Deterioration Of Old Inks

[InkStainedWings]

I was recently fortunate enough to find some Sanford Penit in those cute little jars The covers say they were originally ten cents apiece...the 50s, maybe? Anyway, they're NOS, so I decided to try them out. The Cardinal Red, Green, Brown, Dubonnet, and Blue Black all work fantastic, and the colors seem accurate to the examples I've found. The Violet, however, was completely seperated--like water and sand, practically.

 

My question is, do some colors just naturally hold up better over the course of time? Or is it totally random? I want to eventually try all the different Sanford inks (I live in a town called Sanford ), but I'm wondering if some of the colors will be harder to find in a useable state than others...

[Zilknitha]

The calligraphy inks I use don't take much time to seperate, but a good shake makes them usable again. That might just be because of the pigments used to make the ink.

[amberleadavis]

I don't know if some colors hold up better or some inks just hold up better. I don't know that enough of us have collected the information to do an analysis.

 

Meanwhile, look for mold and sediment. If it has either, don't use it in a FP.

[InkStainedWings]

The calligraphy inks I use don't take much time to seperate, but a good shake makes them usable again. That might just be because of the pigments used to make the ink.

Trust me, I tried to put it back together Half of the dye was coated and entirely solidified to the glass. The rest just sinks. It won't rejoin.

 

I ended up transferring the liquid to a different container for some experiments with a paint brush, and cleaning the jar with rubbing alcohol.

[InkStainedWings]

I don't know if some colors hold up better or some inks just hold up better. I don't know that enough of us have collected the information to do an analysis.

 

Meanwhile, look for mold and sediment. If it has either, don't use it in a FP.

I just find it odd that I see so little Violet on the market. Maybe it just wasn't as popular a color at the time... I find blues (both Royal and Peacock) everywhere, though.

 

Trust me, I check for contaminants before I use them And I test them through Preppys before putting them in anything more precious.

[amberleadavis]

Well, do post pics. I love seeing how we use up our no solid inks.