Sometimes I think I live in a worm hole. I read all those reviews and threads talking about inks with slow drying time... minutes and in some cases even hours...

But with all inks I have (including sherwood green, Ottoman Azure, NL RedBlack, ...) the most time it will take is 2 seconds. Ok, in my very wet writer, lets say 5.

But never I had the feeling that I needed to wait to turn a page or such...

Maybe it is because here it is a hard winter (363 cm of snow to date this year) so inside, it is dry (30-40% humidity) but apart from that, I can't see.

Oh, and I'm mostly using 20lb classic printer\copy paper.

Anyone has the same experience? Those that wait a long time, do you live somewhere very humid?

nick

edit: added paper info

I've never counted the seconds of drying time, and I live in a climate with wildly varying humidity (the Los Angeles basin, a coastal desert, among other oxymoronic descriptions that fit).

I think the absorbency of paper matters. A lot of ink testers on the FPN use papers that are not very absorbent (such as Rhodia, Clairefontaine, Exacompta, Miquel Ruis, Hewlett-Packard 32 lb, and so on). In comparing brands and colors on the less-absorbent papers I've written and marked on (most of them still more absorbent than the aforementioned), I've gotten relative rankings similar to what most people report.

I also believe your reports are accurate from your experience, too. As several FPNners say, your mileage may vary.

I forgot paper... I'll add that to my original post (20lb classic printer\copy paper)

I have found all three of my Noodler's inks to be my fastest driers. Others have complained about how horribly long it takes to dry, but they dry even faster than Quink for me. As a student, I naturally use cheap paper(Mostly recycled). The most 'expensive' paper I use costs S$3(US$2) for an A4 pad but doesn't have any bleed-through like the cheap ones.

Hi Nick -

While there are certainly a number of factors that go into drying time (humidity, temperature, ink type, paper type, etc.), my experience is more consistent with yours: a few seconds, and it's good to go.

I have found Apica to be the "quick-dry" paper of choice when using a particularly wet nib, but again, environment plays a big part.

Cheers,
A.J.

As stated above, there are many factors that influence drying time and climate is a definite player. For example, when I lived in central Texas, my inks usually dried fairly quickly. I now live in Pennsylvania. I use the same pens, ink and paper but some of the inks take much longer to dry. One of the main differences between those geographic locales is humidity. That single factor changed my relationship with some of my inks.

Humidity is indeed a factor in the drying time of inks. I have inks that I will use in the winter months when the humidity is low that I will not use in the summer months when the humidity is high.

For those who have written that all their inks dry in 2-3 seconds, let me pose the following question: are you right-handed or left-handed? If you are right-handed, you may THINK your ink is dry, but for the left-handed over-writer (i.e., me!), the ink is not really dry until I can drag my hand across it and not have it smear.

Too many variables to compare. I've seen very different results from elevation, humidity, etc. with the same inks and papers that I always use. I just take big sheets of blotter paper with me now on my trips and that takes care of the issue.

Just to be sure I think it is dry, I actually ran my fingers over what I had just written.

And indeed, dry!

But I do understand lefties do have a harder time... 3 seconds is already too long.

I blot with a paper towel if I'm concerned. Lifting the blotter to look at its underside makes pretty clear whether I need to re-blot or wait or what ...

+ 1 on humidity adversely prolonging drying time. Here in NV. increased humidity now during the winter I notice. Usually little to none remainder of the year.

Anything one can add to ink to decrease drying time? seems recall something can be added but??

I am having major issues with Private Reserve inks, DC Supershow blues smears even after an hour or so, Naples blue is better (I am a lefthanded overwriter).
But I think I will try some other papers next. I use Clairefontaine books, which have wonderfully smooth paper. But I think paper with a more open surface structure will help the ink sink in better. Less saturated inks (I have Montblanc blue and Montblanc black, and Parker blue-black) give no problems at all.
I haven't noticed significant changes in drying time as a function of both temperature or humidity.

Best regards,

Jarno.

Several months ago there were some posts here on FPN about adding distilled water to Private Reserve inks to decrease drying time and reduce smearing. I don't remember the ratios of ink to water, but it is logical that the higher the percentage of water, the quicker the drying time.

I'm wondering what the downside would be. Clearly, adding water would diminish the vividness of the color, which would cancel out one of the most noteworthy features of PR inks. The water might also cause feathering or bleed-through, but I'm only speculating.

Here's one such topic thread. Some PR inks are saturated enough that it takes lots of dilution before the color is significantly lightened.

If it does not dry in 1.3 seconds its totaly useless.

Speaking as a left-handed over-writer, I have to agree with your clear and concise summary of this discussion!

I just opened a long ago aquired Noodlers Red Black and was amazed how fast it dried. I'm in New England, it's been wet the last couple of days, unseasonably warm.