Is It Possible To Make An Ink Drier?

[saulyleeplans]

Is it possible to make an ink drier? I'm just writing a post for my blog and I haven't read or had any experience with inks that I would change to make drier.

[Intensity]

You can try adding a small amount of distilled water to a sample vial of ink. It will dilute the surfactant in the ink and in theory will make the ink a bit drier.

[Houston]

You can try adding a small amount of distilled water to a sample vial of ink. It will dilute the surfactant in the ink and in theory will make the ink a bit drier.

 

That has always been the advice I've applied when I want to reduce drying time. So counterintuitive: add water to make it dry quicker. One has to be careful not to overdo it lest feathering ensues... I've never tried the same trick to reduce intrinsic "wetness", though. Interesting theory.

[BrassRatt]

Has anybody tried "de-foamer" additives (silicones, usually) for this? On the vague theory that surface activity leads both to "wetness" (high flow rate) in a pen, and to bubble persistence in other uses?

[Arkanabar]

I'd recommend dilution, my go-to solution for the featherocity of e.g. Noodler's Borealis Black and Bad Black Moccasin. The thinking is that you reduce the concentration of surfactants. As surfactants reduce surface tension and increase flow (and spread, and feathering), diluting them should reduce all of those.

[lukeformosa]

 

That has always been the advice I've applied when I want to reduce drying time. So counterintuitive: add water to make it dry quicker. One has to be careful not to overdo it lest feathering ensues... I've never tried the same trick to reduce intrinsic "wetness", though. Interesting theory.

 

I've actually tried the reverse. I had a bottle of Pelikan 4001 blue that didn't flow well and wasn't saturated enough for my tastes. I figured it was too dilute. So I poured a good amount into a low, wide plastic container (I used the clear lid of the old Parker pen boxes) and left a computer fan blowing on it for a few hours. When the volume of ink had decreased to 50-70% of the original I scooped it up with a syringe and put it in the pen.

 

Sure enough it was more flowing and stronger-coloured, with less shading. Unfortunately a few hours under a computer fan meant lots of dirt and dust got into it and it would tend to block pens after a few days of writing. Eventually I just threw it all out and switched to Parker Permanent Blue (this was around the year 2009).

 

I did notice something interesting - if I let the drying go on long enough, the ink turned into a shiny purple oil that never dried on paper. I had to add more water to get it to behave like normal ink.

[Corona688]

A touch of alcohol would also reduce the surface tension a lot.

[amberleadavis]

OH, don't add alcohol to the ink, it can eat some of the feeds.

 

You can add glycerin in small amounts, while it should make it wetter, in practice, it did not, while PhotoFlo will definitely make the ink wetter.