Plastic ink bottles

[lapis]

JN, (psst, I swiped it out of my lab at the university) but I don't know where it was purchased. It says on the bottom LDPE, L standing for Low, like HDPE stands for high density polyethylene. I don't know much about the relative occurrence and/or sales of either form. I take it that LDPE is softer than HDPE, and I think that is a good idea. Some plastics are too brittle.

 

Mike

[lapis]

Shucks, I forgot to add that my baby's mouth is 14 mm (a good half an inch) wide on the inside and its cap has an outside diameter equivalent to that of the whole body.

 

mike

[tawanda]

Ok, now Im scared!

I have been collecting samples (15-20 ml) from a very good friend of mine far away. She is like a sister to me and we share many things, including ink. I decided to homogenise my motley collection of receptacles she used, and bought 20 x 25ml brown plastic pill bottles for the purpose, from my local chemist. I've neatly labelled them all, writing their names n the actual colour of the ink inside, and even q-tipping a swatch along the bottle of the label. They all look great.

 

But now I won't sleep at night worrying about evaparation and other horrors you warn of.

[slugbird]

i like glass bottles just because of the beutiful shape, material and weight!

[dogpoet]

Those are pretty small bottles, tawanda. You'll probably empty them before anything bad happens to the ink.

[hookem11]

I prefer glass. So far the only plastic I have encountered is Visconti. Looks fine but my concern with plastic would be thickening of the ink by evaporation and possible feed clogging. I decanted it into the old glass V bottle. Perhaps someone more conversant with the nature of plastics could allay that concern

[welch]

Frank Dubiel said, "Glass is a great container for ink. Rubber, plastic and other materials are not. Ink stored in such materials will evaporate over time. This is because the are porous. We have all seen old ink cartridges that are sealed but empty due to this..." The Book, page 40. He continues for eight more sentences, but you get the point.

 

 

[bjornhansson]

I really like Diamine's 30 ml plastic bottles. As far as shape and size are concerned, the Diamine bottles are close to perfection. (And the ink they contain is really nice as well! )

[ToasterPastry]

The only time I have accidentally knocked over a container of ink was when it was in a plastic bottle. Any plastic bottle of ink will be transferred into a glass one.

[kvka]

I don't have very many ink bottles just yet, but one of the main reasons for that is that the inks I have liked come in glass bottles and I'm worried about carrying them back and forth between home and school. Since my summer break is about to start, I have to clear out of my room completely, so I either have to carry the bottles with me on long flights or hope that the company that is storing some of my things nearby here will be very careful with my boxes. A plastic bottle would make me a lot less nervous about the bottles breaking and/or spilling in my bag.

 

Then again, I would absolutely hate the feel of a plastic ink bottle.

 

It's just not right. It's like the discussion on having wine in plastic bottles. Neither seems particularly palatable.

This is exactly true for me. I can always pack well to appease my paranoia, but I wouldn't know how to deal with my dislike of plastic bottles other than to suck it up. I prefer glass.

Edited June 1, 2009 by kvka

[Orval]

You can't squeeze a solid glass inkbottle. That's a huge advantage in a traveller's bag.

[nickyd]

I really like Diamine's 30 ml plastic bottles. As far as shape and size are concerned, the Diamine bottles are close to perfection. (And the ink they contain is really nice as well! )

 

And the cost of international postage is much lower.

[nickyd]

The only time I have accidentally knocked over a container of ink was when it was in a plastic bottle. Any plastic bottle of ink will be transferred into a glass one.

 

My biggest ink spill disaster (to date) was to upset a nearly full bottle (GLASS) of Noodler's Air Corp. What a waste. ...and it really is quite a green ink which shows more so as you wipe it off the desk--take my word for it!

 

[RLTodd]

As long as it works, and does not increase the price, I do not care.

 

The pictures of the big Pelikan ink bottles looked to me like they were plastic.

 

 

[pengoddess]

I was truly surprised that Diamine came out with plastic ink bottles. Other companies have used plastic bottles over the years - Parker sold Super Quink in cool looking black plastic cylindrical bottles and the ink evaporated to sludge inside the bottle. Montblanc has used plastic bottles, too, note that they do so no longer. And as others have noted, the ink inside cartridges evaporates eventually and sometimes surprisingly quickly. While plastic is good for travel, perhaps not so good for storing your ink in. We've noted that the nifty little plastic Visconti travel bottles have a big evaporation problem.

