Looking for recommendations for extremely pale inks

[CXC]

Recently I have found Herbin Gris Nuage, a very pale gray ink, quite useful when drawing.  I also have a sample of Sailor Haha on the way, an extremely pale blue (?) ink.  I welcome recommendations for other extremely pale inks.  It would be cool to have them in a range of colors, eventually.

Yes, I have tried diluting ink with distilled water.  So far, the results have been mediocre.

Thanks everybody, and happy new year.

[OCArt]

Pelikan Edelstein Mandarin is too pale for easy readability. Maybe it would suit your tastes?

[Dione]

On seeing the title I clicked to mention Sailor Manyo Ha Ha. No surprise that you already know about it. A couple others are Vinta Julia, Julio and Sirena. Worth drawing with but virtually no use for writing unless with a very broad nib. If you hadn't mentioned the word "extremely" I might have suggested some TAG Kyoto Kyo no oto colors are pale (but beautiful). All dry so you will need a bottle of White Lightning to help flow/lubrication.

Diluting inks with distilled water can work since pale inks tend to be more diluted inks when they are made but you need to add a drop of White Lightning to the water in order to keep the levels of chemicals balanced or your results may continue to be mediocre.

[A Smug Dill]

6 hours ago, CXC said:

I welcome recommendations for other extremely pale inks.  It would be cool to have them in a range of colors, eventually.

 

I'm not sure whether, by “recommendations”, you were implying that those would be inks that are not just extremely pale, but otherwise “good” (e.g. better than average value-for-money; well-behaved on a wide range of papers), or merely surveying what others think would fit the primary criterion.

 

You could try this:

 

[grainweevil]

Parker Washable Blue.

[Eclipse157]

Herbin Bouton d'Or, Bleu Azur, Diabolo Menthe

[CXC]

Thanks everybody, now I have a list that will keep me busy for a while.

[Paul-in-SF]

Diamine Amber, a pale golden yellowish color. 

[mizgeorge]

5 hours ago, CXC said:

Thanks everybody, now I have a list that will keep me busy for a while.

Do come and ask again if you'd like some more suggestions - I have a lot of very pale inks in just about every part of the colour spectrum  

[Audrey T]

PenBBS's Ginger, a nice desaturated beige, in case that's a shade you still need

[PithyProlix]

PenBBS has many and their ink tends to be high value. Among ones I received recently are 401 Afternoon, an interesting light khaki-sort-of color that I had pretty much given up on for writing but found a match in a vintage fine Pilot Elite - a pen on the dry side so 'go figure'. Light but legible, which is a sweet spot for me. Another is 404 Nightfall, a lavender, that I actually have given up on for writing after trying in a black Kaco Edge ef that I had cast aside because it is very wet (and nothing close to ef). 

[arcfide]

Colorverse had a "Girls Just Wanna" ink that is a pale hot pink. Definitely one to have in the collection if you're looking to round out a color palette. 

[dipper]

18 hours ago, Dione said:

Diluting inks with distilled water can work since pale inks tend to be more diluted inks when they are made but you need to add a drop of White Lightning to the water in order to keep the levels of chemicals balanced or your results may continue to be mediocre.

The property to be "balanced" is the surface tension of the diluted ink.

Pure water has a high surface tension. Fountain pen inks have lower surface tensions.

Ink diluted with pure water will therefore have its surface tension increased, and will tend to write very "dry" in a fountain pen.

 

A small quantity of non-ionic surfactant can be added to the mix to restore the original ink surface tension.

"White Lightning" is one example branded product. I use a more readily available alternative, dishwasher "rinse-aid" liquid. Just check that the bottle label small print says "contains non-ionic surfactant".

 

My recommended method is to mix a large volume of water with a small amount of surfactant, fill a pen with that mix, write on paper in strong light so you can see the transparent water gleaming on the paper (or not), adjust the mix and refill the pen until you get the flow that you like. Then store a large bottle of your "adjusted" water. (Store in the dark to slow the growth of organisms in the water. You may need to mix up a fresh batch at intervals, depending on storage conditions.)

Use your stored "adjusted" water to dilute any ink. You should find the diluted ink flows correctly from the pen.

 

[Doug C]

Ferris Wheel Press.

[A Smug Dill]

1 hour ago, dipper said:

A small quantity of non-ionic surfactant can be added to the mix to restore the original ink surface tension.

 

Or use a product such as the dilution liquid in the Platinum Mixable Ink Mixing Kit in the first place.

[Dione]

14 hours ago, dipper said:

The property to be "balanced" is the surface tension of the diluted ink.

Not only this. An acknowledged expert ink maker advised that in order to dilute ink you shouldn't only add distilled water because it dilutes the concentration of surfectant, mold inhibitor, alcohol additives and shelf life. A purchased product like White Lightning should address all of these and bring the ink solution back into balance. Rinse aid will only address one.

[dipper]

18 hours ago, Dione said:

... shouldn't only add distilled water because it dilutes the concentration of surfectant, mold inhibitor, alcohol additives and shelf life. A purchased product like White Lightning should address all of these and bring the ink solution back into balance. Rinse aid will only address one.

That's good advice, thanks.

 

(Though I have not myself experienced any problems in use, or during storage, of inks diluted with distilled water only, or inks diluted with water + surfactant when needed.)

 

Checking re White Lightning at this web page:

https://vanness1938.com/products/vanness-white-lightning-ink-additive

That pages states:

This product is designed to increase the flow of dry inks, as well as help prevent the growth of mold in bottled ink.

 

So that is also good to see stated by a supplier.

 

Thanks for all the improved suggestions - that should be better than just "rinse aid" and water, when diluting inks. Especially the Platinum "Mixable Ink Mixing Kit", that includes 50ml of "Dilution Liquid".

I find in the UK it is available from Amazon, ..... in their Home and Kitchen department!

[Dione]

11 hours ago, dipper said:

Though I have not myself experienced any problems in use, or during storage, of inks diluted with distilled water only

Me neither for very small amounts of ink or water but maybe It depends on how much ink you're diluting or how much water you're adding? A couple drops of water probably won't make much difference at all. 

[Noihvo]

[CXC]

5 hours ago, Noihvo said: