Koh-I-Noor Document Blue

[yazeh]

Koh-I-Noor Document Blue 

 

Thanks for @Lithium466 for the sample. 

 

This is one of the cheapest document inks, you could ever find. However, it stains, doesn’t like copy paper and it is a pain to clean. Though if you use it exclusively in one pen and don't use cheap paper, you're fine.   

 

Check this link on reddit to see the staining:

 

 

It has a faint reddish sheen. In my experience it is more waterproof than its black sibling. 

 

When you clean your pen, the ink looks just lovely in the sink. Pity it’s not the colour you write with. It rarely ever is, isn’t it?  

 

Let's start with the chroma:

 

Writing Samples:

I dipped a Kanwrite with a flex nib in my ink vial. I don't recommend flex nib with this ink, unless you're a monk and live before Gutenberg's time in some monastery and have to copy some arcane treatise.   And even then I would stick with a nice homemade iron gall recipe  

 

 

Photo:

This is to show off the sheen. It's only visible on Japanese paper.

Comparison:

 

Water test:

No animals were harmed during this test  

 

Artwork:

 This was part of the Inktober yearly challenge. The prompt was mythology. This is a humorous take  about the origins of the snake (or maybe Snek) and the apple..

Other inks used: 

Noodler’s Lexington Gray/ Eel Red Rattler’s Red

Kakimori Kurun (Green)

You can see see the sheen in the corner top right of the page. 

 

 

 

·      Pens used: Pilot Kakuno Ef, Lamy (EF/F/M/B, BB), Ahab nib dipped.

·      What I liked: Doing washes. Empty the ink in the sink. The colour is mesmerizing, very cheap. 

·      What I did not like: The colour, writing with Kakuno Ef, cleaning the pen

·       What some might not like: It’s a document ink, slightly chalky, stains, 

·      Shading: Did not notice. 

·      Ghosting: Yes, on cheap paper. 

·      Bleed through: Yes, on cheap paper.

·      Flow Rate: Wet

·      Lubrication: Slightly below average. 

·      Nib Dry-out: Did not notice. Though it didn't like the Kakuno. Though almost no ink likes this pen. 

·      Start-up:  Ok

·      Saturation:  Pastel

·      Shading Potential: Dismal. 

·      Sheen: Yes, the more the ink evaporates the more prounced it is. 

·      Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: On copy paper

·      Nib Creep / “Crud”: Did not notice.

·      Staining (pen): Yes baby! 

·      Clogging: Did not notice.

·      Cleaning: A royal pain. You need a cleaning solution. 

·      Water resistance: Excellent 

·      Availability: Surprisingly it comes in grams and not millilitres.  30gr (glass bottles ) 50 gr plastic bottles & international long cartridges. 

 

Please don't hesitate to share your experience, writing samples or any other comments. The more the merrier  

[LizEF]

2 hours ago, yazeh said:

Check this link on reddit to see the staining

Hmm.  Maybe before doing my own review of this ink, I should pre-stain something to see if bleach will remove it.  Or just plan to use a different feed - not that you could see the stain with a Penmanship feed - they're already a very dark blue.

 

Nice chroma - doesn't look like the sort of color that would go all violent on your demonstrator...   Writing samples: Interesting color.  Not the standard royal blue I was expecting, and paler than I would have thought.  Looking through the samples and swatches, I'm curious now to see if this ink is close to anything I have...  Not sure it's a different enough blue for me to like it, but I am curious.

 

Love the "Time is a great teacher..." quote.    And swatch-kitty showing off his tail-writing ability.    Water test kitty and mouse, trying out a new umbrella! Love it!

 

And the artwork is fabulous!!  Love your little trio working together.  (I have considered Essri deciding he wants to learn to write... )  Meanwhile, it's only fitting that a cat should take part in knocking that apple off the tree....

 

Thanks for a great review, @yazeh!

[Lithium466]

Thank you for your review!
Unpopular opinion, I like this ink! Much better than Platinum pigment blue, which leans toward an anemic chalky blurple. 

As for the staining, it is a stainer indeed 😕 Not much success with bleach on my side, but maybe I didn't dare bleaching away hard enough. I was more successful in cleaning BSB stains, actually.

[yazeh]

17 minutes ago, LizEF said:

Hmm.  Maybe before doing my own review of this ink, I should pre-stain something to see if bleach will remove it.

