Hi. I was wondering how soon after shaking a bottle I can fill my pen. I gave my Blue on the Plains of Abraham a good shake today, then waited for the foam to break a bit before filling it. Unfortunately, when I started writing, it was too late and my pen was more pink than blue, something I had a problem with yesterday.

Is there an optimum mixing time or waiting after mixing time, especially for inks like this? I don't want to wait until I've used half the ink to get to the actual blue dye.

I never shake my inks, but I'm not familiar with this particular ink. Is this ink known to separate?

Is it possible that your writing was pink because you had previously used red ink in it?

Rinse water clinging to the channels in the feed, nib or section can dilute a new fill (or convey previously used colors) for counterintuitively long. My guess is that this is what you're seeing rather than ink separation.

Also, some blue inks have a pink reflection when dried down or look pinkish when very dilute. I see this with Waterman Florida Blue. If any of its dyes or characteristics are shared with the blue you're using, this may be the source of the pink.

Very true. I let my pens air dry (uncapped) overnight after rinsing, before refilling.

It can't have been red ink from before, because I've only ever used Parker washable blue.

The colour is supposed to be a violet-blue, and a magenta dye features heavily in it. Whenever I see the bottle after the contents have settled, it looks like a bottle of oil paint with the magenta at the top and the deeper violet underneath.

I suppose water could have something to do with it, though. I flushed my nib with water the day before I began using this colour to remove any extra washable blue and let it air-dry over night. Same with my converter; I gave it a rinse to remove an oily film inside. If this is the case, hopefully a couple more fill-ups will solve the problem!

Thanks, all!