Mixing Glycerine In Ink

[sanyalsoumitra]

At Kolkata we get the low cost Indian ink as staple : a) Camel ink from Camlin brand. Rs. 15/- for 60 ml and Sulekha Rs 20 for 60 ml.

Both these inks appear watery compared to Parker ink available for Rs 50/- for 30 ml, also the dye in the Parker ink does not wash away like the low cost ones.

 

Then comes the quality of common writing paper- it is scratchy, tends to soak in and quite thin , perhaps below 80 gsm ppc paper. All my nibs tried on this paper gives roughness.

 

I had read somewhere that High quality inks contain Glycerine as a nib lubricant and dye dispersant.

 

After a little contemplation, I went to a local cosmetics shop and bought a small bottle of glycerine, that is usd to moisten chapped lips in the dry winter. This is not thick pure glycerine, rather is a lot diluted by water.

 

Back home, I mixed about 15 ml in each of the five diffent colour inks I had, to about 50 ml of the ink. trying out on some low quality paper I noted that the nib point lubrication has improved appreciably and watery look has gone from the writing. Also there is no change in the ink drying time.

 

I also have a gut feeling that Glycerine works as a corrosion inhibitor..

 

Can anybody tell me more on this.

[soum]

I've tried glycerine in a fill once and it did seem to increase the flow a bit. I don't think glycerine would do anything in particular to avoid corrosion. By the way, what kind of corrosion do you refer to? For corrosion due to moisture, glycerine, being a humectant may just hasten it if it gets into places where you don't want moisture.

[amberleadavis]

You can do a google search about glycerin and inks and find a lot of cool info. I use it when I clean out my pens. You don't want a cosmetic grade glycerin though, because it won't be very helpful. Look for a FOOD grade glycerin and it's in the grocery store in the section for making candies. It should be sweet tasting, odorless and clear.

[mhosea]

I wouldn't use an impure, diluted glycerin product. I think by adding glycerin, you are adding food for microbes, so you probably don't want to both dilute your ink and add glycerin without adding some phenol or other biocide to keep the biocide concentration at an effective level. Also, if the glycerin was not produced in a clean environment, you may be injecting microbes as well that might love your ink dye more than glycerin.

 

Note that readers in the US might be confused by the meaning of "cosmetics grade" since in their cosmetics aisle they might, like as not, find "pure glycerin USP". That is not "cosmetics grade".

[Inkling13]

I would agree that adding glycerin would be inviting microbes. When it's added to personal lubricants, it can cause yeast infections and other microbial imbalances in ladies' sensitive parts, and I would think that it by reason do the same to ink and pens. However, this is dependant on the level of antimicrobial additives in the ink.

[amberleadavis]

This is from Pelikan Pen company.

 

 

 

 

http://www.pelikan.com/pulse/__v117/vfs-public/img/lehrer-info/monatsaktion/2003-09/tintenkiller3.jpgIngredients of “Royal Blue” ink

The “Royal Blue” ink from Pelikan is a special pigmented ink. The chemical foundation consists of „trephine methane molecules“. During the production process, this water soluble pigment does not develop clots that would later block the ink passage of a fountain pen. Active surface substances in the ink enable the mixture to glide smoothly. Further additives help the ink to dry on paper. Glycerine, Glycol or sugar help to prevent the ink from drying out resulting in crusts on the nibs point. Preservatives are also added to the ink. Because the ink is not waterproof it can be easily corrected with an ink eradicator. The ingredients of the ink were chosen baring all possible hazards and threats in mind. Even accidentally swallowing ink would not harm the average person. We do however warn against consumption as ink is not to be considered as nutrition.

[mhosea]

It's just that adding glycerin, especially diluted glycerin would have some implications about whether additional biocide is needed to maintain the stability of the formulation. The manufacturer presumably chose the concentration to meet the requirement of their formulation rather than the modified one.

Edited December 13, 2013 by mhosea

[sanyalsoumitra]

I am very happy to see all these informative responses to my curiosity question. I used to write with fountain pen in our school days in 1970's. Those days we used to get Sulekha ink predominantly in our eastern part of India, as well as Chelpark ink [ Parker collaboration] that was more expensive. I addition, we used to get ink - tablets available, these were 20 gram sized tablet to be mixed in 50 ml of warm water. Excet for the messy part this ink was also quite good. It is during making this ink that I learnt from some one to add pure Glycerine to increase lubrication and ink consistency. After those days some 35 years have passed without my using fountain pens. Only last year I started again as a hobby and this memory flashed back. Technical information about ink were not generally available in those days.

