Do Diamine inks fade over time?

[Northwoods]

 

(I was dearly tempted to ask folks to pull out there oldest writings to see how they fared over the years.)

 

 

I went back as far as my journals take me, which is about 15 years. No fade. These were written on various paper from composition books to bound journals--nothing special, no name-brands. Inks would've most likely been Waterman and Schaeffer (blue, blue/black) in the earliest books, and later on Levenger (pretty much anything but blue or black).

 

But then again, I'm not in the habit of washing my journals and leaving them out to dry in direct sunlight.

[mstone]

I went back as far as my journals take me, which is about 15 years. No fade. These were written on various paper from composition books to bound journals--nothing special, no name-brands. Inks would've most likely been Waterman and Schaeffer (blue, blue/black) in the earliest books, and later on Levenger (pretty much anything but blue or black).

 

But then again, I'm not in the habit of washing my journals and leaving them out to dry in direct sunlight.

I think it's fair to say that most people aren't, and use the torture and fade tests as a poor man's accelerated aging test. These tests seem to at least correlate well between some of the inks that have been reported to fade over time in journals and some of those that disappear in sunlight. The alternatives (buying stuff that didn't fade forty years ago or waiting forty years to see which inks are reliable) seem much less attractive than the torture testing method.

[napalm]

Hello,

 

I'm not sure how to approach this 'fading' thing.

 

[...] It seems to me that the UV test is meaningless if I keep that which is written/drawn with FP ink in a dark or dim environment. [...]

 

Further thoughts??

 

Well I was just reading this old thread and remembered of this document:

 

http://www.americaninkjet.com/images/Problem_of_Catalytic_Fading.pdf

 

Basically those dye are decomposing (and fading / color shifting) even in the dark. UV does nothing but accelerate the process, bringing it to an easily observable time scale (you need weeks instead of years of observations).

 

So the "sheet in the windows" test actually are useful to predict the performance of the dye in a closed notebook.

 

P.S. according to the pdf, mixing inks can produce a new one that's worse than each of the components

Edited July 11, 2014 by napalm

[scannon18]

 

Well I was just reading this old thread and remembered of this document:

 

http://www.americaninkjet.com/images/Problem_of_Catalytic_Fading.pdf

 

Basically those dye are decomposing (and fading / color shifting) even in the dark. UV does nothing but accelerate the process, bringing it to an easily observable time scale (you need weeks instead of years of observations).

 

So the "sheet in the windows" test actually are useful to predict the performance of the dye in a closed notebook.

 

P.S. according to the pdf, mixing inks can produce a new one that's worse than each of the components

 

Thank you so much for that link, it is very interesting.

If I understand what they are saying correcting, it is that dye fading is, essentially, due to oxidation, and UV exposure "photoexcites" the dyes, leading to a faster oxidation rate, and thus a faster fading rate.

 

Which is to say, dye fading in a dark dry notebook and dye fading in a UV-exposed window are actually fading via the same mechanism, but the process is accelerated due to the added energy of UV absorption.

 

Which is to say, UV torture tests are a great way to determine the longevity of dye coloration in a dark, dry notebook. Assuming the paper does not somehow contribute to the problem.

[inkstainedruth]

 

Well I was just reading this old thread and remembered of this document:

 

http://www.americaninkjet.com/images/Problem_of_Catalytic_Fading.pdf

 

Basically those dye are decomposing (and fading / color shifting) even in the dark. UV does nothing but accelerate the process, bringing it to an easily observable time scale (you need weeks instead of years of observations).

 

So the "sheet in the windows" test actually are useful to predict the performance of the dye in a closed notebook.

 

P.S. according to the pdf, mixing inks can produce a new one that's worse than each of the components

I only skimmed the article (not up for heavy reading at the moment) but thanks for posting the link.

Incidentally, a few years ago I got tired of having to use one of those old-fashioned label makers (you know, the kind where you had to move the dial for every letter, and the plasticky tape would show the letters in white against the background color), because they were hard on my hands. So I got one of those handy dandy mini-printer type ones, to make labels for magazine holders on a shelf in my sewing room. And discovered that those types of labels fade *horribly* (the room has a big picture window facing west, and the magazine holders were on top of a credenza I used to make a semi wall between my computer desk, which is in the corner next to that window, and the rest of the the room. I'm now wondering what sort of ink the label tapes use.

Not to mention that some of the refill tapes don't stick to plastic very well.... For that matter, they're not all that great on manilla folders.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[David_W]

It depends on which system you bought as to the printing technology. The Dymo LabelWriter paper labels are thermal, much like the old fax paper - their longevity is suspect is heat and/or direct light. Dymo D1 tape is thermal transfer from a plastic ribbon to a plastic tape - that's a highly robust solution.

[amberleadavis]

And to see some from the window, check out Cybaea's tests.