First-ever problem with J Herbin ink!

[Sailor Kenshin]

I've read about inks throwing sediment, but never had that problem before, especially not with my favorite ink brand, J Herbin---one I recommend to everyone.

 

The ink in question is Ambre de Birmanie, a lovely golden-sienna tone that's dark enough to use in regular writing. I haven't used this ink in a while, though, and was rearranging my 'collection' when I noticed the sediment---whitish or pale, clinging to the bottom corners of the bottle.

 

I bought it new from a dealer, maybe a year or so ago. Not used, not in trade, nothing like that.

 

Any ideas, experiences? Is there such a thing as too much or too many inks? Does all ink invariably go bad?

[Dr Lopez]

Some time ago I read an interesting blog article of one FPN member http://www.biffybeans.com/2009/05/fountain-pen-inks-to-shake-or-not-and.html about ink sediments, including mention of some J Herbin. Nice reading.

[Ondina]

If it was a matter of sediment in the bottom corners of the bottle, some brands would have to be dumped right off the factory facilities....My Ambre de Birmanie is probably used too often to sediment. If the amount of sediment is little, I would use it. If you prefer, maybe the store will exchange it for other bottle if you're not comfortable putting it in your pens.

 

Yes, probably there is too much ink to be hoarded, and too many inks in waiting to be used..............Shell life can be very long, vintage inks are used by many without issues.

 

Edited to thank Dr. Lopez for the link.

Edited March 3, 2010 by Ondina

[Sailor Kenshin]

Great article. Thanks for posting!

 

I sniffed the ink and there are no bad smells. I suppose that means it's still okay to use?

 

Anyone want to trade for some of my non-sedimented inks?

[egretsrus]

Yes, I had a bottle of Herbin olive green form sediment and a film on the surface. I threw it out.

[SamCapote]

Some time ago I read an interesting blog article of one FPN member http://www.biffybean...or-not-and.html about ink sediments, including mention of some J Herbin. Nice reading.

 

The funniest thing when I read her post was that I heard that all inks should be shaken to fully mix any of the dye that may have been in suspension. I do notice that a lot of my inks have various degrees of sediment if they sit for long times.

[mrphyig]

I've had a couple of my Herbin inks form sediment, and it wasn't a problem. Then, I bought an ancient bottle of Bleu Azur during a closing sale at a Toronto store and when I opened it up, it had some sediment that took about ten minutes of good agitation to shake free (in all other cases, my Herbins lose their sediment after one good shake). I waited another month or so to try the Bleu Azur and by that time the sediment had reformed, turned into jelly, and the ink had a definite chthonic odor.

 

My advice is that if your sediment is the non-persistent kind and your ink smells like ink rather than Evil, I wouldn't worry about using it.

[Ondina]

I would trade with you with pleasure, Sailor. If there is nothing else in the bottle, no particles not growths and no foul smell, use it. I don't shake my inks, but I've seen turning bottles upside down by long experienced users. Let us know how it goes.

Edited March 4, 2010 by Ondina

[Dr Lopez]

As far as I know, formation of sediments (that is a solid deposit in the bottom of the bottle) is OK and typical of highly saturated inks. In this case, a gentle shake should suffice to re-dissolve the dye back in the mixture. A different thing is the formation of a film on the top of the liquid phase. That I would say is not a dye sediment, but more likely a mould. I would not use an ink that has developed a film on the surface. If you ink a pen with mould contamination it will spread to other bottles via refilling. As far as know modern inks hace added chemicals that prevent mould to grow, but once a bottle is opened and has touched air, it is a matter of time mould will grow.

[reprieve]

Went to fill from my bottle of Terre de Feu, and discovered a white, milky streak floating through the ink. Turned the bottle over and discovered white sediment in each of the four corners. There was no smell, but the white stuff scared me (even though it most definitely did not look like mold). I tossed the ink. I had filled two pens from this bottle--a CP8 Vannerie and my Rose Gold Ripple. The CP8 was flushed and put away a couple of weeks ago. Checked it and there is nothing growing. My Ripple is writing fine, and looks fine. I haven't flushed it yet.

[professionaldilettante]

I've read about inks throwing sediment, but never had that problem before, especially not with my favorite ink brand, J Herbin---one I recommend to everyone.

 

The ink in question is Ambre de Birmanie, a lovely golden-sienna tone that's dark enough to use in regular writing. I haven't used this ink in a while, though, and was rearranging my 'collection' when I noticed the sediment---whitish or pale, clinging to the bottom corners of the bottle.

 

I bought it new from a dealer, maybe a year or so ago. Not used, not in trade, nothing like that.

 

Any ideas, experiences? Is there such a thing as too much or too many inks? Does all ink invariably go bad?

