An Open Letter To Noodlers

[bardharlock]

Most inks, if stored in a cool, dry, dark place will last... well a long time. I keep my ink collection in their original boxes in my nightstand drawer.

[stacybean]

Thanks for reminding me why I only have non-waterproof inks in my world. Recently I was visiting friends and managed to burp a full converter of Lamy Copper Orange on to the comforter in the guest bedroom. I had been drawing with this pen on the airplane without incident. The next time I uncapped it there were the converter's contents all over my hands etc. It did blot out nicely with wet paper towels....

I am going to admire BSB from afar forever.

[torstar]

Understood. Just wondering, if you shelve this ink for that long, does it go bad? (I do not know what "bad" even means but I am just wondering.

 

Of five bottles, from one 90% used up to one still unopened...

 

One "bubbled up" with about 1/3 of an inch of nothing but bubbles on the top, not sure if that was a problem, haven't used that one.

 

I noticed a lot of "pepper flecks" from cleaning out a FP after its BSB tour of duty. I'm not an expert on "separation" which seemed to hit the worst stages for that best forgotten Plains of Abraham experiment.

 

Some bottles are better quality than others, I like that thick and rich placid ocean of BSB. BSB seems to be the most likely to let me form a judgment upon opening, most other inks are uniform in appearance and performance.

 

I also find BSB gives off an odour that becomes too powerful on me if used for more than 30 minutes. Probably part of my neurasthenic tendencies, but it can get too strong.

 

If only there was something close to this colour out there....

Edited June 2, 2015 by torstar

[FarmBoy]

Has Nathan responded to the 'open' letter?

[torstar]

The experimental and fun renegade attitude that Noodler's has given us has been an enjoyable part of the product, along with ink that is easily amongst the best.

 

I like to think that it forced a few old warhorse brands to have to improve their inks over the last decade, or at least it seems they have stepped up their game to me.

[Bklyn]

Has Nathan responded to the 'open' letter?

No, but this was written tounge-in-cheek. I was only kidding about the open letter. Nathan makes great inks. I was just shocked when I open it and coughed.

[DanceOfLight]

That was riot to read, I am still laughing . Thanks for sharing , I'll keep the hazard lights on when I do by the BSB.

[pepsiplease69]

Bleach is the cure for the "Bay State Blues." Also, from the Noodler's Website:

 

“Why does Noodler’s fill the bottles so full?”

We buy a glass bottle that is an industry standard bottle in all of our bottle sizes. When one glass manufacturer raises prices too much we can easily switch to another glass manufacturer that has not raised prices and thus – avoid price increases such as those recently instituted by almost all of our competitors that have non-industry standard bottles. We believe the product is ink and that the glass bottle serves as the product container…and that our customers are buying it because every bit of value has been concentrated in the ink and its properties (not a flashy bottle with a limited glass form that is subject to single glass manufacturer price increases!). We believe fighting cost increases is our duty to the consumer of ink and that utilizing every bit of space the customer paid for is honorable. In seeking to offer the greatest value for the customer: 1. the bottle cost is as low as possible, 2. the bottle contents are maximized/filled by weight, 3. the cap is industry standard to avoid being trapped by dependency upon a plastic manufacturer and subject to their price increases, 4. the boxes are standardized per bottle size and made more for protection of the bottle than for show – also being subject to competitive bidding by industry…and always of recycled paper, 5. the labels as well communicate the properties of the ink and show its utility (All our labels are printed with our own formulas of Noodler’s Inks. We won’t waste your purchase value on some overpriced outside contract printer.) and thus – EVERY BIT OF VALUE POSSIBLE IS CONCENTRATED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE INKS AND THEIR UNIQUE PROPERTIES, COLORS, AND/OR SPECIFIC UTILITIES. Noodler’s Ink is an ink company, not a glass manufacturer. We have recently polled many retailers about this issue – and they overwhelmingly believe that the industry is prone to fill bottles and cartridges* at too low a level instead of maximizing a bottle’s utility by filling it to the top meniscus. We will continue to utilize the glass bottle that is part of your purchase to its full capacity. In conclusion: if opening a new bottle of Noodler’s Ink, beware that it is a FULL bottle of ink!Hint: Use a level and stable surface – and open it slowly to release the air bubble gently if you are in a hot room and the bottle has been in the cold (particularly if shipped in winter).

