Nine Pigment Inks Tested For Waterproofness

[A Smug Dill]

What kind of paper did you use? And you soaked it about ten minutes? I could replicate to test it for sure.

 

 

I used Rhodia Dotpad No.16 80g/m² 5mm dot grid paper for the test sheet, and soaked it for maybe 30 minutes.

[TennesseeTrash]

Since you have access to all of these inks, I'd be interested in seeing how they feather on low quality papers. I frequently see pigment inks touted as being "feather resistant." However, I once attempted to write a phone number on a post-it note with a pen filled with souboku (my only pigment ink). It feathered so badly that the writing was illegible after a few seconds.

[A Smug Dill]

Since you have access to all of these inks, I'd be interested in seeing ...

"Since"? I don't see how my "access" could be construed as cause for you to be interested.

Edited September 13, 2019 by A Smug Dill

[Caeruleum]

Thank you!

[TennesseeTrash]

"Since"? I don't see how my "access" could be construed as cause for you to be interested.

 

 

Fair enough.

[mstone]

For myself, I find that the inks which shed a lot of color that runs off if you're holding a paper under the tap is not usefully waterproof. In the real world, with a minor spill, those end up leaving an illegible mess after soaking through multiple pages.

[pararis]

The only other totally waterproof ink I've used is DeAtrementis document black, however I've only tested that with drops of water and under multiple layers of watercolour washes. I haven't soaked it.

What kind of paper did you use? And you soaked it about ten minutes? I could replicate to test it for sure.

I've tested that ink, but I'm not as cavalier as the OP. I put the ink on paper and wait at least a week, usually a month, then I do a soak in tepid water for 30 minutes. The DeAtramentis Document Black (and blue) ink performs as perfectly in these conditions as Platinum Carbon Black.

[pararis]

I've tested a lot of inks over time; surprisingly few meet my standard as absolutely watertight. When I began, I made the same mistake this OP makes -- a lot of different inks on the same page. You soon realize you sometimes can't tell where the bleed came from so the results are not useful. I test to my standard for my intended purpose. I put information on good quality archival paper in notebooks, journals, etc. for posterity. One example of this is family genealogy information. I'm not testing against a coffee spill. I'm testing against some kind of flooding or soaking years hence.

 

For testing, I use a single sheet of the paper I intend to use, and I put the ink on there from the fountain pen I intend to use. Then it sits for at least a week, often times a month. After that "curing" process, I deep soak the sample in fresh tepid water for at least 30 minutes. I do one sheet at a time and replace with fresh water before doing the next soak. Then I pull it out, set it on a towel and let it dry for 24 hours. What I see then tells me what I need to know.

 

This is what led me to Platinum Carbon Black as my go to ink, and I keep several pens loaded with it.

 

I also always refer people to the Jet Pens article on "Waterproof Fountain Pen Inks." They have done some great testing -- but only on inks they sell! Nevertheless very worth reading. They make a distinction between "water resistant" and "waterproof." They also find few inks meet their waterproof standard.

 

https://www.jetpens.com/blog/the-best-waterproof-fountain-pen-inks/pt/829

[A Smug Dill]

I've tested that ink, but I'm not as cavalier as the OP.

When I began, I made the same mistake this OP makes -- a lot of different inks on the same page. You soon realize you sometimes can't tell where the bleed came from so the results are not useful.

Thank you for your feedback.

 

 

 

I test to my standard for my intended purpose.

Good for you. I always recommend that consumers who want to be assured how something would perform, behave or fare in the specific use cases and test cases they have in mind 'should' do their own testing, which starts with spending effort and perhaps money to acquire (a sample or a full bottle of) the ink, the paper/journal, the pen/nib featured in each test case, then spend "time" and effort to prepare a writing sample or other artefact under the same conditions (that are considered relevant in significantly influencing the output) as the associated real-world use case, and then put it through what is likely to be destructive testing while monitoring the effects through the entire process. It could be a lot of work, take a lot of time and cost a lot of money, but the prospective loss of (say) the contents of one's journal may be considered to be significantly more than the price of a bottle of ink (plus tax, shipping and all) and three hours of testing effort.

 

I also always refer people to the Jet Pens article on "Waterproof Fountain Pen Inks." They have done some great testing -- but only on inks they sell! Nevertheless very worth reading. They make a distinction between "water resistant" and "waterproof."

