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Water Resistance Of Some Iron-Gall Inks Compared


A Smug Dill

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fpn_1577085565__iron-gall_inks_water_res

(All the writing was done using a dip pen, not the Aurora 888 Saturno that was merely acting as a paperweight while I took the photo above.)

The degree to which iron-gall inks are water resistant vary greatly from ink to ink, even when they are in the same product line of the same brand. Sadly, KWZ Ink IG Mandarin does not perform very well at all, and barely surpasses Aztec Gold IGL (which stands for Iron-Gall Light) in that respect.

fpn_1577085532__iron-gall_inks_water_res
fpn_1577085497__iron-gall_inks_water_res

Aside: I was a bit surprised to see Platinum Blue-Black sheen purple some prominently and evenly.
fpn_1577085416__platinum_blue-black_ink_

I endeavour to be frank and truthful in what I write, show or otherwise present, when I relate my first-hand experiences that are not independently verifiable; and link to third-party content where I can, when I make a claim or refute a statement of fact in a thread. If there is something you can verify for yourself, I entreat you to do so, and judge for yourself what is right, correct, and valid. I may be wrong, and my position or say-so is no more authoritative and carries no more weight than anyone else's here.

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  • A Smug Dill

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Thank you for this most useful comparison. Goes to show that not all IG inks were created equal. ;)

How long did you let the ink dry before the test?

Edited by carlos.q
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Excellent comparison. Most helpful. It's not just the actual (even if merely subjectively judged) permanence but also their colour differences which are interesting. Thanks too, to Carlos for his outstanding question. :) :)

Life is too short to drink bad wine (Goethe)

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How long did you let the ink dry before the test?

 

About two hours. (Actually, that's incorrect; I got mixed up with a different set of water resistance testing.)

 

The samples were written after dinner one night, and only on the following morning did I get around to standing them up in an old ice-cream container to soak.

Edited by A Smug Dill

I endeavour to be frank and truthful in what I write, show or otherwise present, when I relate my first-hand experiences that are not independently verifiable; and link to third-party content where I can, when I make a claim or refute a statement of fact in a thread. If there is something you can verify for yourself, I entreat you to do so, and judge for yourself what is right, correct, and valid. I may be wrong, and my position or say-so is no more authoritative and carries no more weight than anyone else's here.

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Very interesting results, especially since I have a number of these inks.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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Platinum Blue-Black is a surprisingly useful and well-behaved ink. I use it frequently in my Nakayas, because a box of the cartridges comes with each pen. Has anyone compared the waterfastness of Platinum Blue-Black and Pilot Blue-Black?

Rationalizing pen and ink purchases since 1967.

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Adding mine here for more information in one place:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/337105-seeking-user-experience-with-stipula-iron-gall-inks/?p=4073415

(that post and 2 down with water resistance results)

“I admit it, I'm surprised that fountain pens are a hobby. ... it's a bit like stumbling into a fork convention - when you've used a fork all your life.” 

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Very cool! Thank you.

Fountain pens are my preferred COLOR DELIVERY SYSTEM (in part because crayons melt in Las Vegas).

Create a Ghostly Avatar and I'll send you a letter. Check out some Ink comparisons: The Great PPS Comparison 

Don't know where to start?  Look at the Inky Topics O'day.  Then, see inks sorted by color: Blue Purple Brown Red Green Dark Green Orange Black Pinks Yellows Blue-Blacks Grey/Gray UVInks Turquoise/Teal MURKY

 

 

 

 

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Without making precise tests I also noticed the low water resistance of kwz ig inks.

Good to know that this is confirmed allegro hour test.

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  • 5 months later...

Pelikan Edelstein Smoky Quartz isn't iron-gall, as far as I know. I'm just throwing this in because I happen to be testing its water resistance, and my two pens that are filled with KWZ iron-gall inks are on hand...