[cybaea]

This is from Pelikan Pen company.

 

 

 

 

http://www.pelikan.com/pulse/__v117/vfs-public/img/lehrer-info/monatsaktion/2003-09/tintenkiller3.jpgIngredients of “Royal Blue” ink

The “Royal Blue” ink from Pelikan is a special pigmented ink. The chemical foundation consists of „trephine methane molecules“. During the production process, this water soluble pigment does not develop clots that would later block the ink passage of a fountain pen. Active surface substances in the ink enable the mixture to glide smoothly. Further additives help the ink to dry on paper. Glycerine, Glycol or sugar help to prevent the ink from drying out resulting in crusts on the nibs point. Preservatives are also added to the ink. Because the ink is not waterproof it can be easily corrected with an ink eradicator. The ingredients of the ink were chosen baring all possible hazards and threats in mind. Even accidentally swallowing ink would not harm the average person. We do however warn against consumption as ink is not to be considered as nutrition.

 

+1 thanks for this link, Amberlea!

[drvishal]

At Kolkata we get the low cost Indian ink as staple : a) Camel ink from Camlin brand. Rs. 15/- for 60 ml and Sulekha Rs 20 for 60 ml.

Both these inks appear watery compared to Parker ink available for Rs 50/- for 30 ml, also the dye in the Parker ink does not wash away like the low cost ones.

 

Then comes the quality of common writing paper- it is scratchy, tends to soak in and quite thin , perhaps below 80 gsm ppc paper. All my nibs tried on this paper gives roughness.

 

I had read somewhere that High quality inks contain Glycerine as a nib lubricant and dye dispersant.

 

After a little contemplation, I went to a local cosmetics shop and bought a small bottle of glycerine, that is usd to moisten chapped lips in the dry winter. This is not thick pure glycerine, rather is a lot diluted by water.

 

Back home, I mixed about 15 ml in each of the five diffent colour inks I had, to about 50 ml of the ink. trying out on some low quality paper I noted that the nib point lubrication has improved appreciably and watery look has gone from the writing. Also there is no change in the ink drying time.

 

I also have a gut feeling that Glycerine works as a corrosion inhibitor..

 

Can anybody tell me more on this.

 

i think that will also dilute the ink and change the color.

 

 

 

 

[inkdesigner]

This is from Pelikan Pen company.

 

 

 

 

http://www.pelikan.com/pulse/__v117/vfs-public/img/lehrer-info/monatsaktion/2003-09/tintenkiller3.jpgIngredients of “Royal Blue” ink

The “Royal Blue” ink from Pelikan is a special pigmented ink. The chemical foundation consists of „trephine methane molecules“. During the production process, this water soluble pigment does not develop clots that would later block the ink passage of a fountain pen. Active surface substances in the ink enable the mixture to glide smoothly. Further additives help the ink to dry on paper. Glycerine, Glycol or sugar help to prevent the ink from drying out resulting in crusts on the nibs point. Preservatives are also added to the ink. Because the ink is not waterproof it can be easily corrected with an ink eradicator. The ingredients of the ink were chosen baring all possible hazards and threats in mind. Even accidentally swallowing ink would not harm the average person. We do however warn against consumption as ink is not to be considered as nutrition.

That is an interesting description, but, as an inkjet ink chemist, it also confuses me. In general, there are two main types of colorants used in inkjet ink. These are organic dyes, which is also the predominant colorant for fountain pen inks, and pigments, which, to my knowledge, were only being used by Platinum and Sailor in a few select fountain pen inks. The biggest difference between the two types of colorants is in their solubility properties. By definition, a pigment is a colorant that does NOT dissolve in water. Rather, it forms a suspension. If Pelikan is using a "water soluble pigment," I suspect what they are really using is a dye and are just trying to capitalize on the fact that folks most likely associate pigments with good durability (i.e. waterfastness) whereas dye are seen as not very waterfast.

[JefferyS]

Glycerol (glycerin) is hydroscopic and can absorb water from the air. Down here in the subtropics, I don't think it would be a good thing in ink. It is a nutrient (a carbohydrate), so it will encourage mold growth.

[amberleadavis]

Without consulting someone from Pelikan, I doubt we will know for sure. From the description, it looks like they add an inhibitor. " Preservatives are also added to the ink."

 

 

Personally, I haven't found glycerin to interfere with the ink color at all, but I also don't add it to my ink bottles. I have added phenol to some of my inks, and too much phenol can change the ink chemistry and I believe the color.

