Looking For My Perfect Black, One That Doesn't Bleed.

[thirdguess]

Hi, this is actually My First post here. I tried to search for a similar post and couldn't find one.

I am looking for the least "bleedy" black I can find. I am an emergency room nurse, and I'm wanting to start using a fp for some of my paper documentation. I realize that often paper is one of the biggest components to stop bleed outs. Unfortunately, this is not something I can fix since I have to document on provided paper.

 

In your experience, what are some of the best inks to use on standard lightweight copy paper? I will only be using F and EF nibs.

[carlos.q]

First of all, welcome to FPN!

 

You will surely get a lot of suggestions. From my experience, Noodlers Black works fine, but you should dilute it with a bit of distilled water to prevent smudging.

[eharriett]

Hi, this is actually My First post here. I tried to search for a similar post and couldn't find one.

I am looking for the least "bleedy" black I can find. I am an emergency room nurse, and I'm wanting to start using a fp for some of my paper documentation. I realize that often paper is one of the biggest components to stop bleed outs. Unfortunately, this is not something I can fix since I have to document on provided paper.

 

In your experience, what are some of the best inks to use on standard lightweight copy paper? I will only be using F and EF nibs.

 

Hi, and welcome to FPN.

 

If you are trying to keep a black from bleeding through, you already figured an F and EF nib is what you need. Honestly, on lines that small, almost no black will go through, especially cheap copy paper. You should be fine with whichever black you choose. I experimented with EF's early on and got a Preppy with one. Never had a bleedthrough and I was using inks with way worse a reputation than just a reliable black.

 

Keep it to an extra fine nib and grab some samples before committing if you aren't sure. You'll find they're all going to work. It's really when you start working with M nibs or larger you begin to see a bleedthrough. You can make a case for some F nibs on some paper, but that's the exception rather than the rule.

[Randal6393]

With EF and F nibs, just about any black ink should not bleed on you. Noodler's Black is one of my favourites, it is formulated to write on just about any paper without bleeding. Other great blacks that I use regularly are Aurora Black, Monteverde Midnight Black, and Montblanc Black. If you do have problems with bleeding with any of these inks, well, last resort is Noodler's Feather-X. Or is it X-Feather?

 

You may do well by reading some of our ink reviews and looking for how well the ink resists bleeding.

 

And Welcome to FPN!

[senzen]

It also depends on the pen... From what I have a Pilot metropolitan in medium (so corresponds to a european fine) and J Herbin perle Noire wouldn't bleed on regular paper. Probably the same with a fine nib.

[koukoutsi]

With EF and F nibs, ....great blacks that I use regularly are Aurora Black, Monteverde Midnight Black, and Montblanc Black.

 

 

Hi,

 

I have a Fine 149 and Aurora Black is very "thin", grey-ish.

While I have read a lot a bout it, Diamine Black seems to look better (admittedly on M nib).

 

Should I get a more flowy/lubricated ink?

 

thanks

 

PS: I have a thread from yesterday in the forum section with photos

[eharriett]

 

 

Hi,

 

I have a Fine 149 and Aurora Black is very "thin", grey-ish.

While I have read a lot a bout it, Diamine Black seems to look better (admittedly on M nib).

 

Should I get a more flowy/lubricated ink?

 

thanks

 

PS: I have a thread from yesterday in the forum section with photos

 

Aurora is one of the more accepted standards for black. It is the color I use in my desk pen. It's a vintage Snorkel desk pen with an F nib. So might be just slightly thicker than your 149. I'd recommend you go to the mainstays of ink if you are looking for a blackity black in a thin line that is traditional in every sense. As a big Noodlers fan, I can highly recommend their black, however, if you want a traditional black, if something like that exists: Waterman, Sheaffer, Sailor, Parker. They've got nearly a century in marketing their blacks as black and they behave well in everything.

