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How Do You Feel About Most Inks Lacking Any Reasonable Water Resistance?


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I use Noodler's black for my bible transcription since it can take months to finish a longer book like Matthew or one of the prophets - I would hate to ruin a whole book with an accident. I also try to use water resistant inks for envelope addresses in case the mailman is out in the rain...

 

Otherwise I actually don't mind less water resistant inks - one upside is they are less likely to ruin your clothes if your pen burps on them...

Edited by AK-47

Whenever you are fed up with life, start writing: ink is the great cure for all human ills, as I found out long ago.

~C.S. Lewis

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I have a couple of water resistant inks, but the KWZI iron gall Turqoise gets the most use. None are in a pen currently.

Brad

"Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind" - Rudyard Kipling
"None of us can have as many virtues as the fountain-pen, or half its cussedness; but we can try." - Mark Twain

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All depends on the individual and their situation.

In over 40 years of using a fountain pen, I never had an issue with standard water soluble ink.

If I wanted waterproofness, I would use a ball pen, sharpie or a pencil.

San Francisco Pen Show - August 28-30, 2020 - Redwood City, California

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If you strictly use your fountain pens for leisure, then any ink would do, but for more serious use like important notes or a signature that you can't risk washing away, water resistance is important. I certainly would not recommend using water soluble ink to address any mail, unless you don't mind too much if the letter doesn't get to it's destination.

 

Fortunately there are some good ones out there. My fave for that is Montblanc Permanent Blue. I hear Pilot Blue is also good. Will have to try that one out.

Edited by max dog
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Trick for envelopes.

Rub some wax/parafin over the address to protect it from water drops.

San Francisco Pen Show - August 28-30, 2020 - Redwood City, California

www.SFPenShow.com

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For envelopes I don't use a fountain pen.

 

I've never had a serious issue with water getting on my notes. Even my lab notebooks were in water soluble ink. I may be more careful than the average person.

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I have a few waterproof/water resistant inks. I have some ink that has no resistance, or very little. I am leaning towards at least some water resistance in newer inks. If I adore a color, I would still buy it. I have a certain journal that I expect to be read from time to time. I want the pages to be legible for decades. I would at least like to use heavily water resistant inks in that journal. I am careful with this journal, but my kids may not be. I don't want all my hard work to get wiped out by a little water. That would devastate me. I like to switch ink colors in that journal. Using the same ink over and over bores me to no end. So I expect to gain more waterproof and water resistant inks in the future.

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I have a little Herbin rollerball that always inked with Noodler's Red Black if I need something water resistant. Otherwise, it's not something I worry about.

It's hard work to tell which is Old Harry when everybody's got boots on.

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Lack of waterproofness used to bother me a lot but then I accepted the fact that my perfect ink doesn't exist and I'd rather enjoy a range of colors than permanence. I'm rarely in a situation where permanence matters so I stopped caring about this attribute (I do have a few permanent inks for when the situation dictates). There's still a rare occasion where water will get on something I wrote but this happens less and less over time. Maybe I'm subconsciously changing my surroundings so water is less likely to become a problem.

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The only time I worry about water resistance is with postcards. I send a lot of postcards to international destinations, and I can't imagine not being able to use my favorite colors —which all tend to be thoroughly washable. [side note: the few "waterproof" that I've tried have tended to be dull and lifeless.]

 

My solution: It's a little bit of extra work, but I cover the written portion of the postcard with clear packing tape. It protects the ink, and makes the postcard a little more "solid."

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Why can't every ink do everything I want, or might want in the future ?

 

"Reasonable" is very subjective. I suggest that each user perform a test to determine suitability for use. My test of an ink consists of a writing sample on my "common use" paper. After three minutes of drying, I drip water onto the image, wait ten seconds, and blot with dry paper. Did the image survive in a "readable" state ? The majority of inks available to me have passed this test.

I tested my inks in college, where the occasional "drip" was problematic.

 

You can evaluate your inks for suitability to your use. I find that "rich" pigment inks are less resistant to water. Perhaps, the very desirable color, the "sheen", and visual "three-dimensionality" are due to pigment remaining exposed on the surface.

 

There are many, many inks that suit MY requirements. Do you chose your inks for function, or the exotic, pretty names ?

Edited by Sasha Royale

Auf freiem Grund mit freiem Volke stehn.
Zum Augenblicke dürft ich sagen:
Verweile doch, du bist so schön !

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I pretty much buy inks because I like the color and don't pay much attention to water fastness.

PAKMAN

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I 've had very few accidents with water or coffee over important handwritten notes - but I 've had them. So I want at least some water resistance from the ink I use for writing such notes. Burnt once twice cautious I guess. But I do use non-waterproof inks too, esp. for disposable notes.

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