* Noodler’s refuses to manufacture ink cartridges due to the egregious economics these disposable bits of plastic form as an illusion of value until compared with the economics of the glass bottle. The lowest cost cartridge in the world is still several times as costly as our standard bottle by both weight and volume as well as various dye value measures! In addition, each cartridge is DISPOSABLE..which undermines a key advantage of the fountain pen – its inherently refillable design saves both economic value and is environmentally sound as well as enabling its utility to be far more vast than any other writing instrument as it can utilize hundreds of different inks – whereas cartridges are limited to one ink per cartridge! Cartridges rob one of many of the fundamental economic and utilitarian advantages of the fountain pen."

 

Sorry for the wall of text, that's how it is printed on the site. TL/DR Noodler's believes in value and economy. Your bottle will be full.

 

 

I've always known Mr. Tardiff to be a very oppinionated person and on the whole I don't disagree with most of what he has to say.

 

I respect the man a great deal, and I know he's looking out for the common layman.

 

But here's where I have to say I don't agree with what he says.

 

I believe he's gone into tunnel vision with regards to being obsessed about price vs. value. To the degree that (in my humble view) what he's doing escapes common-sense.

 

Most ink manufacturers leave a "breathing room" in the bottle, not because they're evil or that they are price-gouging the consumer. It's for the simple fact that you don't want to spill the ink or make a mess when you open the bottle or dip the nib into the ink. The nib will displace some of the ink and it has to go somewhere, if it has no room inside the bottle, of course it's going to spill.

 

And don't tell me now I have to go buy a syringe to decant off some ink to create breathing room.

 

Where's the value in spilled ink? First of all, your base consumable product got wasted when a spill happened. And secondly (more importantly) now you have to deal with ruined clothes, upholstery, furniture, carpeting. Where's the value in that? Some of the inks are very tough to remove, like Bay State Blue.

 

I think, if enough accidents like this happen, and enough people report this as an issue, I hope Nathan sees this and hears the customer, and makes a change in the way he does things. There's nothing evil about leaving some room in the bottle, no body is going to fault him for that.

 

His inks are loved by all (well most), because it's very affordable and a great value. It's just these unpleasant incidents put a damper on things.

[Frank C]

 

 

I've always known Mr. Tardiff to be a very oppinionated person and on the whole I don't disagree with most of what he has to say.

 

I respect the man a great deal, and I know he's looking out for the common layman.

 

But here's where I have to say I don't agree with what he says.

 

I believe he's gone into tunnel vision with regards to being obsessed about price vs. value. To the degree that (in my humble view) what he's doing escapes common-sense.

 

Most ink manufacturers leave a "breathing room" in the bottle, not because they're evil or that they are price-gouging the consumer. It's for the simple fact that you don't want to spill the ink or make a mess when you open the bottle or dip the nib into the ink. The nib will displace some of the ink and it has to go somewhere, if it has no room inside the bottle, of course it's going to spill.

 

And don't tell me now I have to go buy a syringe to decant off some ink to create breathing room.

 

Where's the value in spilled ink? First of all, your base consumable product got wasted when a spill happened. And secondly (more importantly) now you have to deal with ruined clothes, upholstery, furniture, carpeting. Where's the value in that? Some of the inks are very tough to remove, like Bay State Blue.

 

I think, if enough accidents like this happen, and enough people report this as an issue, I hope Nathan sees this and hears the customer, and makes a change in the way he does things. There's nothing evil about leaving some room in the bottle, no body is going to fault him for that.

 

His inks are loved by all (well most), because it's very affordable and a great value. It's just these unpleasant incidents put a damper on things.

 

 

I like the fact that the ink bottles are full to the brim. I open a new bottle on a flat surface with a few paper towels underneath. The first few times, I just fill a converter directly with ink. This technique usually doesn't result in spilled ink and requires no additional equipment beside a few paper towels.

