What is considered to be that best ink brand available, and which is the best ink that brand produces?


Thanks

I personally like Noodler's, but its all about preference. Really everyone is different. There is no "best ink company" or "best ink".

I'll second that. Currently I'm having a lot of fun with Noodler's Inks, and I really like their bulletproof inks. That said, I've tried a couple of Private Reserve inks and really liked the colors. I doubt that we could even come close to agreeing on either a best brand or best ink within a brand.

I agree, there is not going to be one answer to this question. The best thing you can do is look into as many ink brands as possible, see what looks appealing to you, look at FPN's ink reviews to see what others have said about these inks, and then order an Ink Sampler from Pear Tree Pens, where you can try 1ml of four different inks for something like $4.50. If Pear Tree doesn't have the ink you want, ask here if someone is willing to share a little, or do the ink exchange program pinned in this sub forum. Good Luck and have fun with it, experimenting with ink is part of the fun of writing with fountain pens!!

There are too many bests. Which best do you mean?

There is the best colour, but which colour? It's a personal decision, some like blue, (and there are a whole heap of blues to choose from), some like blue-black, some like black. Other like one or other, or more, of the myriad other colours - brown, red, green, pink, turquoise, aqua, ..... Colour is such an individual preference, and we all have our favourite.

There is the best waterproof ink - Noodlers bulletproof, or Registrar's ink, or a normal waterproof ink.

There is the best washable ink - there are a number, often favoured by the parents of school children.

There is the best wettest, best dryest, best lubricating ink, depending on your need. A dry pen will need a wet ink, a wet, gushing pen will need a dry ink. A piston filler will need a lubricating ink that an eyedropper filler won't.

Some inks have become standards, that other inks are judged by. The sadly missed Parker Penman Sapphire is a standard deep blue. Noodler's Baystate Blue is known as the most vibrant blue, while Noodler's Bulletproof inks are the standard for being forgery proof.

For permanency, nothing beats India ink on good, acid-free rag paper, unless it is proper iron-gall ink on parchment, but neither ink is good for fountain pens.

Other inks are known for their cleaning properties. Some of us carefully hoard our stashes of Parker Quink with Solv-X, because we find it can clean out an old, gummed up pen and get it writing properly again.

There is no one ink, that has the best colour, coupled with good flow in all pens, coupled with best behaviour on all paper.

Thanks for all the wonderful information provided. I've ordered Noodler's Borealis Black yesterday and have a bottle of Parker Blue I'm currently using in my Parker 51. That blue is a little light for my tastes. I think I'm going to have to try a Blue/Black (any suggestions).

Question:

Are there inks that are too thick and can clog a fountain pen?


Thanks again

Joe

You'll be fine with just about any fountain pen ink. Just stay away from india ink and some calligraphy inks, as they are not intended for fountain pens and contain particulates that can clog your pen.

Happy hunting for that perfect ink!

Parker Quink Blue is very light, so you might want to try out a couple more blues if you are looking for something darker. Waterman Florida Blue is a bit darker and is a little bit more purple compared to the Quink. It is one of my favorite inks and is very well behaved. Visconti Blue is a more saturated (less watery) true blue with no purple tinge that I can see. Aurora and Private Reserve also seem to be popular for blues. Check out the Ink Reviews section for reviews on these inks.

As for your question, as AlphaParticle mentioned, just about any fountain pen ink should work fine. You don't want Calligraphy Ink, India Ink, or any other pigmented ink, as they will clog your pen. Some fountain pen inks are "Iron Gall" inks, such as Montblanc (bottle only) and Lamy (bottle only) Blue-Blacks, as well as Diamine Registrars Ink. These inks do have the potential to corrode steel nibs, so they require a bit of extra caution, but with regular flushing they seem to do fine.

Fountain pens do have personalities, and inks have different flow properties, so some inks will cause your pen to perform better than others.

Certainly the carbon black pigment will always retain its color, but overall permanence--whether it be over time or under harsh conditions--also depends on the binder used, I would think.



However, iron-gall ink is quite vulnerable to fading under light over time, and is susceptible to some solvents.

