What Is Sitb Or Stib?

[jiamin]

Sorry if this question has been asked and answered before, but I'm a newbie.

 

I've read many posts in the past 2 weeks that refer to either SITB or STIB in ink bottles. I gather this is some sort of fungal growth or mold. But would someone mind explaining to me what it stands for and how it affects ink?

 

I have a bottle of Private Reserve Tanzanite from late 2009 that when I got it had some spongy stuff in the bottom. I had no idea what it was so I've just left it. Since reading about ink going bad, I checked it 2 nights ago and the spongy mess is gone! Maybe its been absorbed into the ink.

 

Thanks.

[TWRDO]

SITB = Stuff/Slime/S*** In The Bottle. STIB = Typo of the same thing. You're right on with it being mold or some such gunk growing in the ink.

[beak]

I think it means Stuff In The Bottle: sediments / deposits.

[Ghost Plane]

Whatever, it's much rarer than you'd think from the amount of posts it generates here.

 

Some high saturation inks will settle out to form a sediment on the bottom of the bottle if unused for extended periods of time. If shaking the bottle causes it to remix into the ink, it wasn't SITB.

 

If you bottle really stinks, you see mold growing on top or in the cap, if long strings pull out when you dip a toothpick in, THEN you have SITB and it's easiest to pitch the ink.

[rockspyder]

If you bottle really stinks, you see mold growing on top or in the cap, if long strings pull out when you dip a toothpick in, THEN you have SITB and it's easiest to pitch the ink.

Bleaghh!! Yucck.... I feel a bit queasy thinking of this. Hope it never happens to any of MY ink bottles...

[blackrainstorm]

It's sort of like the boogey monster for ink lovers, only more real...wait, the boogey monster is real...

[Ghost Plane]

I live in a hot, tropical client, keep ink for years, don't switch on the A/C until it's close to 90F in the house, and periodically forget and leave an ink bottle in direct sunlight that will fry eggs on a car. Never had SITB.

[Dino Silone]

I live in a hot, tropical client, keep ink for years, don't switch on the A/C until it's close to 90F in the house, and periodically forget and leave an ink bottle in direct sunlight that will fry eggs on a car. Never had SITB.

It's the luck of the draw. I ran into a really nasty case of it (without knowing what it was) in the fourth or fifth bottle of ink that I bought, and it caused me to have to dissassemble and flush my favorite Snorkel (it had gotten into the pen and gummed up the feed). And our winters are pretty dry.

[KCat]

NOT slime:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/177246-normal-sediment-in-fountain-pen-ink-photos/page__p__1779080#entry1779080

 

a good picture of slime in the bottle

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/175262-j-herbin-stuff-in-bottle-stib/

 

really is fairly rare - I think I've had one case in my 10+ years. Many others - none in many more years. Luck o' the draw.

 

by the way - please do not revive the old threads I have linked to here.

[stacybean]

I recently opened a bottle of Éclat de Saphir that I purchased from a reliable FPN vendor. I used it to ink a new Pelikan M805 which sprouted a mold colony on the nib. I washed the pen thoroughly and was about to pitch the ink.

Does anyone know if Exaclair will still exchange SITB afflicted inks? I emailed customer service and they have not responded.

Thanks!