Long Lasting Inks Suggestion

[IndieNote]

Hello!

 

So, after doing my research I have come to know that there are very few pigment based inks for a fountain pen and cleaning can be a little difficult, if not impossible.

 

So, could you guys suggest some wet and lubricating dye based inks that are not very difficult to clean and would last for sometime (not completely disappearing and readable, change in color would still be ok for me)?

 

What inks have lasted in your notebooks/journals/papers for at least 2-3 years? 2-3 years is sufficient for me and anything that would last 5-10 years is like God send.

 

I am looking for a green, purple, red and of course blue and black shades. Please do not include anything from Noodlers. Please help.

 

Thanks in advance

[JulieParadise]

black: J Herbin Perle noire

dark blue: Sailor Sou-Boku

mid-blue: Rohrer & Klingner Blau Permanent

 

I do not have suggestions for the other colours, but since I start a new lightfast test at the beginning of every month in a window facing South East for the pens inked I know these definitely stay put. All three are not too difficult or expensive to obtain, flow well, flush out nicely and are reliable.

[penzel_washinkton]

I think you put the topic in the wrong sub-forum.

Commonly if you want to avoid pigmented inks but want permanency in some sort of way I would suggest the Pilot Black and Pilot Blue Black for a shade other than black.

[JulieParadise]

Ooops, I see ... pigmented ... but: Sailor Sou-Boku does not exhibit the annoying traits some other pigmented inks show. Sooo ... getting the curve ... it it a pigmented ink which combines the advantages of both dye & pigmented inks.

[almoore]

+ 1 for J Herbin Perle Noire

 

For a dark blue I'd recommend trying Diamine Oxford Blue.

 

Purple - I've used Diamine Bilberry and recently Lamy Crystal Ink - Azurite.

 

Red - If you can get it Mont Blanc Corn Poppy Red is a fantastic red (it's out of production but just recently they had some for mail order on their site) otherwise Diamine do an excellent range of colours including reds and their inks are very good value for money.

 

Green - Mont Blanc Irish Green is my favourite green.

 

Other than that Waterman inks are very good, not expensive, and the colour range is quite decent and I've always found them very reliable.

 

I would recommend keeping your inks somewhere cool and dark, mine live in their boxes in crates out of direct sunlight and this seems to help.

 

Hope this helps

 

Al

[Addertooth]

AlMoore,

 

I am with you on the Mont Blanc Irish Green. However, like the other Mont Blanc ink you mentioned, it is also discontinued. Order now while a few bottles still exist in circulation (I know I have).

[Olya]

In reality all dye based inks will last you that long, longer in fact.

 

To be very safe avoid washable inks (usually blue, incl all German inks called Königsblau (Royal Blue)).

But even washable inks should last you that long (and longer!).

 

My favourites are J Herbin Perle Noire, Bleu des Profondeurs, Sailor Blue, Black, Pilot Blue, Black, Blue Black, Diamine Oxford Blue, Pelikan 4001 Black.

[Noihvo]

[Mercian]

Almost all dye-based inks will be fine for at least 10 years inside a closed notebook - even the notoriously-fade-prone ‘washable blue’ inks used on acidic/sulphurous paper should remain legible for that period of time.

 

For a bit more water-resistance, I like the modern iron-gall inks that have been formulated to be fountain-pen-safe.

Examples of these in blue-black are sold by De Atramentis, Pelikan (4001 blue-black & imo Edelstein Tanzanite), Diamine, Hero and Platinum. ESS Registrars Ink is specifically cited as ‘permanent’ by the UK government and is the ink used by our Registrars for the legal registration of births, marriages, and deaths.

Rohrer & Klingner make a blue-black called Salix and an iron-gall dusky purple called Scabiosa.
Most of these inks require you to use pens that ‘write wet’. Many such pens are available.

 

KWZI offer i-g inks in several colours, not only in blue-black.

 

If you want an ink that is water-resistant and also sufficiently lightfast that you could use it to make e.g. labels on objects on permanent display in well-lit museum display cases, you will (afaik) be limited to pigment-based inks or inks made by Noodler’s.

[JakobS]

I have had none of my inks fade in 2-3 years.....or 5-10 years.........so.........

