Mold In Sailor Souboku?

[goofy9x]

Hi guys,

 

I bought two Souboku bottles about 10-12 months ago. Both were used without any problems. Today I notice there're some strange particles on the ink's surface of both. No odd smell. MB 149 filled with this ink was left untouched in the leather case for at least 2 weeks and It still writes nicely. The ink seems to behave well.

 

I try my best to take the pictures attached below.

 

Thoughts??

 

[Tas]

It's a mirage. No way is there anything wrong with this most heavenly of inks

[Intensity]

Could it have been contaminated? Something in the air, like mold spores from soil of nearby plants, or on the nib when dipped?

[awa54]

that doesn't look promising...

 

is there sludge in the bottom of the bottle too?

[amberleadavis]

Sailor inks usually have a lot of biocide. I'd take a look around see if you have any other contaminates. Sailor is also a responsive ink maker, so I'd suggest that you reach out to them.

[A Smug Dill]

Thoughts??

 

 

I ordered four bottles of Sailor souboku when it was still new on the market. No such problem is apparent from the bottle I've been using — to fill pens and sample vials on at least a dozen occasions — for the past eighteen months, or the one I gave to my sister-in-law the Christmas before last, so I'd question whether the introduction to the contaminant in your ink was at the factory or by the user post-sale. That said, my bottles are probably not from the same production batch as yours; if you would like to post (or communicate by private message to me) that information, I'd be happy to check that against mine.

 

Should the formulation of the ink have contained enough biocide or what-not to suppress that growth? I don't know. It depends on what you throw at it and what Sailor expected the average user would throw at it, I suppose.

[goofy9x]

It's a mirage. No way is there anything wrong with this most heavenly of inks

 

I hope so. But after double check I'm sure there's something not right with these two wonderful ink bottle

Could it have been contaminated? Something in the air, like mold spores from soil of nearby plants, or on the nib when dipped?

 

It's sure a probability. However I check all of my other inks and none of them exhibits the same condition

that doesn't look promising...

 

is there sludge in the bottom of the bottle too?

Agree I don't have a light source that is powerful enough to see through. I shake the bottle furiously, though. The particles on the ink's surface seem unchanged.

 

Sailor inks usually have a lot of biocide. I'd take a look around see if you have any other contaminates. Sailor is also a responsive ink maker, so I'd suggest that you reach out to them.

 

Yeah. I do check all my other ink and luckily all of them are fine. The Do-you and Rikyu-cha bottles of mine have that very distinctive smell. However I don't remember Souboku has the same scent.

 

 

 

[goofy9x]

 

 

I ordered four bottles of Sailor souboku when it was still new on the market. No such problem is apparent from the bottle I've been using — to fill pens and sample vials on at least a dozen occasions — for the past eighteen months, or the one I gave to my sister-in-law the Christmas before last, so I'd question whether the introduction to the contaminant in your ink was at the factory or by the user post-sale. That said, my bottles are probably not from the same production batch as yours; if you would like to post (or communicate by private message to me) that information, I'd be happy to check that against mine.

 

Should the formulation of the ink have contained enough biocide or what-not to suppress that growth? I don't know. It depends on what you throw at it and what Sailor expected the average user would throw at it, I suppose.

I think I practice a reasonable pen hygiene. Maybe it's just my unluck. I"ll buy another Souboku bottles. Love that ink!

Here's my production batch:

[sansenri]

I would ask the manufacturer to investigate. In general any manufacturer is concerned of stability of its products so most likely they will be interested to understand what happened. If you are lucky they may offer to replace it, but at least they should be available to verify and let you know what happened, and provide advise for the future.

They will go into deeper analysis that you will know most likely such as testing retained samples of the same batch.

They gain a lot of useful information for their own purposes in investigating...

[sansenri]

Ps somewhat odd that both bottles developed the same issue, if I understood

That would point in favour of a batch issue with higher probability of a manufacturer fault...

[A Smug Dill]

Alas, all my bottles are from the batch with production date of 18.5.24. No mold.

[sansenri]

Your batch is older but no issue, Asd

 

Either the unlucky contamination of two bottles with the same contaminant (why two bottles of the same ink open at the same time?...), or an issue on that specific whole batch...

