived from Tryphon earlier in the week and I've been experimenting successfully, I think. No nasties are growing in the ink, at least. I think that I'll still try to filter out the dust, simply because weird bitties floating in the ink have a way of unsettling me.

Thanks again for your good ideas, everyone.

All the best,
CG

If you plan to do the coffee filter thing, one thing that will make it less messy
is to cut a piece of filter paper and form it into a cone by folding. Then put
the cone in a small funnel, with the funnel over a small bottle. Then, if you
slowly pour it through, the mess part should be contained.

Honestly, without trying to sound like a wise guy, life would be just as good if the ink was replaced with a new one. A couple of dollars for the Ink Safe, postage, waiting for it to arrive, filtering through coffee filters, the time involved.....heck, I'd run to the store or jump online and buy another bottle of fresh, un-dusted ink for 10-11 dollars and avoid all of the above.

There is much to be said for buying fresh ink, I must admit, Greencobra! There is a bit of method in my madness, though: the ink in question isn't available locally and I like it too much simply to discard it. I also ordered a handful of other odds and ends from Tryphon, so the postage fee earned its keep, so to speak, and was probably less than the cost of shipping another bottle of ink. And even the somewhat messy filtering of ink (thanks for tips above, Encephalartos) is rather fun, in my slightly warped reckoning: it conjures up distant memories of chemistry labs and the like. If only I could come up with something involving pens, Bunsen burners, and small, controlled explosions . . . but my study is sufficiently messy now, I think!

Cheers,
CG

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one.

I'd filter the ink, but only after donning a lab coat and vintage safety goggles. And rigging a Rube-Goldbergesque filtration device.

Tear a piece of newspaper about the "right" size and lay it on top for a sec. This should blot off the dust.

Jerry, what a fantastic idea!

I agree. Fun, that's what it's about!

I'm pleased to report that after a treatment with Ink Safe and a gentle scrubbing via passage through a cone fashioned form filter paper, my ink is clear and completely free of strange floaties. And the mess was minimal, for which the rest of the household is quite grateful. (I did try the newspaper blotter, too, but wasn't dextrous enough to manage it properly.) Thanks for your suggestions, everyone.

-CG

AIR, Frank Dubiel wrote somewhere not to use paper coffee filters as they will suck out the dye while passing the water. I believe his recommendation was to use one of those permanent metal coffee filters.

Interesting -- this possibility hadn't crossed my mind. Using a metal filter would certainly avoid the loss of liquid ingredients in the ink, but I wonder whether the mesh would be sufficiently fine to remove miniscule impurities. Then again, the mesh on my metal coffee filter (which permits the passage of considerable quantites of coffee dust) is less fine than some others that I've seen, so I'm not in the best position to comment on metal filters at all. I wonder whether a bit of silk cloth would work, or perhaps the toe of a pair of pantyhose (as per the improvised technique for filtering paint). Any other thoughts, anyone?

Curiouser and curiouser,
CG

Nylon shouldn't cause the dye to stick to it, since it's a petroleum product, and the dye is dissolved in water. You might want double thicknesses of the reinforced toes. (Those are sometimes hard to find nowadays.) With the silk cloth, it might depend on what
weight of cloth and how tightly woven.

Here's a brief update on my experiment in filtration. The use of the coffee filter doesn't seem to have had any adverse effects on the colour, viscosity, or flow of the ink; everything seems to be pretty much as it was before filtering. I had initially been concerned, for the filter did soak up some colour, but perhaps it removed some water from the ink as well as dye. At the very least, whatever dye was lost seems to have had a negligible effect on the quality of the ink as a whole. I'd post before and after samples if I could, but since I have several bottles of black ink open at the moment, I'm rarely certain of which inks have been used where!

Cheers,
CG