 

Inks that i have written with that have yet to fade since 2007-2008 are:

 

Diamine:

Green: Umber, Woodland Green, Delamere Green (since 2010), Apple Glory (2012), Safari(2015),

Purple: Violet, Tyrian Purple(2015), Grape (2015)

Red: Monaco Red, Wild Strawberry(2015),

Blue: Steel Blue, China Blue,

Blue/Black: Registrar's Blue/Black, great with a wet writer for a fuller oxidation of iron gall component

Grey: Grey

 

Rohrer & Klinger

Purple: Scabiosa

 

Watermen:

Waterman Black

 

Pelikan:

Pelikan 4001 Black

 

Lamy:

Lamy Black

 

Inks that have not faded since 2016-2017:

 

KWZ:

Green: IG Green Gold, IG Green #2

Purple: IG Gummiberry, Brown-Pink

Red: IG Red #3

Blue: Baltic Memories, IG Turquoise

 

Diamine:

Green: Wagner

Red: Mozart

Blue: Majestic Blue, Oxford Blue, Chopin

 

I have a ton of brown, orange, pink, and many shades between inks too that have yet to fade or disappear.

 

As long as you keep your writing away from intense light, damp conditions, and heavy air pollution most ink will hang on especially for 2-3 years, and 10 years shouldn't be a problem either! Anyone want to read cell biology notes more than a decade old? Got them, if you want them!

Edited February 14, 2020 by JakobS

[silverlifter]

Almost all dye-based inks will be fine for at least 10 years inside a closed notebook - even the notoriously-fade-prone ‘washable blue’ inks used on acidic/sulphurous paper should remain legible for that period of time.

 

This. I have notebooks (crappy paper) dating back to the late eighties written in Parker Quink Blue and they are still perfectly legible.

 

Also, second the recommendation for KWZ iron gall inks; they really are superb.

[SpecTP]

as others have noted, most inks will last 2-3yrs and even 10yrs. If you want more permanent inks, you may want to look at iron gall based inks that will last centuries..

 

edit: also, you might want to qualify if you're more interested in 'archival' inks (long lasting) vs 'waterproof' ink vs 'warden' (tamper proof)

Edited February 15, 2020 by SpecTP

[IndieNote]

Thank you everyone.

[Bo Bo Olson]

AlMoore,

 

I am with you on the Mont Blanc Irish Green. However, like the other Mont Blanc ink you mentioned, it is also discontinued. Order now while a few bottles still exist in circulation (I know I have).

News to me that it's discontinued....but with the huge jack of price I can understand it....from E15 to E19 put it out of my range for normal ink, but R&K Verdura for @ E850 for 50ml, is it's equal or better. My test showed R&K Verdura, a green-green shading ink to be a tad better than MB Irish, but some respected poster had it slightly the other way....they were close enough to make no difference.

 

There are two toned shading inks (the ink sits on top of the paper for a bit drying to two hues.....and boring monotone supersaturated vivid inks , one does need both.

Writing is 1/3 nib width and flex, 1/3 paper and 1/3 ink and in that order.

 

Go to ink reviews and look at any post by Sandy1. .....our ink guru, who uses 4-5 normal pens from narrow to wide, and 4-5 papers that differ over the decade....all 7-8 are very good 'available' papers if one puts out a bit of effort..........I keep telling my self to do that. I only have a couple.

 

There is no perfect nib, nor paper nor ink............however every once in a while one lucks out and has a perfect nib on a perfect paper for that ink................do write it down....in three or four places.

I know I have it somewhere......I know it.

Any difference in nib width, flex, paper or ink....can have a nice combo....but not perfect.

Your perfect may be different than mine....or what you think now, differs from half a decade down the road.

It is shocking how different an ink can be with a different nib width and a different paper. Go look up Sandy1's fine work.

Edited February 18, 2020 by Bo Bo Olson

[Mech-for-i]

Good old iron gall blue-black

[Arkanabar]

I am concerned about fading as well, and I've examined fade resistance extensively. This thread should have some useful links. Look into the ink fade threads and the color swatch threads linked there, and compare the inks you like to the big index of reviews.

my own suggestions:

Black: Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Black.
Blue: I'm gonna recommend Pilot Blue-Black.
Green: I like Diamine Sherwood.