Fp Ink Noob...want Color, Variety, Long Lasting...help?

[JenJenJ]

I used FP years ago and just refilled with the cartridges I could buy in the store. Now, however, I want COLOR and VARIETY. I use my FP exclusively for journaling and NEED an ink that will last a good long time, and not fade over time, even within a book. I have read some reviews of inks that have totally disappeared from closed books within 6 months Now, I don't know if that is true or not. So, I'm coming to the experts. I love the variety of the Noodler inks. Does anyone have suggestions of inks that are proven to last for years...or ones to avoid? I'd appreciate any help you can give.

 

Jen

Edited August 18, 2018 by JenJenJ

[aurore]

Basically you cannot have it all at once. Well, you can, but it's always more of this and less of that.

 

Many inks will last almost forever. Both: 1) cheap... like Koh-i-noor DOCUMENT inks (there are also standard not document inks by the same brand) - they cost about 1 USD in the country of manufacturing per 50ml, 2) and rather expensive (Sailor pigment inks).

Some people would rather heavily dieting in order to afford and use Sailor inks exclusively And some are more than happy with Koh-i-noor (they are both waterproof and lightfast) and last forever.

But there are many middle road inks like Monteverde document and many of the others... There are many threads regarding this subject.

Edited August 18, 2018 by aurore

[JenJenJ]

There are many threads regarding this subject.

Thanks, I will attempt a search.

[Karmachanic]

Thanks, I will attempt a search.

 

Start with ink samples. Usually 2-3ml per. This way one can try many inks for nominal cost. I find it helpful to explore one colour at a time.. Blue, for instance could keep one busy for a year or two exploring all the hues and tones. How and if there's shading. Then there's sheen.

 

This should keep you occupied for a while:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/160612-index-of-ink-reviews/

[Olya]

Google pictures (& google in general) is your friend, searches like "fountain pen ink fade test" or "fountain pen ink water resistant" bring you quickly some answers.

 

In terms of Noodler's, can't say much as I haven't used any Noodler's products, but Baystate Blue is notorious for fading issues, in closed books the ink can fully disappear (also this ink will stain literally anything and the Baystate line is very alkaline, so needs thorough cleaning before you use any other ink in your pen).

 

Pilot Blue, Blue Black and Black are very good inks, very very water resistant (to the point I'd say they're waterproof), trouble-free in every sense and cheap. No known fading issues.

 

German inks named "royal blue" ("Königsblau"; e.g. Pelikan 4001, Lamy, etc.) are in fact what is called in the English speaking world "washable blue" and those tend to fade as well.

[inkandseeds]

I have used a variety of Noodler’s water resistant inks for more than a decade and have had no problems with any significant fading in my journals. Before that i think i used Waterman ink, both blue and black, that i could buy locally at the time. Looking at my journals that stretch back more than twenty-five years, they are all very, very readable with no noticeable fading. I just open a journal from three years ago to a page that i wrote in Noodler’s Baystate Blue. The words jumped off the page and slapped me they were so vivid. I have left written material out on my desk for days with no noticeable fading. My desk has south facing windows and i am at 7,000 feet where the sun is far more intense than what you are probably dealing with.

 

From Noodlers, i use Baystate Blue, Heart of Darkness Black, Henry Hudson Blue, Walnut, Bad Black Moccasin, Liberty’s Elysium, Old Dutch Colony Sepia, and Red Black. I use others, but these are the most common.

 

Recently, i got a bottle of Platinum Khaki Black which is working out nicely.

 

Be adventuresome. Maybe i am lucky or too stupid to recognize problems, but i have had few issues with the inks that i have tried and used. Okay, there was that time thirteen years ago, i dropped a bottle of a Noodlers blue (can’t remember which blue) on the tile floor i had just finished installing in the kitchen remodel. The tile is fine, but the grout absorbed a lot of blue.

