Introducing Tintenlabor Iron gall inks

[yazeh]

3 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

“Late to the party” with regards to tuning in, but wow! What a fabulous collection of inks and commendable initiative, on the part of @yazeh but also Tintenlabor and its owner to (acknowledge and) enlist the participation of well-known, highly regarded ink reviewers in the FPN community!

Thanks you so much for thes kinds words; Much appreciated. Yes, it's a lobor of  love  

[yazeh]

Review of Tintenlabor Aprilis Argente ( Dark Green 3) is live.

 

[yazeh]

Comparison of Tintenlabor Green Black 2, old and new formulas

 

As I had already reviewed the original or old formula of Tintenlabor Green Black 2, I thought it would be interesting to see a side-by-side review and the difference between the two formulas. 
Chroma

 

 

The old formula was a very finicky ink, and I had difficulty finding the right pen to make it work. Oxidation was immediate on writing paper, but much slower on watercolor paper. Cleaning was easy. 

On the other hand, the new formula worked efficiently with most pens and was much faster at oxidizing, even on watercolour paper. However, cleaning necessitates vinegar and patience

I don't know if one can see any difference between the old and new, as I didn't have the luxury of time for the new formula. (Bonus: see if you can spot the typo in Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s name.  )

 

I omitted Midori scans as I couldn't colour correct the images.  

 

 

Ghosting and bleed-through are much more prevalent with the new formula.

Here is a photo of Rhodia and Iroful a week later, for the new formula. 

Water test

Comparison swatches

Art Work
Old formula on watercolor paper. When I did the sketch, it stayed bright green for a day or two. Unfortunately, I didn't take a photo right away. But you can see the bright green is some hatching marks I added before taking this photo. 

Here is another photo, about a month later.

The new formula behaved differently on the same watercolour paper. The oxidation process was immediate:
Panther sketch midway was already turning dark Green.

The next day, the oxidation process was done. I'm curious to see if the Purple Black 2 will oxidize anymore. As the dye stabilizes the process 

 

I hope this post is useful. Comments appreciated 🙏

 

[LizEF]

Thanks, @yazeh!  The oxidation speed sure makes a difference in how the ink looks!  Appreciate the comparison.

[yazeh]

4 minutes ago, LizEF said:

Thanks, @yazeh!  The oxidation speed sure makes a difference in how the ink looks!  Appreciate the comparison.

Most welcome. I also learned that if you IG ink on your clothing, it stains and cannot be removed in a wash. THat you either have to soak it into vinegar or acidc citric powder, the remove the stain  

[LizEF]

59 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Most welcome. I also learned that if you IG ink on your clothing, it stains and cannot be removed in a wash. THat you either have to soak it into vinegar or acidc citric powder, the remove the stain  

Good to know!

[InesF]

OMG, the portraits! 

So much character, such a pleasure to watch! Thank you so much, @yazeh, for sharing these beautiful artwork with us!

And also good to know that the ink was upgraded.

And also such bad news that the ink was upgraded!

Infini-ink drawer needed! urgently.   

[InesF]

On 5/21/2025 at 6:09 PM, yazeh said:

[...] I also learned that if you IG ink on your clothing, it stains and cannot be removed in a wash. [...]

That's historic knowledge, here in Europe. And that's why the anti-stain scissors was invented since long ago!   

[yazeh]

55 minutes ago, InesF said:

OMG, the portraits! 

55 minutes ago, InesF said:

So much character, such a pleasure to watch! Thank you so much, @yazeh, for sharing these beautiful artwork with us!

I'm speechless with gratitude 🙏🙏🙏

55 minutes ago, InesF said:

And also good to know that the ink was upgraded.

And also such bad news that the ink was upgraded!

Infini-ink drawer needed! urgently.   

 

 

 

[yazeh]

55 minutes ago, InesF said:

That's historic knowledge, here in Europe. And that's why the anti-stain scissors was invented since long ago!   

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, InesF said:

And that's why the anti-stain scissors was invented since long ago!   

[yazeh]

Side-by-side comparison of Purple inks by Tintenlabor. Scans were done approximately 1.5 months after the reviews. I'll add photos later. 

 

Comparison of Tintenlabor Purple Black 1 & 2 on everyday-use fountain pen papers. 

Scans were done about 1.5 months after the oxidation process.

 

Purple inks by Tintenlabor use a very specific dye that stabilizes the ink and slows the oxidation process, possibly lengthening the ink's shelf life. 

Hence, Purple Black 1 is more expensive than other Tintenlabor inks, as the dye content is high. However, Purple 2 has low dye content, making the price more affordable. 

Purple Black 1 has 3 gr/l iron content and high dye

Purple Black 2 has 4 gr/l iron content and low dye. 

 

As per iron gall inks, one should use ascorbic acid and filtered water, Q-tips, soaking, flushing, and patience for cleaning. Inks are waterproof but not lightfast. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[yazeh]

Photos:

 

 

[yazeh]

Tintenlabor- Blue ink Comparison

 

What I like about these inks is that they come in 30 and 50 ml bottles.  However, you can order them directly from Switzerland only. 

Inks are: 

1. Violet Blue Iron content (3 gr/ l), High dye
   Dark Blue 2 (4 gr/l) Low dye
   Dark Blue 3 (5 gr/l), High Dye
   Azur Noir (6 gr/l), High dye.

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If I were to recommend inks, I would go for Violet Blue, and Blue 3. 

If you're looking for an Iron gall ink for cheap copy paper, Essri (Ecclesiastical Stationery Supplies Registrars Ink) is still one of the best iron gall inks available. However, they only come in 110 ml plastic bottles only. They should then be promptly deposited in Glass bottles. 

Note: Iron gall inks have an expiry date. Inks will precipitate depending on the amount of oxygen in the bottle, so don't shake ink bottles before filling. Expiry, 1.5 to 4 years after buying. 

Iron gall inks are not light-fast. 

Cleaning iron gall inks from fountain pens is an art—ideally, one needs powdered ascorbic acid, lots of rinsing, flushing, and patience.

 

Swatches

Scans

 

 

 

As a bonus, I've added Essri and Diamine Registrars.

 

 

 

I added Essri and Diamine Registrars, so you can see how they perform on this particular paper.

 

Photos to come. I didn't add scans of chromas /water test comparisons, etc. But if you want to see them side by side, let me know.  

 

 

[yazeh]

Photos: 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope these comparison scans and photos of the purple/blue black inks from Tintenlabor inks have been helpful. I will continue with a few other IG blue blacks; if needed, I might add comparisons to the inks above.

 

[InesF]

Such a huge comparison! Thank you so much, @yazeh! 

[yazeh]

3 hours ago, InesF said:

Such a huge comparison! Thank you so much, @yazeh! 

Glad it was helpful. 🙏