I didn't try bleach. I lost my Kakuno feed, it was doing its overnight soaking after it's hourly soak in cleaning solution with Safari. In my haste I toppled the glass and the feed rolled somewhere and I haven't been able to find it  

17 minutes ago, LizEF said:

 

  Or just plan to use a different feed - not that you could see the stain with a Penmanship feed - they're already a very dark blue.

There will be an iridescent film even after cleaning  

17 minutes ago, LizEF said:

 

Nice chroma - doesn't look like the sort of color that would go all violent on your demonstrator...  

It will mine. Mine has a wedding ring type band on my Kakuno feed. 

17 minutes ago, LizEF said:

 

Writing samples: Interesting color.  Not the standard royal blue I was expecting, and paler than I would have thought.

It quite pale and different. 

17 minutes ago, LizEF said:

  Looking through the samples and swatches, I'm curious now to see if this ink is close to anything I have...  Not sure it's a different enough blue for me to like it, but I am curious.

Ah you know what they say about curiosity 😸

17 minutes ago, LizEF said:

Love the "Time is a great teacher..." quote.  

 

17 minutes ago, LizEF said:

  And swatch-kitty showing off his tail-writing ability.    Water test kitty and mouse, trying out a new umbrella! Love it!

🙏

17 minutes ago, LizEF said:

 

And the artwork is fabulous!!  Love your little trio working together.  (I have considered Essri deciding he wants to learn to write... )  Meanwhile, it's only fitting that a cat should take part in knocking that apple off the tree....

Glad you liked. Curious what our little Snek first word would be. One small step for Snek one large slither for his brethren

17 minutes ago, LizEF said:

 

Thanks for a great review, @yazeh!

A pleasure!

[yazeh]

21 minutes ago, Lithium466 said:

Thank you for your review!

🙏

21 minutes ago, Lithium466 said:

Unpopular opinion, I like this ink! Much better than Platinum pigment blue, which leans toward an anemic chalky blurple. 

Glad to know that  

21 minutes ago, Lithium466 said:

As for the staining, it is a stainer indeed 😕 Not much success with bleach on my side, but maybe I didn't dare bleaching away hard enough. I was more successful in cleaning BSB stains, actually.

You can always fill your pen with either  Doyou /or Eel Red Rattler's Red (cheaper) and let it be for a week or so. It should clean it up  

 

[Lithium466]

Oh, I have a perpetually stained Wing Sung 3008 (or 3009?) for staining inks, or I use cheap Jinhao 35 or 65 with Lamy nibs

 

Sorry to hear you lost your feed, some Wing Sung feeds (3008 or 3009...the one that doesn't take the Lamy style nibs) are identical in shape to the Kakuno style feeds. 

[yazeh]

11 minutes ago, Lithium466 said:

Oh, I have a perpetually stained Wing Sung 3008 (or 3009?) for staining inks, or I use cheap Jinhao 35 or 65 with Lamy nibs

 

11 minutes ago, Lithium466 said:

Sorry to hear you lost your feed, some Wing Sung feeds (3008 or 3009...the one that doesn't take the Lamy style nibs) are identical in shape to the Kakuni style feeds. 

Good to know. I have a few Kakunos lying aside. So, I'll just exchange the feed  That's the thing when one reviews too many inks. One is bound to lose nibs and feed  

 

[Sailor Kenshin]

Oh my, @yazeh!  I have nearly ALL your comparison inks, but not the Test Subject.

 

However.  I do have Monteverde's Documental Blue, and it does exactly everything the Koh-I-Noor ink does, right down to the chalkiness and blue on blue chroma.

 

This is why I will never use the MV in anything other than its dedicated Five Below, cheep enough to be disposable, has its own personal pipette, pen.

 

Your review not only enlightened me, but cracked me up.  Many thanks!  Looking forward to the next one.  Nice to thee Eththri over here, having fun with this ink.

[LizEF]

27 minutes ago, yazeh said:

I didn't try bleach. I lost my Kakuno feed, it was doing its overnight soaking after it's hourly soak in cleaning solution with Safari. In my haste I toppled the glass and the feed rolled somewhere and I haven't been able to find it  

Unless Canada is different, a Penmanship is the cheapest way to get a new feed for your Kakuno (if you decide you want one and can't find the old one).  Alternately, I could mail you one.

 

30 minutes ago, yazeh said:

There will be an iridescent film even after cleaning  

It will mine. Mine has a wedding ring type band on my Kakuno feed. 

Good (if that's the right word) to know.

 

51 minutes ago, Lithium466 said:

Not much success with bleach on my side, but maybe I didn't dare bleaching away hard enough. I was more successful in cleaning BSB stains, actually.

Right, different feed and probably time to order a new Penmanship so I have an unstained grip to use after I review this ink!

 

32 minutes ago, yazeh said:

You can always fill your pen with either  Doyou /or Eel Red Rattler's Red (cheaper) and let it be for a week or so. It should clean it up  

Right.  I should order samples of these at the same time, if I can find them all in the same place...  (Nope.  Multiple stores it is. :/)

 

32 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Ah you know what they say about curiosity 😸

 

32 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Glad you liked. Curious what our little Snek first word would be. One small step for Snek one large slither for his brethren

 

[yazeh]

49 minutes ago, LizEF said:

Unless Canada is different, a Penmanship is the cheapest way to get a new feed for your Kakuno (if you decide you want one and can't find the old one).  Alternately, I could mail you one.

I have a plumix lying around, I'll use that one. But thank you so much for your offer. You've got a heart of gold

49 minutes ago, LizEF said:

Right, different feed and probably time to order a new Penmanship so I have an unstained grip to use after I review this ink!

 

49 minutes ago, LizEF said:

 

Right.  I should order samples of these at the same time, if I can find them all in the same place...  (Nope.  Multiple stores it is. :/)

I can send you some Rattler's. I got a bottle. I've named RRRrrrr  

[yazeh]

1 hour ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Oh my, @yazeh!  I have nearly ALL your comparison inks, but not the Test Subject.

 

However.  I do have Monteverde's Documental Blue, and it does exactly everything the Koh-I-Noor ink does, right down to the chalkiness and blue on blue chroma.

 

This is why I will never use the MV inI anything other than its dedicated Five Below, cheep enough to be disposable, has its own personal pipette, pen.

Very wise  

1 hour ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Your review not only enlightened me, but cracked me up.

 

1 hour ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

 Many thanks!  Looking forward to the next one.  Nice to thee Eththri over here, having fun with this ink.

To be honest I was thinking more of the proverbial snake. But the Snek will do nicely

 

[LizEF]

39 minutes ago, yazeh said:

I have a plumix lying around, I'll use that one. But thank you so much for your offer. You've got a heart of gold

Any time!

 

40 minutes ago, yazeh said:

I can send you some Rattler's. I got a bottle. I've named RRRrrrr  

  No need - prices for packages are too much these days.  I'm sure I can find enough to justify a Vanness order (when this ink ends up at the top of my poll).  But thank you!

[yazeh]

25 minutes ago, LizEF said:

  No need - prices for packages are too much these days.  I'm sure I can find enough to justify a Vanness order (when this ink ends up at the top of my poll).  But thank you!

A pleasure 🙏

[InesF]

15 hours ago, yazeh said:

I don't recommend flex nib with this ink, unless you're a monk and live before Gutenberg's time in some monastery and have to copy some arcane treatise.   And even then I would stick with a nice homemade iron gall recipe  

Oh, what a summary to describe this ink!  

Thank you, @yazeh, for the review and for the drawings and paintings!  I love your interpretation of the Inktober prompt!  

 

Not solely based on your review, I will never buy this ink, although I like the colour as it appears in your writing samples on Rhodia and Midori. So far, my experience tells me that next to no permanent or document ink can be removed from a pen without leaving traces behind. At least not without heavy chemical intervention.

 

15 hours ago, yazeh said:

No animals were harmed during this test  

+1 👍 Thank you so much, @yazeh! I can see the development towards full species equality. Much appreciated!   

 

[yazeh]

9 hours ago, InesF said:

Oh, what a summary to describe this ink!  

 

9 hours ago, InesF said:

Thank you, @yazeh, for the review and for the drawings and paintings!  I love your interpretation of the Inktober prompt!  

Thanks. It's not always easy to be inspired  

9 hours ago, InesF said:

Not solely based on your review, I will never buy this ink, although I like the colour as it appears in your writing samples on Rhodia and Midori. So far, my experience tells me that next to no permanent or document ink can be removed from a pen without leaving traces behind. At least not without heavy chemical intervention.

Unless you keep the same pen inked at all time. Then you won't have to worry. One of my most used pen is a Platinum Pocket Pen, with a Platinum Carbon Black cartridge. Always dependable  

9 hours ago, InesF said:

 

+1 👍 Thank you so much, @yazeh! I can see the development towards full species equality. Much appreciated!   

 

Though I can't guarantee if the cat doesn't return to it old shenanigans after it's been de-anthropomorphized  

[InesF]

13 hours ago, yazeh said:

[...] after it's been de-anthropomorphized  

Thank you! You made my day! 👍