Lol... this is like buying a gallon of milk and keeping it for a year, then saying that it tastes kinda funny with lumps. Things have expiration dates, less so for fountain pens, but storage might become a factor, so it's not so much as a bad ink by J. Herbin, than how you stored it. It would be only their fault, especially after a year or more, if they snuck into your house and put sediment into your ink.

[karmakoda]

Some time ago I read an interesting blog article of one FPN member http://www.biffybeans.com/2009/05/fountain-pen-inks-to-shake-or-not-and.html about ink sediments, including mention of some J Herbin. Nice reading.

 

Good honest article @ biffybeans. Thank you Dr Lopez.

Ambre de Birmanie is one of my regular inks and J Herbin is certainly in my top three. I checked all of my ink bottles for problems, but no sediment except Noodler's Green Marine. To be fair, the Noodler's has been with me for ten months, not my favorite ink, so a little sediment may be reasonable. The only thing is, if sediment settles out in a bottle, there are implications in your pen, and I noticed "coagulant" collecting around the feed and nib on a number of pens filled with Green Marine. It has not been a serious issue at all, and rinses away easily and thoroughly. And it's really my own doing. Too many pens, too much ink.

It reminds me to be cautious and responsible with the number of pens I have inked at one time.

[Sailor Kenshin]

 

Lol... this is like buying a gallon of milk and keeping it for a year, then saying that it tastes kinda funny with lumps. Things have expiration dates, less so for fountain pens, but storage might become a factor, so it's not so much as a bad ink by J. Herbin, than how you stored it. It would be only their fault, especially after a year or more, if they snuck into your house and put sediment into your ink.

 

I would imagine ink has a longer shelf life than milk. And where did I imply that it was J Herbin's 'fault?'

[Possum Hill]

I've read about inks throwing sediment, but never had that problem before, especially not with my favorite ink brand, J Herbin---one I recommend to everyone.

 

The ink in question is Ambre de Birmanie, a lovely golden-sienna tone that's dark enough to use in regular writing. I haven't used this ink in a while, though, and was rearranging my 'collection' when I noticed the sediment---whitish or pale, clinging to the bottom corners of the bottle.

 

I bought it new from a dealer, maybe a year or so ago. Not used, not in trade, nothing like that.

 

Any ideas, experiences? Is there such a thing as too much or too many inks? Does all ink invariably go bad?

Lol... this is like buying a gallon of milk and keeping it for a year, then saying that it tastes kinda funny with lumps. Things have expiration dates, less so for fountain pens, but storage might become a factor, so it's not so much as a bad ink by J. Herbin, than how you stored it. It would be only their fault, especially after a year or more, if they snuck into your house and put sediment into your ink.

Pendemonium's Ink Facts page has some relevant information about the life of FP ink.

[professionaldilettante]

Fault or none, the thing is to keep in mind is that ink does not last forever. We just have to keep an eye on it, cause there is no production/batch number to keep track of when they were made, the sell could have had it for a while, etc. Just gotta keep checking it, tis all, never meant any offense, just that I feel that they make a good job with ink, and this shouldn't hurt them.

[gyasko]

My everyday inks (Skrip Perm. Royal Blue & BB) are 70 years old. I also have perfectly fine bottles of Pelikan that are about 20 years old. All my Herbin is more than a year old, too. I think i have a bottle that i've had for about 10 years. If the top is on and nothing harmful has been introduced into the bottle, it should last quite a while.

[Sailor Kenshin]

I would trade with you with pleasure, Sailor. If there is nothing else in the bottle, no particles not growths and no foul smell, use it. I don't shake my inks, but I've seen turning bottles upside down by long experienced users. Let us know how it goes.

 

PM sent.

[missnibs]

So apparently Herbin inks have been reformulated into something much drier. Well I could live with that... if it weren't for the nasty shock I got upon opening a brand spanking new bottle of Café des Îles. As usual my first real indication of what the ink will look like is to take a peek at the ink inside the cap.

 

And what did I see? CLOTS. or something like it. It looked far too messy for a new unused ink. But I didn't think too much of it, and decided to fill up my pen anyways.

 

The next day, during class, I realised that something was definitely wrong. Every two pages or so the nib ran dry. And by dry I mean see-through-the-slit-dry. Nothing came out, not a drip, while the converter was still pretty full. Shaking didn't help, so all I could do to get the ink flowing again was to turn and twist the converter ever so slightly. I came home, flushed my pen and refilled. Same problem happened after a while.

 

Now I'm not in any danger of having to replace my other Herbin inks, but I'm dead afraid that when I do I'll end up encountering the same problem. Or is this just the one bottle acting up? What can be done - if anything? (I already tried shaking it. And adding a few drops of water...)

 

Anybody recognise this issue?

[Ghost Plane]

Eew. No. All mine have always been wet soakers.

[bluemagister]

Is it possible that the sedimentation happens because the solvent evaporates, increasing the solute concentration past the dissolving capacity? If so, simply adding a little distilled, clean water to the ink and shaking gently would fix the problem, right?