UV Resistance - Yes , But ...

[Patrick L]

I sometimes read about U.V resistant inks. Okay, but is this really that important actually ? I mean what we write with ink the ink is in contact with light but afterwards in most cases the ink will no longer be in contact with light unless the ink is on the cover page , file cover or something like this . Waterproof inks would be more important I think because liquid can fall on the ink at any time, our hands can be wet and so on.

Am I wrong here ?

Edited June 29, 2018 by Patrick L

[Steveg58]

Sunlight contains a lot of UV. Probably not an issue if your writing is locked away in a closed journal but otherwise something to consider.

[Almu]

I've never spilled coffee/water/anything on my papers (not even close), but some of my writings have faded due to sunlight exposure.

So I do care a lot more about fade resistance than waterproofness... but that's just me.

[aurore]

I appreciate the UV resistance a lot. I do not need my inks to be fully waterproof, but UV resistance/fade resistance is what I am happy to pay for. One of the reasons why I have become a big fan of GvFC inks (even their Burned Orange is quite UV resistant).

Edited June 29, 2018 by aurore

[inkstainedruth]

I've had inks fade on me, even in a mostly closed journal (modern Quink Washable Blue, I'm looking at YOU ).

It all depends on what you care most about. There are inks that I have which run when water is in their general vicinity -- but which I keep because of the color. There are inks I have which are pretty waterproof but have pretty much zero UV resistance (a lot of IG inks fall into that category).

If you want something that's EVERYTHING proof, there's Noodler's Kung Te Cheng. And it's one of the few inks I've tried which will work on those plastic Post-It flags (the IG inks will work but you're back to the poor UV resistance). But KTC has its own issues -- it's so thick and saturated that unless you have it in a pen that's a daily user, it will clog and have nib creep (plus I've seen reviews where it's equated to PAINT because it's so thick). Usually I have more problems with a refill than an initial fill, but I don't like the look of the ink when it's diluted with water, either -- it becomes more purple and you lose the indigo).

I can't say what's going to be best for your needs. I can only say to read the reviews and maybe try a bunch of samples, because you might or might not like the ink even with favorable reviews (for instance, a lot of people like Noodler's Black, which is cellulose-reactive -- which means it bonds with the paper -- but only what's actually in contact with the paper, and that means it can be smudgy).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Patrick L]

Hi Ruth ,

Thanks for your reply. If your journal was closed (and I guess that most writings are closed) then the inks fade have nothing to do with U.V effect. I drink a lot and sometimes like to wash my hands before I touch my beloved pens so my hands are sometimes somewhat wet and liquid (coffee , tea , soda , beer, water ...)might spill on the paper and ink as well . Also I am sometimes have to carry envelopes outside and rain can be very worrisome ...

Once again are not most writings nearly always closed ? So what's the big deal with U.V ? ...

[Olya]

[...]

Once again are not most writings nearly always closed ? So what's the big deal with U.V ? ...

 

The question on UV resistance seems to be directly correlated to fading in closed books - the idea seems to be that those inks that can hold up to the great stress of direct UV contact for weeks or even months on end, will also fare well on paper over time. There are some inks that fade in closed books noticeably within a short amount of time and I think that's fostered the UV tests and the demand to know how XY ink holds up in direct sunlight. Kind of a quickie test to gauge longevity on the shelf (on paper!).

 

These are only a gauge though, this has been discussed recently at length and explained by members with much greater knowledge, eg non-acidic paper can become acidic over time, so that's a factor, then the direct UV exposure has to be calculated/ regarded how it compares to time on paper (eg 8hrs in the sun are how many years on the shelf, things like that).

 

I wrote for years in school with washable blues and spills were never an issue, my own obsession with water resistance has come about since I came back to fpens, somehow with a ballpoint that was never a question even though some ballpoint inks are worse than fpen inks... Though I also have a bit of an issue with washing hands and then not having them dry enough immediately...

[Intensity]

Anything that might hang as art or be used for autographs, etc. I think needs to be fade/UV resistant. Of course anything that goes into a closed journal or art notebook with no plans to be exposed to light can be simply fade-resistant without UV exposure. I never cared until UV resistance until I had ballpoint autographs fade on a framed poster hanging indoors. Now I know better and would bring a pen with more archival and fade-resistant quality for that purpose (like something with Pilot G2 refills).

[jmccarty3]

I drink a lot

 

+1. The more I drink, the less I care about water and UV resistance.

[welch]

Not important. I put loose sheets into a folder and put the folders into a file cabinet for long-term storage. Paper will dry out, yellow, crumble, crack on the folds. Inks will probably outlast the paper.

[amberleadavis]

Somewhere in one of the big tests that I did, I copied the detailed explanation from a scientist, the theory is something like this:

 

The ink does and will degrade over time. You are using the sun as a catalyst to see how the ink will degrade over time.

 

So, the fact that BSB fades out of existence in about six weeks in the Las Vegas summer may not be useful information on it's own, but if you compare that information to the fact that Noodler's Zhivago never seems to fade in the same time, that information may be useful if you want to say leave a letter for descendent.

 

http://www.sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/Tests/Fade/2012/Subjects/slides/20-2012-10-14_001.jpg

[PAKMAN]

When I worked in an office I often made notes or long term lists that I pinned to the board by my desk. I was suprised by how fast the UV lighting in the room caused my notes to fade.

[bemon]

Looks like I'm reviving an older thread, but I wanted to do an experiment with some of my mainstay inks. I used a post it note and pinned it to the side of my desk which sits against a west facing window at work.