[Fabienne]

One product: Mr. Clean Magic Eraser Sponges. It got the BSB off the band of my white Apple Watch. Good grief, I was horrified to see BSB on that. But, it's now history. Takes a bit of body English to get it off, but it will leave.

[takkun]

well, I just came into posession of another bottle, interestingly. My SO works at the local art supply and stationery store (it was love among the ink shelves, but that's another story!) and foisted it on me. Apparently, a customer returned it after staining a Safari, and it wasn't reshevled, so it's been making the rounds among the staff. Everyone has taken it home and subsequently spilled it on something before pawning it off on the next coworker. Now I'm the one breaking the cycle.

[pepsiplease69]

 

 

I like the fact that the ink bottles are full to the brim. I open a new bottle on a flat surface with a few paper towels underneath. The first few times, I just fill a converter directly with ink. This technique usually doesn't result in spilled ink and requires no additional equipment beside a few paper towels.

 

 

Honestly, I'm not very bothered at all by the bottle filled all the way to the brim, because, like you I'm super careful with it, I put a paper towel underneath, and I always have it anchored to a flat surface when I remove the lid.

 

Knowing that the bottle will be full to the top, makes me handle it differently than other bottles without making a mess.

 

My issue is with the long dogmatic speech about cost vs. value.

 

Is it really saving people money if they're spilling the ink onto their possessions and then have to buy cleaning supplies to get the ink off?

 

This idea of filling it to the top, basically (to me at least), seems like a departure from common sense. All other manufacturers are sensible about these things.

 

When I got my first noodler's ink bottle, (I believe it was X-Feather), I had plenty of fore-warning from the goulet's youtube videos to open the ink bottle very very carefully.

 

If you're careful with the bottle it's no big deal at all.

[TheRealScubaSteve]

 

My issue is with the long dogmatic speech about cost vs. value.

 

Is it really saving people money if they're spilling the ink onto their possessions and then have to buy cleaning supplies to get the ink off?

 

This idea of filling it to the top, basically (to me at least), seems like a departure from common sense. All other manufacturers are sensible about these things.

 

 

If you drive over a nail and ruin a tire, do you blame Dunlop or Michelin? Spilling ink and ruining personal belongings is no fault of anyone's but the spiller in question, particularly as there are ample warnings all over the internet.

[pepsiplease69]

 

If you drive over a nail and ruin a tire, do you blame Dunlop or Michelin? Spilling ink and ruining personal belongings is no fault of anyone's but the spiller in question, particularly as there are ample warnings all over the internet.

I think that's a bit of an unfair analogy.

 

People are spilling ink precisely because of something that the ink manufacturer is doing, which is, filling the bottle all the way to the tippy top. No body else does that (none that I know of)

 

I don't want to hijack this thread and turn it into a noodlers bashing session.

 

I use plenty of Noodlers products and on the whole I am pretty happy with them.

 

So this will be my last comment on the subject.

[torstar]

The carbonated Noodler's inks get extra precaution when I open them.

 

SPLOOSH..........

[de_pen_dent]

There's always a lot of talk about whether various Noodler's inks are safe to use in fountain pens. With BSB, the only rule you have to follow is to leave the cap on the bottle. Admittedly, you will not be able to use the ink, but you still can admire the label and the simple utility of the bottle. Since I started following this rule, I have not had any staining from BSB whatsoever.

 

Schrodinger's ink!! Excellent value too - $8 or whatever for a lifetime supply. Cant go wrong with that.

[LindaM]

What we need is to get Nathan Tardif telling his stories of BSB spills. Those, no doubt, would be classics.

[Bklyn]

 

Schrodinger's ink!! Excellent value too - $8 or whatever for a lifetime supply. Cant go wrong with that.

Sounds like a GREAT deal. I must look at them. Honestly, after Bay State Blue, I can't imagine a better more vibrant ink. It is breathtaking.

[Bklyn]

Bought a bottle of Concord Grape this AM.

 

I will open it VERY carefully.

[Frank C]

Bought a bottle of Concord Grape this AM.

 

I will open it VERY carefully.

 

I thought that you had been banned or at least suspended from Bay State Ink for a while. At least, I am glad to see that you are willing to get back up on the horse that bucked you.

 

Despite the name, don't drink it!