Anybody Know Anything About Hectograph Ink?

James H. H. Lampert · May 31, 2015

I have a friend, the lead docent at the International Printing Museum, (and the same friend to whom I refer in the FP repair thread I just started) who used a Hectograph in his youth, and who has acquired a small vial of Hectograph ink (from Spaulding & Rogers, an outfit that normally deals in tattoo ink, of all things!).

Can anybody tell me anything about the stuff? Particularly its properties Re: use in FPs?

May 31, 2015

Fountain pen ink ONLY in fountain pens.

I remember Dad heating the jelly in a pot, on the kitchen stove. Then, he poured it into the pan for cooling.

He had a special stencil for typewriter use. The middle page was used to transfer a mirror image to the gel.

This ink penetrates slightly into the gelatin, but remains mostly on the surface.

Each sheet of paper picks up the ink image. Eventually, the image is exhausted.

May 31, 2015

I remember it having a very astringent smell that I liked. I wonder if that memory is accurate. Three of my aunts were school teachers and they used hectographs a lot. I remember that sometimes you could see the faint traces of the previous image in the gel.

May 31, 2015

Interesting. Thank you.

James H. H. Lampert · June 1, 2015

Hmm. Found this in Google Books Looks like most hectograph inks contain alcohol (up to 30%) and/or glycerol (up to 12.5%), and one of the listed inks contains gum arabic (probably not such a good idea in a FP).

But they all seem to be water-based dye solutions.

November 22, 2016

Hi,

I am wondering if someone found out more about hectographic inks. We are trying to find inks that would work to draw directly on the gelatin pad and then make copies.

Thanks!