[mhosea]

If Pelikan is using a "water soluble pigment," I suspect what they are really using is a dye and are just trying to capitalize on the fact that folks most likely associate pigments with good durability (i.e. waterfastness) whereas dye are seen as not very waterfast.

 

It may also have been unintentional due to an imprecise translation. The German version is

 

"Dieser wasserlösliche Farbstoff ..."

 

According to Google Translate, Farbstoff usually means "dye". I suspect Montblanc's "precious resin" may have more palatable connotations (and possibly even denotation) in the original German. To an anglophone, "precious resin" implies that some of the major ingredients must be milked from endangered cats or something.

[virgilio]

Ihave always wondered why some inks such as Quink and the old Skrip are so much smoother than others. Perhaps they have more glycerine added. This bears further investigation. pharmacist in another thread recommends 5 ml of glycerine to every bottle of ink from food coloring, as a surfactant. But from this excellent thread, I now suspect that it would also be a good way to make ink smoother, as several of the posters here observed. To me this is very important, as I love smooth ink.

 

Mould growth is a non-issue if you add some sort of fungicide in a adequate quantity.

 

Also possibly a good way to keep piston fillers operating smoothly without using silicon grease, which I suspect of giving some of my pens flow problems.

[bone215]

I use a mix of 50% glycerin and 50% distilled water, I keep in a small amount in a glass 5 dram storage bottle.

For inks requiring the occasional nudge, I place one syringe drop into the converter or cartridge presently in the pen.

Each ink is different in drops per response time, i.e. one drop at a time over a small period of time.

 

By keeping mix in glass jar I can see if any aliens invade the mix, visible ones anyway. So far in the two years history, zero problems other than impatience and getting to "oops added too much" point.

 

I would never do this direct into a bottle. I mix direct to pen or I make mixes up into sample vials. Several inks whose names and activities were considered 'not nice' are now 'nice'.

 

For those who say 'never mix into the pen' may be correct, so I don't mix inks in pens, just this one additive.

[virgilio]

Your average converter or piston filler holds around 1/2 ml of ink, and 1 drop (from a vet syringe) is about 1/50 of a ml, so you are perhaps using a ratio of something like 1 part of glycerine/water to 25 parts ink, or about 1 part glytcerine to 50 parts ink. That would be about 1 ml of glycerine per bottle. pharmacist recommended 5 ml of glycerine in a thread on mixing up ink from food coloring, quite a bit more, but maybe your ink already has a smoothing agent...

 

I'm going to mix up some ink from McCormick food coloring. I will start with 20 ml food coloring, 20 ml distilled water, 100 mg salicylic acid and 250 mg sodium benzoate (funigicides) and 2 ml of glycerine (to make the ink smoother) and 4 drops Ivory Dish Detergent (surfactant). Naturally I will scale down the quantities at first until I find the right mix of food coloring/water and glycerine/detergent for my taste, which is definitely for a very smooth, very wet ink (short of feathering).

 

I have also read that there are 100 generic 'drops' in a ml, but using a small vet syringe at least, there are about 50, similar to the size of the drops you get by gradually squeezing a bladder-filler until you empty it of ink, drop by drop. Typical bladder-filler holds about 12 to 25 drops of ink.

[virgilio]

bone215, it is clever of you to mix your glycerine with water; I do the same thing with detergent sometimes so I can more easily draw it up into the syringe, which sometimes resists very thick liquids.

[virgilio]

Altho it is a little off-topic, I will note in passing that anyone interested in mixing up their own ink from food coloring will find all the ingredients mentioned on amazon.com, or from any pharmacy. The dyes used in food coloring are said to be similar or identical to those used in many commercial inks, and I actually prefer their color in many cases. Only in the past I was too ignorant to add such things as fungicides and surfactants, not to mention glycerine, so my food coloring ink eventually clogged my pens, and always had a rather watery feel to it. It was however very easy to clean the pens by a water flush.

 

I also read on another thread that ethyl alcohol has been used as a fungicide, but that it tends to make the ink feather easily.

 

No wonder every brand of ink has its own characteristic 'feel'; there seem to be at least a half dozen choices for surfactant, fungicide and smoothing agent. Not to mention the dye itself.

[aeba]

I have also read that there are 100 generic 'drops' in a ml, but using a small vet syringe at least, there are about 50, similar to the size of the drops you get by gradually squeezing a bladder-filler until you empty it of ink, drop by drop. Typical bladder-filler holds about 12 to 25 drops of ink.

Possibly. But the question is "x drops of what?"

 

This post was made while eating popcorns in anticipation, and watching The pitch drop experiment.