[Noihvo]

[Mech-for-i]

Basically as regarding fountain pen use, you can have vibrant color or you can have archival quality but usually not both at the same time. Even pigmented ink fade over time and increasingly so if exposed to light ( and especially UV ). And that is why you would find in most case real document ink had basically 1 or 2 color, but in any case they usually end up only black, blue lack or Sepia ( traditional iron gall ink ) ... and there is the concern of what the ink do to the paper. And that is why Carbon ink are favored by many for such work. That is also why many written during the late 1900's to early 20th century ( say family letters ) seen faded and yet similar from early 1800's might still be very legible ( the are written likely with iron gall or soot base Carbon ink )

 

That stated, we are talking really long long long term ... if a page of written text is well stored, meaning its not exposed to light, high humidity, and generally in cool dry atmosphere. you can expect most ink to last for decades before seeing any effect. Motto is ... the storage and ow you store the document can be the factor

[Torrilin]

Paper can be a big factor in how stable an ink is. I’m old enough that most of my schoolwork (and my parents’) was done on cheap wood pulp paper with the tannic acid left in. It would start yellowing even stored away from light in a year or so. Just the edges, because it takes oxygen for the tannic acid to react, so the inside of a dense stack is pretty ok. But the more free air flow the worse off the paper. And sun accelerated the process.

 

On better (less acidic) paper, inks hold up better.

 

Most modern paper is buffered, so if there’s residual acid there’s stuff it would like to react with, and the paper will tend to stay at the same p.H. You might notice change over time but it will take more than 10 years for it to be noticeable. Newsprint tends not to be buffered but otherwise most paper you will use should be ok.

 

There’s definitely inks that are less stable. Red (aka magenta) dyes as they’re used in ink tend to be particularly delicate. Yellow tends to be sturdier than red but not by a lot. Blue tends to be the best out of the colored dyes. Black dyes may not stay a true black but they tend to stick around. Obviously not every red ink uses the exact same dye combo, and each dye will vary in behavior. So there’s inks in every color that are better or worse. But you probably aren’t going to find a bright red that’s more stable than black.

 

Pigment inks tend to be more stable BUT red pigment still tends to be fugitive. There just aren’t many bright red pigments that hold up the way carbon black does.

 

My take is I use the inks I feel like, but I usually have a pen filled with my favorite black ink. My favorite happens to be pigmented but the pigment isn’t why I use it. It’s a very well behaved ink for my purposes. Smear resistant, waterproof, and a very boring black that writes well even on paper that tends to resist most liquid inks. Also feather resistant and bleed resistant even on very terrible paper. Not feather proof, just resistant.

[Arkanabar]

Ink isn't the only culprit when writing fades. Paper may also be partly to blame. Acid-free and lignin-free papers are less prone to such decay. I'm cheap, and I've had cheap notebooks where the paper yellowed with age and the washable blue inks within faded.

Amber has a spreadsheet online from her 2013 Fade Olympics here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1aZnx0HqTLwmocX2rhk5rP1jUUCSzjA7CVrZX8gvKkWY/edit?usp=sharing

 

Noodler's Baystate Blue is one of the most photosensitive inks out there.

[amberleadavis]

And check out the fade tests to see which inks fade in the sun - the sun is merely a catalyst to speed up the process of decay, and paper is a big part!

 

My suggestion, trade some samples and try out lots of colors!

[amberleadavis]

Here is a link to the 2012 results.

http://www.sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/Tests/Fade/2012/Subjects/index.html

[A Smug Dill]

… I want COLOR and VARIETY. I use my FP exclusively for journaling and NEED an ink …

 

 

I'm afraid I don't quite understand whether you're after (recommendations for) a product line of inks that are available in different colours and are fade-resistant, so you can buy half a dozen of them to achieve the objective of variety, or are you after one single ink (at the cost of one single purchase) that will satisfy your desire for colour even though of course there isn't much variety other than maybe variable sheen on different papers?