Both of these inks are well-proven over long periods of time, but do not appear to have quite the potential that Noodler's cellulose-reactive dyes have (on paper, both literally and figuratively). Unfortunately, it will take a few hundred or thousand years for the latter to prove their longevity.

I think it is still Skrip Blue.

My favorite blues: Private Reserve Tanzanite, Private Reserve DC Supershow Blue, Aurora Blue

My favorite blacks: Aurora Black, Pelikan Brilliant Black

My other top colors: Private Reserve Black Cherry, Pelikan Violet, Waterman Havana Brown, FPN Tulipe Noir (made by Noodler's)

None of these are bulletproof. (I love the danger.)

In no particular order

Diamine
Waterman
PR
Lamy
Noodler's
...



Check out the thread here for further discussion about the peculiarities of inks and pens and paper.

My two favorites.. the "Go To" inks are

Aurora Blue and Aurora Black.

Waterman Florida Blue is considered by many to be the best around for good color, excellent flow, and good behavior (and safety) in all pens. I use it too, but prefer the feel and flow of Aurora. Another good choice is Quink blue.

I think I currently have about 150 different colors/brands and some are great and others not so good for me.. but those above are the "workhorse" inks.

If I need something more permanent, well then I use one of the Noodler's BulletProof colors. Manhattan Black, Zhivago, Legal Lapis, Sequoia, Tahitian Pearl are some favorites...

Definitely agree with the others that there are no definitive answers here, only preferences.

Good luck with the Quest
Dave

So far, I'm a Noodler's user, exclusively.

I enjoy the many colors, and I love having bulletproof inks at my disposal. The Black might write a little rough in some pens, though the only pens that argued with me with Black were my Parker Sonnet and my Lamy Studio. Whether it was pen or ink, I don't know, as both those pens will never be used by me again, unless I have them nibmeisterized. Actually, the Lamy is being given away. I'll keep the Sonnet, it's been personalized.

The Heart of Darkness, on the other hand, has been excellent in every pen I've tried it in.

I've heard good things about some Private Reserve inks, and the J Herbin inks seem to be well liked, too. Diamine gets a fair amount of mention, as well.

As has been noted, though, you are going to get a lot of answers, as there really is no one, perfect ink out there to be considered the King of Inks. It's all a matter of personal choice.

Many people are of this opinion I'm sure, but I've found that the best ink depends on the pen. Noodlers does a bit funky in some pens, needing something wetter; these days, I prefer putting a bit of Noodlers in with one of the traditional "well-behaved inks" - best of both worlds.

I'm in Indonesia, just bought a bottle of Noodlers Honourable Blue from Singapore (Aesthetic) two days ago for S$30. I was very excited about this ink because everyone on the net saying this is the best. I have been using fountain pen for more than 20 years, and I have many fountain pens and equal number of inks. But Noodlers made me very disappointed, REALLY VERY DISAPPOINTED. The cheapest ink that i can get in Indonesia is Hero that costs only RP 4.300 (or S$0.65 a bottle, Yes sixty five cents Sing Dollar) and is still better than Noodler!!! I tested it for two days already with all my pens. Luckily I was going to buy the whole Singapore Series, and I did not!! So I stick to my old Parkers Super Quink. Bye bye Noodlers!

Iron-gall inks will fade sooner or later. I think it's oxidation. A friend of mine who is a pro photographer used to work for the "Archivo de Indias" in Seville and he had to photograph ancient writings. He told me he ended up with a lot of "dust" on the table. i told him about iron-gall, and he checked with a magnet. It was iron dust, but those writings are 4 or 5 centuries old.

Juan

Well, for better or worse, nearly all of Noodler's regional and retailer-specific inks are of the "bulletproof" or "eternal" type. They have unusual dyes that may force some compromises in the ink formulation and may not work well in all pens. In addition, most of the bulletproof colors--particularly the blues--will have a somewhat "chalky" appearance, with the exception of Black (the regular colors are quite vibrant). What you get in return is an ink that will not fade even when exposed to water, chemical attack, and strong light (including UV) indefinitely. These inks have been tested extensively and have passed all of the tests so far. They are remarkable in this respect, but not perfect and not necessarily the best in every way.