[bass1193]

I've had great performance from Noodler's Heart of Darkness. It's crazy black, nigh-waterproof, and it's never misbehaved for me even on poor paper. I mainly write with Japanese ef nibs, though, so that may explain the lack of feathering and bleed-through.

Edited October 26, 2018 by bass1193

[putteringpenman]

In my experience, Pilot Black behaves well.

[koukoutsi]

 

Aurora is one of the more accepted standards for black. It is the color I use in my desk pen. It's a vintage Snorkel desk pen with an F nib. So might be just slightly thicker than your 149. I'd recommend you go to the mainstays of ink if you are looking for a blackity black in a thin line that is traditional in every sense. As a big Noodlers fan, I can highly recommend their black, however, if you want a traditional black, if something like that exists: Waterman, Sheaffer, Sailor, Parker. They've got nearly a century in marketing their blacks as black and they behave well in everything.

 

 

thanks a lot, Il looking to get the Eel Black and give it try.

[aderoy]

Two inks that do not get much mention:

 

Platinum Carbon Black

Sailor Kiwa-Guro Nano Black Carbon

 

Both are rock solid, dry quickly.

[ehemem]

Retired RN here. You need a very waterproof black, so I would recommend Noodler's Black, which is what I used in a pen with Japanese fine nib. Dilute the ink a bit.

[A Smug Dill]

I am looking for the least "bleedy" black I can find. I am an emergency room nurse, and I'm wanting to start using a fp for some of my paper documentation. I realize that often paper is one of the biggest components to stop bleed outs.

Just to make sure everyone is on the same page, are you talking about bleed-through where the ink seeps so deeply into the fibres of the paper it wets and marks the reverse side of the sheet, or feathering where the ink seeps outwards from the marks you make with the pen leaving jagged outlines, or smearing, smudging and/or pigment lifting from the page upon contact with moisture?

 

Noodler's X-Feather is generally very good at avoiding bleed-through, feathering and smearing, but depending on the paper it could take longer to dry. Sailor kiwaguro pigment ink is solid, but may leave some graphite-coloured sheen on the page (again depending on the paper), and some black colour (I'm not sure if that's pigment or dye) will get lifted if you spill water on the page; that won't wash away what you have written, but if you don't soak the water up quickly, the lifted/migrated colour can then settle back on the page over the area of the droplets, making the writing under it harder to read. Rubinato Nero Inchiostro has a fair amount of water resistance, but I haven't tested it on lightweight copy paper to check for bleed-through; it was fine on the 100gsm copy paper I was using.

[Arkanabar]

A strong iron-gall ink, such as either Diamine or Ecclesiastical Stationery Supplies' Registrar's Inks, should cure to a line darker than your typical ballpoint Bic, and be waterproof. Iron gall inks are the least likely to feather or bleed on bad paper.

 

As others have said, Noodler's Black and Noodler's Heart of Darkness ought also to suit; original Black can be diluted as much as 1:1 with water to speed drying. I haven't used Sailor Kiwa-Guro or Platinum Carbon Black, but they too are reputed to behave well on bad paper, and to be essentially waterproof.

[eharriett]

A strong iron-gall ink, such as either Diamine or Ecclesiastical Stationery Supplies' Registrar's Inks, should cure to a line darker than your typical ballpoint Bic, and be waterproof. Iron gall inks are the least likely to feather or bleed on bad paper.

 

As others have said, Noodler's Black and Noodler's Heart of Darkness ought also to suit; original Black can be diluted as much as 1:1 with water to speed drying. I haven't used Sailor Kiwa-Guro or Platinum Carbon Black, but they too are reputed to behave well on bad paper, and to be essentially waterproof.

I am a regular user of both Diamine Registrar’s and Platinum Carbon. Although I keep both in safety pens. Both are well behaved on paper. Surprisingly so, now that it was just mentioned. I guess I don’t think about either for these kinds of uses very much. You wanna talk about permenance and dark black, they are winners. But both can be tricky with pens, which is why they are both in safeties. You don’t need to do what I did, but that’s my little eccentricity.