Not easy to verify, because it depends whether the other bottles of the same batch have been used up earlier or have remained closed (contamination at the origin may not have had the chance to develop, unopened). still chemical biological analysis may tell something.

[goofy9x]

I would ask the manufacturer to investigate. In general any manufacturer is concerned of stability of its products so most likely they will be interested to understand what happened. If you are lucky they may offer to replace it, but at least they should be available to verify and let you know what happened, and provide advise for the future.

They will go into deeper analysis that you will know most likely such as testing retained samples of the same batch.

They gain a lot of useful information for their own purposes in investigating...

 

Good idea. I may shoot an email to Sailor and see what next.

Ps somewhat odd that both bottles developed the same issue, if I understood

That would point in favour of a batch issue with higher probability of a manufacturer fault...

Yeah. One's symptom is not as severe as the other.

 

Your batch is older but no issue, Asd

 

Either the unlucky contamination of two bottles with the same contaminant (why two bottles of the same ink open at the same time?...), or an issue on that specific whole batch...

Not easy to verify, because it depends whether the other bottles of the same batch have been used up earlier or have remained closed (contamination at the origin may not have had the chance to develop, unopened). still chemical biological analysis may tell something.

 

I opened two bottles at the same time because I forgot which bottle I open first. Shame on me.

[goofy9x]

Alas, all my bottles are from the batch with production date of 18.5.24. No mold.

 

My two bottles come from same batch and both of them had problem I fill my MB with this ink lately and to my surprise no change in ink performance.

[awa54]

I'd flush the Montblanc thoroughly with a solution that has the potential to kill fungus... I seem to recall a thread discussing that topic, which suggested a dilute vinegar solution as a possible fix, but maybe someone with more experience in this malady can give better informed advice.

 

A fairly reliable way to detect sludge in a bottle of opaque ink is to dip a clean toothpick in the bottle and stir it around the bottom of. All the sludge I've encountered produced a "mother" on the bottom that would leave some slimy goop on the toothpick (where clean ink just colors the toothpick, and the liquid all drips off the end when it's withdrawn from the bottle).

Edited February 24, 2020 by awa54

[sansenri]

The other possibility of course is that you are contaminating the inks, and that might be due to the pen.

As suggested, a thorough washing of the pen with water followed by a flush with vinegar (leave it inside for 10 minutes or so) and then final washing again should help.

A modern 149 in resin should not suffer in any way from that treatment.

I recently used the same method on an ebonite pen that had developed mold having been left unused for a while with ink in it.

I had to repeat treatment a week later to get rid of the last faint smell of mold, now it's fine again.

I had no ink issue though.

[goofy9x]

I'd flush the Montblanc thoroughly with a solution that has the potential to kill fungus... I seem to recall a thread discussing that topic, which suggested a dilute vinegar solution as a possible fix, but maybe someone with more experience in this malady can give better informed advice.

 

A fairly reliable way to detect sludge in a bottle of opaque ink is to dip a clean toothpick in the bottle and stir it around the bottom of. All the sludge I've encountered produced a "mother" on the bottom that would leave some slimy goop on the toothpick (where clean ink just colors the toothpick, and the liquid all drips off the end when it's withdrawn from the bottle).

 

 

The other possibility of course is that you are contaminating the inks, and that might be due to the pen.

As suggested, a thorough washing of the pen with water followed by a flush with vinegar (leave it inside for 10 minutes or so) and then final washing again should help.

A modern 149 in resin should not suffer in any way from that treatment.

I recently used the same method on an ebonite pen that had developed mold having been left unused for a while with ink in it.

I had to repeat treatment a week later to get rid of the last faint smell of mold, now it's fine again.

I had no ink issue though.

 

Thank you for your advices. I don't find any strange "substance" using the toothpick technique. However I will try to transfer ink to a new clean bottle, little by little to see if I can find something.

 

Today I got response from the retailer whom I bought the bottles from. They suggest that I may continue to use the ink if there is "no change in ink's performance". Hmmm ...

[sansenri]

You might want to try and filter the ink while pouring into another bottle.

You need some kind of synthetic fine gauze to do that. Dont use filter paper as it will absorb ink!

I would use a pipette or syringe, not pour from the bottle, and work in the kitchen sink...

[csardas]

Here is my bottle of Sei Boku.

[GreenMountain]

Whoa...looks similar.