That's the usual culprit, although it's also where some of the color comes from in the form of rust (basically). The darker colors are said to come from the chemical reaction between the ferrous sulfate and tannin, and I would guess that it's these resulting organic compounds that are prone to fading, eventually leaving only a brownish rust stain on old documents that have been exposed to moisture and strong light over long periods of time (e.g. the shabbily-treated US Declaration of Independence, which is now barely legible).



The dust could have come from excess ink sitting on top of ink that had bonded to the surface, or from little bits that gradually dissolved away the paper (if it was paper) holding them in place. While the dangers of the acidity of iron gall inks, even vintage inks, has been somewhat overblown, we can be pretty sure that something bad is going to happen over several centuries if it's left untreated.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Montblanc inks. I've tested many inks in many pens, and Montblanc British Racing Green has become my daily ink. It's practical enough to use on any official documents (ie: it's not loud or blatantly green), and behaves well in every pen I've tested with it, from $7 Reforms to $500 Pelikans.

Noodler's gets a lot of press, and they do make good inks, but I feel there are better out there (for me, at least). They tend to be messier and much slower drying when compared to competing inks. I'll qualify that by saying if you're looking for waterproof/chemical proof, nothing beats Noodlers, although my MB is still very readable after a water soak, and behaves much better overall.

I'm coming to the same conclusions JJ. I've nothing against Noodlers, but the way it feels in a pen just doesn't jive. Part of it is probably that I've been moving toward vintage pens from modern ones, but more and more I'm preferring vintage inks, or the various 'traditional' brands of inks. Oftentimes with a bit of some bulletproof Noodlers added in to leave at least a legible gray after a wash, but it just feels so... thick in so many of my pens.

For me, the closest thing to a perfect ink that I've found so far is a vintage Parker Super Quink Permanent Blue-Black, from the 60s or 70s. Perfect in all pens, a color change a lot like a ferro-gallic ink, and great flow and lubrication. But a man cannot live on one ink alone...

Aaron

The best brand would be either Waterman or Aurora.

For Waterman, the best ink would be Florida Blue. For Aurora, the best ink would be Black.

as you can see, everyone has his or her own take on this. So what the heck. I might as well toss in my few cents.

If by best you mean decent color, good flow, low staining, works in most pens, has enough quality control to seldom come with any problem in the bottle, doesn't have an overload of dye it in, usually starts up and yet dries rather quickly on the page, and does not cost an arm and a leg, I think you are looking at Waterman and Sheaffer blue, black, and blue black. Most people report good results with these inks, and even people who do not like the color and think it lacks intensity will probably say it performed well. I am sure a few people don't like these inks, but it is hard to argue they are really problem inks.

Yeah, there are some inks that may stain or clog more easily than certain others because they are made to dry extra fast and/or have huge amounts of dye in them. You can read ink reviews and see which ones fall in this category, but you won't find total agreement. Years ago, Parker made an ink called Penman and people argued up and down the block whether it caused problems in pens. Some people insisted it destroyed their pens having sat in the pens for only a few days. Others expressed disbelief and claimed they had used the inks without problem and only a more occasional flushing out of the pen than they normally did. Some inks may not mix well with others.

I guess a good rule of thumb is to always try out a new ink in a cheaper pen untill you see how much it stains and how fast it dries and such.

I really like Visconti inks. Give the blue a try. It flows well, is richly colored but not overly heavy on the dye.

The best ink ever...has not been made yet. It would have every property - repeatedly chemically programmable to do exactly what each user wanted with any combination of feed and nib materials - set by a gauge device on the side of the bottle. Fantastic now, but look at how many inks still can't hold a candle to basic roller ball inks when it comes to a few day's exposed to light near a window? I suspect such programable inks may be possible in 15 to 20 years.

As a PS: if you have a pen that has tightly set tines and you have liked them set that way because you desire extra fine dry writers....and a new ink does not work as your old ink did? Rinse out the pen (try not to mix inks of divergent pH levels or dye families, even mixed in the pen's ink chamber can cause them to change!). Select a pen where the nib tines are not dependent upon a high detergent ink (a nib that is set just like the nibs in every Platinum that is included free with many 4.5 oz. dropper bottles) - such nibs permit a ray of light to pass through the nib tines. If your nib is set so tightly that NO light passes through the tines, either adjust it...or use a pen that does have that setting. I have never encountered a pen that could not write well if the nib/feed adjustment was done to account for the desired flow. Perhaps that is why the pen market in India is so fascinating. Just about everyone in India can adjust a nib flow rate in less that two minutes, particularly the older generation. It is a lost skill, though with some info in Frank Dubiel's book on nib adjustments...one can learn fast.