 

I am not a fan of plastic ink bottles at all. Keep the glass. And if you need to take a little with you and are worried about glass breaking, transfer what you'll need into a little temporary plastic bottle. Glass ink bottles are really quite sturdy, we travel all over the country with hundreds of them at a time and I usually have a single bottle of ink in my backpack that gets tossed around, not to mention the ink makers pack huge boxes of glass bottles filled with ink and breakage is a rarity. And that doesn't even go into my thoughts on the re-use/recycle/green end of things which I'll spare you from!

 

Sam

 

 

[WendyNC]

How about we lobby the ink companies to sell the glass bottles separately and then sell plastic "refill" bottles of ink, with a discount for sending back your used plastic bottles for refiling when you re-order?

[dandelion]

WendyNC, that is a very good suggestion. That is how I see Diamine's 30 ml bottles - as refills that can be used while travelling. It is also a very good size for trying new inks. From an environmental view heavy glass bottles is very bad, because of the increase in mileage etc, during transportation . Light plastic bottles can be recycled and reduces the mileage during transportation. Personally I refill empty Pelikan 30 ml glass bottles (very classic) with Diamine ink.

 

How about we lobby the ink companies to sell the glass bottles separately and then sell plastic "refill" bottles of ink, with a discount for sending back your used plastic bottles for refiling when you re-order?

[paulrbarnard]

WendyNC, that is a very good suggestion. That is how I see Diamine's 30 ml bottles - as refills that can be used while travelling. It is also a very good size for trying new inks. From an environmental view heavy glass bottles is very bad, because of the increase in mileage etc, during transportation . Light plastic bottles can be recycled and reduces the mileage during transportation. Personally I refill empty Pelikan 30 ml glass bottles (very classic) with Diamine ink.

 

How about we lobby the ink companies to sell the glass bottles separately and then sell plastic "refill" bottles of ink, with a discount for sending back your used plastic bottles for refiling when you re-order?

 

 

What an interesting response. Your views on environmental impact are very different to mine. Your point is great, in that the lower transport impact of the plastic and the recyclability of the plastic has a positive effect. The funny thing is I hold the exact opposite view viz. The glass has less impact in manufacture and has far higher recycling potential. I wonder at the sustainability of raw materials for plastic and that long term impact on the planet. The final aspect that concerns me is the build up of plastic in the environment, specifically from plastic not being recycled. This has been talked about in the press a lot and seems to have a very detrimental effect on our oceans.

 

Certainly I am no expert and base my assumptions on what I read in the press, so could be completely misled :-). I wonder if there is anyone here who can shed some more quantitate light on this.

 

[lawrencehare]

'corse, what we really want is for ink companies to follow the wine trade to the next step: Ink in boxes...

 

Lawrence - who thinks the little tap might be quite useful, really... Cute, anyway.

[Possum Hill]

WendyNC, that is a very good suggestion. That is how I see Diamine's 30 ml bottles - as refills that can be used while travelling. It is also a very good size for trying new inks. From an environmental view heavy glass bottles is very bad, because of the increase in mileage etc, during transportation . Light plastic bottles can be recycled and reduces the mileage during transportation. Personally I refill empty Pelikan 30 ml glass bottles (very classic) with Diamine ink.

 

How about we lobby the ink companies to sell the glass bottles separately and then sell plastic "refill" bottles of ink, with a discount for sending back your used plastic bottles for refiling when you re-order?

 

 

What an interesting response. Your views on environmental impact are very different to mine. Your point is great, in that the lower transport impact of the plastic and the recyclability of the plastic has a positive effect. The funny thing is I hold the exact opposite view viz. The glass has less impact in manufacture and has far higher recycling potential. I wonder at the sustainability of raw materials for plastic and that long term impact on the planet. The final aspect that concerns me is the build up of plastic in the environment, specifically from plastic not being recycled. This has been talked about in the press a lot and seems to have a very detrimental effect on our oceans.

 

Certainly I am no expert and base my assumptions on what I read in the press, so could be completely misled :-). I wonder if there is anyone here who can shed some more quantitate light on this.

I propose that the amount of ink sold is actually too small for the bottle material to have much impact, particularly when compared to soda, juice, milk and bottled water.