 

In less than 60 days look at what the sun's done! Even the ballpoints aren't safe! For that matter look at the fading on the post it... gives me a new perspective for what the paint on my car goes through.

[Arkanabar]

Colored ballpoints are surprisingly prone to fading. I'd tested that once, some 25+ years ago.

[bemon]

Colored ballpoints are surprisingly prone to fading. I'd tested that once, some 25+ years ago.

I don't know why I'm surprised. Although it looks like Shmidt fares better than Cross does.

[Mech-for-i]

even todays high tech nano pigment ink fade with UV exposure its just how matters work ( physics and chemistry ) that's why for most artwork, document that need significant protection there's special coating that can be applied to both protect the pieces from UV and also from other aerial exposure.

 

For us who want to be ale to get some decent writing done with some amount of resistance and protection from UV ( and aging ) try Carbon ink ... I use a mix of classic ( not pigment, real carbon ) carbon ink with Iron gall ink 1:1 ratio ( Hero 234+ Hero 232 ) and while they are not the most user friendly ink to had; the mix is some that shown very high resistance to all the environment dished out at it ; just remember to use a nib FM or wider , anything finer its too easy to clog

[mah]

How can I date a text written with a regular and usually pen so that microscopic devices can date it back 6 years?  It should be possible, and according to the site, I need the help of everyone in space to complete my research on radiation and pen ink in texts.

[mah]

How can I date a text written with a regular and usually pen so that microscopic devices can date it back 6 years?  It should be possible, and according to the site, I need the help of everyone in space to complete my research on radiation and pen ink in texts

What type lamp uvc or uva or infrared?

What distance from paper?

What watt/ hours be lamp?

Please answer me

Please

[Mercian]

3 hours ago, mah said:

How can I date a text written with a regular and usually pen so that microscopic devices can date it back 6 years?  It should be possible, and according to the site, I need the help of everyone in space to complete my research on radiation and pen ink in texts

What type lamp uvc or uva or infrared?

What distance from paper?

What watt/ hours be lamp?

Please answer me

Please

 

If you are asking for a method to make a handwritten document that has been written just now appear to be six years old, you have two problems:

 

1- the rate at which the paper/ink 'would have' degraded through exposure to heat/ultraviolet light is dependent upon many factors.
One factor is how the paper has (supposedly) been 'stored' over six years - a sheet of paper that is pinned-up next to a window will 'age' far more quickly than a sheet of paper that was inside a closed book and kept inside a locked safe (so that no light ever fell upon it).
Another factor is the type of paper (its material and the technique that was used to make it), and what surface treatments ('sizing') were applied to it during its manufacture.
Different types of paper (and different types of ink) 'age' at different rates - one type of paper will degrade more-rapidly than another that has been exposed to the same amount of ultraviolet light, heat, oxygen, moisture, etc.
The same is true for different types of ink.

This means that nobody would be able to tell you an exact method to replicate 'precisely' six years of ageing.

 

2- this is the tougher problem:
If you wish to artificially-'age' a document that has been written just now in such a way that it would convince someone who has access to modern scientific equipment, you will not be able to do it.
If anyone were able to test your document using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry, they would be able to analyse the ratios of different radioactive isotopes in your document. These ratios change over time, because different isotopes decay at different rates.
There is no way to accelerate radioactive decay.

 

Even if you were to create a document by using six-year-old ink to write on six-year-old paper, I know that chemical reactions will continue to occur between the components of the ink and the components of the paper (and the atmosphere) for a long time after the document has been created.
The amount of the changes caused by these chemical reactions will also be detectable by GCMS (and, perhaps, by other methods).
i.e. GCMS analysis would be able to show that six years had not elapsed since the writing of the ink on to the paper.

In summary:
There is no way to artificially 'age' a document in such a way that you would be able to convince anyone who has access to GCMS technology that the document is older than it really is.

 

 

Edited May 2, 2025 by Mercian
Edited for clarity

[LizEF]

6 hours ago, mah said:

How can I date a text written with a regular and usually pen so that microscopic devices can date it back 6 years?  It should be possible, and according to the site, I need the help of everyone in space to complete my research on radiation and pen ink in texts

What type lamp uvc or uva or infrared?

What distance from paper?

What watt/ hours be lamp?

Please answer me

Please

@Mercian has provided an excellent answer (at least, it looks excellent to my untrained brain).  But I'll point out this isn't a pen, ink, and paper user question - it's a forensic science question (assuming Mercian's interpretation of the question is correct, which I assume it is).  If you haven't already, you might want to try to find a forum for discussing forensic science...

 

The alternate interpretation is that you're asking for folks 6 years from now to be able to determine how old your document is.  That's simple - write the date on it in an unambiguous format, such as: Wednesday, 02 April 2025 (this is the least ambiguous date format ever invented). 

 

If you're wanting to just make it look old (e.g. as a prop for dramatic purposes), you first have to decide what a 6 year old document looks like (which will depend on whether I have stored it, or a 7 year old child, or a crazy engineer with a cluttered mind, or...).  Have I been carrying this with me every where I go for the past 6 years, or has it been in the file cabinet all this time?  Is this 1940 and I rifle² through the contents of the file cabinet every day, or is it 2025, and I put things in there in case the IRS ever come to audit me and then forget about them?  I think you get the idea.

 

If none of this addressed your question, perhaps you can clarify.

 

²I checked, this definition of the verb "rifle" has not yet been classified as "archaic", so I guess I'm not that old. And no, there is no ¹ footnote in my reply - I'm using ² here because I'm using the second verb entry in the dictionary, not the first.