I'm still a newbee but my favorite is Noodlers. Walnut is my absolut goto ink. If I could just figure out the shelf life of these bottled inks I'd look into buying a case just so I don't run out anytime soon

The aim is to get a very long shelf life, of course...but modern chemistry has far more rules than it once did! If you ever see a very old vintage carmine and wonder why it is still as good as the day it was manufactured - it is because the preservatives used in it then are not legal today. Those inks have a proven 100+ year shelf life. That is hard to beat, and I will likely be dead long before the ultimate test of time is born out with the modern methods of preserving liquid ink in the bottle. I estimate about 6 to 8 years if opened, possibly much longer if still sealed - from 2005 on. If subject to heating/cooling cycles over long periods it does not hurt to shake the bottle now and then.

Preservatives must eventually oxidize and decompose naturally today. I never minded using a beautiful 1890's carmine in the past, but I now have ink soaked hands (sometimes arms and now and then a leg)...personally I won't let my hands get soaked in an ink that is an original 1890's carmine (modern replicas are fine, but not an original!). I might not live to be 120, but I want to reach 101 !! It is notable that many of the ball point and roller ball inks made in China still use all the old methods...perhaps that is why Noodler's makes its way to China here and there despite the local inks costing less due to transport costs? I have also heard California apricots sell at a premium there as well, simply because they are "Made in USA". Once I entered the ink business I no longer wrote with those particular ball and roller ball pens at all, did not even want to rub my hand over them...and it was not only due to their being competition...

That is my view on the shelf life of Walnut, an estimate of 6 to 8 based upon experience. I could be wrong - it could last well beyond that. It might be the best formula for modern ink preservation and I simply won't know until all the years pass by to prove it, but every contagion against the ink has been defeated since 2005 and it is holding with a perfect score now since that time.

Cool, thanks for the responce (and for spending my $$ ) Now for the hard part... finding a case

Case, heck. I need my own retail outlet so I can use my own stock of several cases of varying colors!

Thanks for that great information, Nathan. I like learning a little about my inks and pens as I go.

My personal favorite vascillates between Legal Lapis and Violet Vote.

Please don't get me wrong because I'm not trying to criticize and this has sort of been said above... BUT...
... it might be better to phrase it this way, e.g. "What is the best blue for my M800". Then you'll still get 20 impressions, but most fans would probably avoid Pelikan inks here. But my Pelikan black does write very well in my Optima.

Oh well

There are so many inks available, each brand with their own formulations. Some work best in particular pens, fine in others, and lousy in some as well. Thus, it becomes a personal exploration to find what inks are best suitable for one's own pens.

I haven't found any inks that I dislike... but after experiencing ink fade with Lamy, I've abandoned that brand (the remaining ink I have is used for testing pens only). I don't often need a highly water resistant ink, but I'd prefer the ink I use to have good tolerance to skin moisture.

Noodler's Bulletproof Black is great, but I experience noticeable nib creep with some steel nibbed pens. A few other Noodler's colors are appealing to me, but their long time to dry and stickiness puts me off (Squeteague especially). They seem best suited to porous paper, so avoid slick stock like Claire Fontaine if you're using nibs larger than fine.

Montblanc is a good ink staple--they seem to work well in almost every pen I have. But the color choice is not very wide.

Pilot makes some excellent inks. I was recently turned onto the Iroshizuku line--spectacular colors and decent water resistance. Plus the bottles are fantastic to look at. It's too bad they're not represented in the US, so you're faced with high shipping costs from Japan. But it's worth it.

Stipula Calamo inks are excellent as well. I find the moisture resistance pretty good. The bottles are 70ml, so they're quite reasonable for the price.

I've only tried the Stipula blue and sepia (and the latter I got only because it was a package deal with a Netto I bought). I think they're both quite nice inks.