Personally, anything I read on the World Wide Web is either just entertainment, or input into my risk assessment process and help me decide whether to spend time, effort and money on testing something or "trying it out". Reviews, comparison and such are not intended to minimise my operational risks or "save" myself money, and so I don't regard it as being such.

[TSherbs]

Cool comparisons. Very useful for viewers interested in water-fastness. I don't own any of these inks, but I enjoy those reviews best. I don't need reviews of inks that I already own.

[SlowRain]

On 8/11/2019 at 1:41 PM, A Smug Dill said:

• Platinum Black Carbon Ink
• Platinum Brun Sepia Pigment Ink

I recently started a post--which you were kind enough to reply to--about a dry ink for my Pilot Custom 823 <M>.  What about these two inks?  I know they're pigmented, so I'm leery.  However, before I go through the rigamarole of mixing them and inking up and then potentially having to wash everything out, what are your thoughts on these two as compared to Platinum Classic Khaki Black?

[A Smug Dill]

@SlowRain I can't tell you much about Platinum Brun Sepia pigment ink, other than its waterproofness as shown, because I don't like the colour, and so I never filled one of my ‘normal’ pens with it for real-life applications of handwriting.

 

Platinum Carbon Black is my number-one ink overall, on account of its waterproofness and, being a black ink, never being an unsuitable colour to use. However, even though I was going to recommend a (different) black ink to you in the other thread, you indicated you are inclined towards picking a brown ink. Platinum Carbon Black is not a dry-flowing ink; and the line width can spread a bit more than some other comparable permanent inks. Some other users have complained on FPN of feathering and bleed-through, although I haven't seen much of that, but I'm quite prepared to accept that Platinum Carbon Black has a likelihood of doing so. That said, its being a pigment ink has not deterred me from putting it in a high-end Pilot converter-filled pen and leaving it in there for over six months, writing with it only occasionally in the meantime; and it hasn't caused any clogging or other problems in that pen … and many others, too, but the ink can conceivably cause problems in a pen that does not have an effective cap seal. If you care about removing every last remnant of the previous fill of ink from a pen's reservoir (especially in pens with see-through barrels), but you're unable to (or don't want to) scrub the interior wall with a cotton-tipped swab or some such, then my suggestion would be to stay away from pigment inks in general. If you're going to stick with one ink for the long haul in a workhorse pen in the Pilot Custom product line, then Platinum Carbon Black ink should give you no trouble.

 

As for mixing inks, I vaguely recall you asked about that before, and specifically in relation to altering a Platinum pigment ink. You're on your own with that one, I'm afraid; I would not recommend mixing inks to achieve particular performance properties, when there are other commercially available products to choose from that will readily deliver. If you already have those inks, then by all means, mix them up and put it into something else as a experiment, and test it to your satisfaction before you decide whether to put it in your Pilot Custom 823. I would almost never recommend to a fellow hobbyist a solution choice solely by virtue of his/her being able to avoid the expense and inconvenience of sourcing another ready retail product that ticks the boxes.

 

Platinum Classic Ink Khaki Black would be my number-one brown ink, but for the high cost to me (because the only good deals for it I've seen were on Amazon, but they don't work for me once you factor international shipping into it); and so Pelikan Edelstein Smoky Quartz has taken its place as my staple brown ink.

[SlowRain]

@A Smug Dill I don't mind keeping one ink in the Custom 823 permanently.  I don't have a lot of inks to switch in and out.  My experience with mixing Rose Red and Brun Sepia in my Faber-Castell Essentio <M> has been problem free.  I haven't washed the pen out, and the ink has been in there for several months with just refilling it from time to time.  What I can't gauge, however, is the relative wetness or dryness of the ink.  I'm just not that experienced yet.  The only thing I can compare to is Noodler's Heart of Darkness because I've had it in two pens which I have later put Platinum Pigment inks into.  Heart of Darkness is wetter than Carbon Black (I have that one, too) and wetter than the 1:3 Brun Sepia/Rose Red combo I'm using.  However, I think Carbon Black may itself qualify as a wet-ish ink.

 

My reluctance to go with Khaki Black is due to it apparently still being more acidic than regular fountain-pen inks.  Apparently--and I say apparently because I'm still not sure--it'll eat through fountain-pen friendly paper over the decades.  I'd like to keep the project I'm working on for a good long while.  It's a personal-interest hobby, so I don't really want to go with dedicated archival inks on some sort of special paper.  I just want fountain-pen friendly paper and ink that's somewhat water resistant in case of an accidental water spill.