 

BEFORE:

fpn_1593342052__water_resistance_testing

 

AFTER:

fpn_1593342018__water_resistance_testing

Edited by A Smug Dill

I endeavour to be frank and truthful in what I write, show or otherwise present, when I relate my first-hand experiences that are not independently verifiable; and link to third-party content where I can, when I make a claim or refute a statement of fact in a thread. If there is something you can verify for yourself, I entreat you to do so, and judge for yourself what is right, correct, and valid. I may be wrong, and my position or say-so is no more authoritative and carries no more weight than anyone else's here.

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Dill, if I understand this right, the KWZs IGs disappeared, but the Smoky Quartz persisted? If so, that's quite ironic.

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@TSherbs Exactly. I allowed the KWZI iron-gall inks more than 30 minutes to 'cure' — and they had a few more minutes than the Pelikan Edelstein Smoky Quartz — before soaking, but that hasn't prevented them from just about completely disappearing; whereas PE SQ is ready as soon as it initially dried on the page to leave a very distinct, crisp and legible dark grey impression that doesn't wash away.

 

Originally I was testing PE SQ against a number of Herbin blue inks, which all seemed to have good water resistance in the sense of leaving a persisting impression, but to varying degrees the edges of the marks all got feathery and messy. That's when I thought I might compared that to brownish iron-gall inks I have on the ready.

Edited by A Smug Dill

I endeavour to be frank and truthful in what I write, show or otherwise present, when I relate my first-hand experiences that are not independently verifiable; and link to third-party content where I can, when I make a claim or refute a statement of fact in a thread. If there is something you can verify for yourself, I entreat you to do so, and judge for yourself what is right, correct, and valid. I may be wrong, and my position or say-so is no more authoritative and carries no more weight than anyone else's here.

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That's really interesting. Thanks for sharing the results. That'll teach me to presume that "IG" has any reliable connection to water permanence. I really appreciate these kinds of comparison torture tests.

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Edelstein Tanzanite has some water-resistance too.

 

fpn_1591717240__blue-black_soak_0003.jpg

 

fpn_1591717258__blue-black_soak_0004.jpg

The Good Captain

"Meddler's 'Salamander' - almost as good as the real thing!"

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Thank you all :thumbup: for these enlightening results, especially @A Smug Dill for comprehensive testing.

 

I've been grooving on more water fast/permanent inks since a few tea spills switched me over to them.

 

Been enjoying KWZ Aztec Gold IG and thinking of restock, but in light of it's performance... :unsure:

 

Kinda unbelievable :(

 

I need to try different paper or bin it to the regular low water-resistant inks like Watermans, Aurora, etc.

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  • 6 months later...

i am surprised by the results for the KWZ IG inks

 

i have tried and use KWZ blue-black, i find it to be rock solid after the colour change to black.

maybe the paper used has an effect ?

 

i find kwz  blue black the best ig ink out there ! far better than diamine registrars ink which is really poor and has bad stability giving rise to sediment in the bottle

 

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41 minutes ago, dave321 said:

...

i find kwz  blue black the best ig ink out there ! far better than diamine registrars ink which is really poor and has bad stability giving rise to sediment in the bottle

Hi Dave!

 

A strong ig ink will always develope sediment. Just because of it's concentration and oxygen.

That's not bad stability. ESSRI (one of the best keeping ig's), Diamine Registrar's and Akkermann #10 usually have a deposit when you buy it...

KWZ bb is imo a great ink if you like it wet, as are ESSRI/DRI/Akk.#10 on the dry site...

 

Best

Jens

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Thanks a bunch dill for the tests, helps a lot.

 

I am personally not surprised by KWZ inks action, these 2 are low IG inks on their website and from my small understanding IG inks fade badly with water if IG content is low. Platinum was a pleasent surprise though.

 

KWZ IG blue-black survived my torture test without issue, again expected result, sallix always perplexed me though, it fades badly over the year but survives water like nothing ever hit it.

 

Thanks again smug.

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