Filtering Old Ink

[PDW]

I have a fair amount of old Stephens ink. Some of it is in part-used bulk (earthenware) bottles, and others in normal-size bottles.

 

I'd like to use these inks, but have a feeling that filtering before use could help get anything untoward out of the liquid - they're too dense to see if there's anything lurking. However, I suspect that if I were to filter the small quantity left in a half-filled small bottle of ink through filter paper before use it would all end up in the filter paper! OTOH a tea or coffee strainer might be too coarse to get fine particles of dead dyes out of the mix.

 

The question: what do people do to prepare old inks before use?

[MC_in_Houston]

Look, smell, invert the bottle to look for sediment or corroded lid bits, and yes, filter, I found an inch long snot mass of bacteria lurking inside and old ink bottle once.

[Sasha Royale]

Ink is cheap.

[KenD]

I wonder if a filter funnel for straining camping fuel would be fine enough for ink based crud? They are non-absorbant.

[Rafael Macia]

A couple of years ago I bought at some pen repair supply, (cannot remember where, sorry), large syringes with with very long thick, blunt needles. They were sold specifically to transfer FP inks. But since you need filtering;

The needles attach to the syringes with what is known as a "Luer-lock" You could buy (if it is legal where you are!) , at a medical supply or drug store, filter needles, which are used in medicine to draw from glass ampules without drawing up glass shards.

or .....

get some cheese cloth .... that does fine straining. And with latex gloves on you, can squeeze the ink through.

Forget paper filters.

 

All in all I would say it is not worth the effort. As said earlier, ink is cheap.

[amberleadavis]

Have you considered using the ink in pens other than your beloved fountain pens?

 

How about refillable markers (like the Preppy)?

[SeeksAdvice]

As is said in Monty Python and the Holy Grail ... Run away, RUN AWAY.

 

It may not be the vorpal bunny, but yikes.

 

From a bioscience guy turned attorney:

 

Even if you filter out the mycelia (that stringy fungal mass made up of one or more species), you still have untold numbers (thousands, millions?) of fungal spores in the bottle just waiting for a nice place to land and take up residence.

 

If there's expletive growing in the bottle, throw it. You simply aren't going to get the spores out via filtering with what's available on the open market.

 

If I see anything that looks vaguely odd about my inks, out they go. Even they higher end inks aren't worth messing with if there is stuff inside. I have a bottle of Iroshizuku that I'm watching to see if the few things I saw in it are undissolved dyes or if they are just the very early stages of mold colonies.

 

As far as other particulates, I'd be concerned that you wouldn't get "all" of them. Pretty sure that some rust from a lid could ruin a feed's day.

[amberleadavis]

As is said in Monty Python and the Holy Grail ... Run away, RUN AWAY.

 

It may not be the vorpal bunny, but yikes.

 

From a bioscience guy turned attorney:

 

 

 

Now, keep in mind that we attorneys are risk adverse.

 

That being said, I wouldn't put anything that I know to be germy into my fountain pen.

[SeeksAdvice]

It has nothing to do with being risk averse.

 

It has to do with not putting biohaz materials in your pen.

 

Now, I recognize that certain vintage inks contained preservatives that aren't in use anymore. I understand too that some of those agents are quite powerful. Wouldn't be as worried about mold growth in those. Not terribly worried about mold in the modern inks that use phenol.

[amberleadavis]

@Seeks

 

Oops I had to look up ADverse and AVerse.