Flakes Coming From Parker Quink Black

[pencrazed]

Hi y'all. I'm slightly worried when I recently found some solid flakes from my bottle of black Parker Quink when I opened its lid. I have been storing the ink properly in a dark, dry place with moderate temperatures. Is this a defect with this particular bottle? I'm afraid if I fill it up in my pen, it'll clog.

 

Has this ever happened to any of you?

 

[clazbill]

If the flakes came from opening the lid could they be coming from dried ink on the threads?

 

I'd only worry if there are solid bits in the ink itself.

[LizEF]

Yeah, not unusual for ink to get on the threads, dry, and flake when the lid is unscrewed.

[Olya]

Ink always gets on the bottle rim and in the cap, where it tends to dry. It's normal to have flakes when the ink has dried (solidified) and the bottle hasn't been opened for a while.

[Noihvo]

[txomsy]

Got my forearm red yesterday filling a pen from an ancient bottle of Sheaffer Skripps red. Turns out it had the flakes of dried ink in the cap... which I took care of, but it also had them at the bottom (the bottom's bottom), likely of ink that had been on threads the last time, poured down to the bottom last time I opened it, dried there (I keep it in its original box) and where spread on the paper I posed the flask on while filling, which I wasn't expecting, so when I started writing I got all stained (I suppose humidity in my forearm dissolved the tiny flakes).

 

Bottom line: as far as I remember this has always been an issue when I use bottled ink, ever since, say, 50 years ago?

 

Accompanying symptoms that also frighten newbies: the cap tends to stick when dried ink glues it to the rim of the bottle, staining your fingers just by touching the bottle, ink stains marking the bottom of the bottle on the surface when you pick it up (a good reason to keep it in its original box)... often the cap does not seal tightly and when you move the bottle (e.g. just by opening a drawer) ink goes over the top, slides (in tiny, almost unnoticeable amounts) through the outer side and collects at the sides or the bottom. At the sides it is usually unnoticeable until you touch it, on the bottom it accumulates and with time it is easier to see (and more difficult to clean as it will have been absorbed).

 

I usually try to clean the cap and seals before closing a bottle that has had issues before. But there is always a trade-off: if you close it too tight it may be difficult to open it next time, specially if ink dries at the border, if you close it loosely so it is easier to open it may get ink in the threads and be more difficult to open as well. What I do is, inks I am using currently and continuously (bottles I intend to re-use soon) I close loosely, inks I do not plan on using for a long time I clean the bottle, put a tiny amount of silicon grease on the rim and close tightly.

[PAKMAN]

Never noticed this with Quink but the old Parker Penmen inks left little flakes everywhere!

[pencrazed]

Thank you very much for your insights everyone! I have experienced dried ink before but none of my previous bottles had flakes coming off of them - it's just that the bottles were harder to open because of the dried-up ink around the edges. I feel much more relieved now knowing that my situation's a common reality.