Faber-Castell Moss Green Water Resistance vs. Some Pigment and “Bulletproof” Inks

[WRBNYC]

(tldr: scroll down to see image of the soggy test results)

 

For reasons both pragmatic and neurotic, I almost exclusively use inks with some reliable degree of water resistance. Recently I noticed that a sizable range of Faber-Castell inks, while not mentioned in any of the online water resistant ink guides/forum threads I’d consulted when first getting into the FP hobby, are categorized as “waterproof” on the Vanness website and described as “document proof” in the Amazon product descriptions.

 

So I got my hands on some cartridges of Moss Green, which struck me as the most attractive of these purportedly permanent FC inks, and popped one into my Kaweco Sport. Right off the bat, I found it to be a pleasure to write with and uncommonly lovely on the page: well-saturated with some fairly dynamic shading.

 

For the test, I put some of it down on a page in a (surprisingly fountain pen friendly) Italian-made B&N notebook that I’ve been using for misc scribbling/inky ephemera (e.g. the phone number jotted down in the upper right hand corner which I had to blur out before posting 😅 ). For comparison, I then filled in the rest of the page with writing samples of the inks currently inhabiting my other daily use pens, all of which are also marketed as being "waterproof".

 

 

After giving the writing samples roughly a minute to dry, I tore out the page, held it under the faucet of my kitchen sink, and turned on the water (full blast). For the duration of the test I steadily moved the paper back-and-forth to ensure each of the ink samples spent roughly equivalent time directly under the stream.

 

Results:

 

After a good 30 seconds under cold running water, the FC Moss Green writing sample remained more-or-less legible—enough so to indicate that any important writing would be recoverable in the event of an unexpected downpour or spilt drink. (Although, given how alcohol is (generally? always?) a more aggressive solvent than water, it would probably behoove me to test how this ink holds up under a horizontal glass of whiskey soda…)

 

 

That said, post-dousing, the Moss Green (quite literally) paled in comparison to every one of the other inks I tested alongside it. FCMG probably meets the average fountain pen user's minimum standard for being considered “water resistant”. But it is not anywhere near “waterproof” and I have to wonder whether it would still pass for “water resistant” if the same test were performed with less absorbent paper.

 

Verdict:

 

Given the strong appeal of this ink’s wonderfully subtle coloration and suitability for general writing, the mere survival of the text after a punishing water test like this is good enough for me. I’m happy to add it to my short list of standard dye-based inks which, for reasons of chemistry beyond my ken, are robust enough to trust with preserving day-to-day handwritten work as I make my way around a turbulent city in an often unexpectedly wet world. 

 

(As of now, there are two other inks with a firm place on this list: Pilot Iroshizuku Yama-Guri and Sailor Doyou. I really wanted to include Sailor Miruai as well—I love the color and JetPens rates it as somewhat water resistant—but alas, it hasn’t performed well for me when put to the test). 

Edited December 19, 2020 by WRBNYC

[yazeh]

I see this is your first post, so welcome

Thanks for the experiment. 

I use only waterproof/resistant inks too, so that's really helpful. Keep up the good work

 

 

 

[WRBNYC]

22 minutes ago, yazeh said:

I see this is your first post, so welcome

Thanks for the experiment. 

I use only waterproof/resistant inks too, so that's really helpful. Keep up the good work

 

 

 

 

Thanks! These boards have been an indispensable resource for me as I've gotten deeper (and deeper...) into using fountain pens. 🙏 👌

[yazeh]

This is just the beginning of the rabbit hole  

[jmccarty3]

Nice post--hope to hear from you again!

[MsRedpen]

Wow! Great first post! Love the style and info

Welcome to FPN

[A Smug Dill]

Welcome, and thank you very much for your contribution!  I look forward to seeing more of your discoveries and test results, and sharing ours with you.

[pearlfox]

Hah, I just picked some of that FC ink recently too, and was curious about its claimed permanence.  I let the ink dry for, dunno, maybe ten minutes before leaving the paper in water overnight.  Similar outcome as your test, with the EF writing looking more like F or a little thicker, and faded.  It's certainly not waterproof--not something I'd want to use with watercolors, f'rinstance--but it does seem to do well as permanent to some degree.

 

It also seems to behave reasonably well on cheap notebook paper.

[amberleadavis]

Great first post!  I'm a big fan of comparisons and experiments.  I was surprised that Moss Green held up to water at all.  It's an ink that I love and I use it in doodles when I do washes.  Keep up the good work!