What Has Been Your Least Favorite Ink So Far?

[Zlh296830]

Noodlers Zhivago. Average flow, long dry time, and lifeless boring color. I got it on amazon last week and immediately returned it after I tried it.

[laverst1]

Herbin Ambre de Birmanie. I bought it as a gold ink. Instead it induced PTSD flashbacks to changing my daughter's nappies!

[majorworks]

For me, it's a cheap Hero carbon black ink that clogs up every pen I put it in. I still have it, don't ask me why. OTOH, it IS a really black black.

[migo984]

Diamine Golden Brown, by a country mile......

[Albrecht17]

Diamine ochre. I was looking for a coffee colour to satisfy my coffee addiction. Wrote a page with it and it looks more like cappuccino. Very disappointed in the colour.

[Cassotto]

I have around 20 ink bottles, and three of them are inks I won't replace when they run out (if they do).

 

Right now I'm doing some research to replace my green ink for everyday use. I can't wait to get rid of what's left of Waterman Harmonious Green. Too blue for me. But I don't like throwing things away, so I'll finish it.

 

I don't like Diamine Grape too much. I've tried it with two or three pens, and in all cases it's been an extremely dry ink that looks too dark to be completely sure of what colour it is.

 

Parker Quink Black: this is one of the first bottles I bought, because I wanted some black ink (though I don't use it too much), and it was the only one available at my local shop. It seemed too grey to be black. Though maybe I should have a go with a different pen.

[Beechwood]

Worst ink I have ever owned was Noodlers Monkey Hanger, the only ink I have owned that bled through the page of Rhodia paper, through to the second page and bled to the back of that page.

 

Next was diamine grape which stained a 146 ink window and a Twsbi, together with a number of cartridges.

 

Diamine Imperial Blue WES edition, a peculiar ink, but would take a huge amount of dilution with a change of colour each time, 80 ml went to over 300ml at that stage it looked like Caran D ache Caribbean Sea, having started out at as a fairly boring mid Royal Blue.

[inkstainedruth]

Worst ink I have ever owned was Noodlers Monkey Hanger, the only ink I have owned that bled through the page of Rhodia paper, through to the second page and bled to the back of that page.

 

Next was diamine grape which stained a 146 ink window and a Twsbi, together with a number of cartridges.

 

Diamine Imperial Blue WES edition, a peculiar ink, but would take a huge amount of dilution with a change of colour each time, 80 ml went to over 300ml at that stage it looked like Caran D ache Caribbean Sea, having started out at as a fairly boring mid Royal Blue.

 

Thanks for the heads up about Monkey Hanger -- I almost bought a bottle of that last year at the Commonwealth Pen Show from some UK seller whose table was kitty-cornered to the Noodler's table. I *did* buy a bottle of Noodler's Brexit, based on the exemplar, but it actuality it's very light and a little hard to read on the page.

Ironically, I was just telling my husband the story behind the ink yesterday afternoon -- he was watching some weird video series about bizarre tidbits of history and the one he was watching had to do with "the Watermelon War" (basically a street brawl between a US serviceman and a street vendor in what is now Panama (then part of "New Grenada). And that YouTube channel sounded like the sort of quirky little tidbits of "history" that Nathan Tardif would get into.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[ParramattaPaul]

Two, Diamine Oxford Blue and Diamine Regency Blue.

[tim77]

I can't wait to get rid of what's left of Waterman Harmonious Green. Too blue for me.

 

I'm also not a fan of Waterman's green. But mix it 2:1 with Serenity Blue to get a quite decent teal.

 

Two, Diamine Oxford Blue and Diamine Regency Blue.

 

What did you not like about the Oxford Blue?

[Honeybadgers]

Still has to be wancher matcha green tea for me. unbelievable feathering on anything it touches.

[inkstainedruth]

Two, Diamine Oxford Blue and Diamine Regency Blue.

 

Funny, I really like Oxford Blue.... Regency Blue was okay but didn't wow me.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[dennis_f]

Two, Diamine Oxford Blue and Diamine Regency Blue.

 

 

Oxford Blue is one of my favourite blues... Near perfect in my estimation.

 

What don't you like about it? Is it simply the colour or are there performance issues for you?

[kulnet]

Montblanc Miles Davis. It was way too light.

[kingcobradude]

Rohrer & Klingner Verdura. It's a nice green,behaved pretty well, I just dont use green ink. Though i do love emerald of chivor

[torstar]

Noodlers Russian series, meh, my fault for going against my spider's sense screaming NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO............

 

That Plains of Abraham fiasco.

[Cassotto]

 

I'm also not a fan of Waterman's green. But mix it 2:1 with Serenity Blue to get a quite decent teal.

 

 

 

Thanks for the tip. I like teal ink, though the only one I've got is Diamine Eau de Nil. The mixture will be good for a change.

 

 

Edited to add: I've also got Emerald of Chivor, though I hardly ever remember shimmering inks when talking about what I write with (as I only used them for calligraphy). And, anyway, it's often described as green, not teal. I've never been very good at telling green from teal from blue.

Edited September 9, 2019 by Cassotto

[sombrueil]

Diamine Kelly Green is the only ink I have poured down the sink with a feeling of good riddance. Not only is the color I turned out to really dislike -- I have never been able to enjoy paintbox-colored inks -- but it was insanely nib-crusty. I have inks like Diamine Ancient Copper that many have complained about which are well-behaved for me, but not Kelly. Ugh. Shudder.

Separate mention to J.Herbin Violette Pensee which I have actually bought twice, not believing that i found the color insipid the first time.

[silverlifter]

The only two bottles of Noodlers that I have ever bought, or will buy: 54th Mass and Lexington Grey. Both were a runny, feathery mess.

[Addertooth]

My loathing depends on the pen. I loathe Iroshizuku Yama-Budo in any of my wet flex nib pens. Even with the heaviest Rhodia paper, it feathers and bleeds through with a wet flex-nib pen. It looks decent with a drier pen that leaves an uninspired line.

In terms of actual ink color, the pricier Colorverse Dust Storm and Valles Marineris are just to bland and one dimensional. However, if I ever needed to draft an image of a moss and sludge laden septic tank, those colors would be vital to the rendition.