Tintenlabor Violet Blue/Black

[yazeh]

 

 

Tintenlabor Violet Blue/Black (Eisengallustinte 1, violettblau / schwarz)

Ink Review # 187

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🧾 Description

Tintenlabor is a Swiss company that specializes in iron gall ink. The unique feature of these inks is that you can choose them knowing the iron content of the ink. 

 

Disclaimer: Bottles of ink were sent generously by the Ink-Master David himself.

I'll review the four blues, which have an increasing degree of iron from 3 to 6. 

Violet Blue is gorgeous, royal blue iron gall ink that oxidizes to shades of blue/ black or navy, immediately or over time. The ink has slightly below-average lubrication.

 

Oxidation is longest on Midori and immediate on most other papers. It's slowest on mixed media and watercolour paper.

For cleaning, I flush the pen with clear water, then let it soak in a diluted vinegar solution, flush several times, rinse, and repeat. 

Do not use ammonia-based cleaning solutions with iron gall inks. 

 

I enjoyed using this ink. It has a soft, mellow look to it. 

 

This ink suits those who need water resistance, use their pens regularly, and like iron gall inks.  If you are risk-averse and don't want to be bothered cleaning your pens with vinegar, it won't be a good fit for you. 

 

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 🧪 Chroma

 

 

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 ✍️ Writing Samples

Rhodia  / Iroful

 

Midori  /Tomoe River 68gsm

Check the Midori photo for the correct color.

 

Hammermill 20lb copy paper

 

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## 📸 Photo
20 days later, photography
Hammermill, Rhodia/ Iroful

Midori / Tomoe River 68 gsm

 

Oxidation in real time (Tomoe River 68 gsm paper)

 

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 🔍 Comparison
I didn't add the old formula swatches for simplicity  

 

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💧 Water Test

After 24 hours. 

 

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🎨 Artwork

Wolf pup

Tintenlabor Violet blue 1 (background), Gold Black, and Noodler's Red Rattler's Red.

 

Pup 
Tintenlabor Violet Blue, Gold

 

Adora-mouse-te
Tinten labor, Violet Blue, Gold, and  another IG ink

 

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- Pens Used: Pilot F3A,  Lamy (EF/F/M/B/ Stub 1.1) , Waterman W2 vintage flex
- What I Liked: ·  Colour, oxidation from royal blue to blue black
- What I Did Not Like: If I want to nitpick, it's the cleaning. 
- What Some Might Not Like: Iron gall ink, lower than average lubrication.  
- Writing Experience:  Excellent with most pens. 
  - Pros: Lovely oxidation, well-behaved,  water-resistant. 
  - Cons:  Not 100% waterproof. Medium maintenance ink, cleaning, etc. 

 

 🧷 Ink Characteristics

- Shading: Yes. 
- Ghosting: Yes, on cheap paper. 
- Bleed Through:  Yes, on thin, cheap paper. 
- Flow Rate:  Wet
- Lubrication:  Decent
- Nib Dry-out:  Did not notice.
- Start-up: Excellent. 
- Saturation: Gorgeous. 
- Sheen:  No. 
- Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line:  No

- Nib Creep / Crud: Did not notice. 
- Staining: Did not notice.
- Clogging:  No.
- Cleaning:  I flushed the pen a few times and soaked it in diluted vinegar. 
- Water Resistance:  Very Good.

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 🛒 Availability

- Available in 30/50 ml bottle directly from: https://tintenlabor.mycommerce.shop/products/eisengallustinte-1-violettblau-schwarz

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 💬 Closing

This is another excellent colour from Tintenlabor; it is elegant, mysterious, and a pleasure to use.  

 

No fountain pens were hurt in preparing this review. 

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

 

[Sailor Kenshin]

Risk-averse Sailor likes the color, loves the sketches, finds the chroma and quotes intriguing, but you know the rest.  😜

 

This COULD be the one I'd get, though, if I was getting one, and using dip pens.  
 

Thanks, @yazeh!  These iron gall reviews are always a fun read.

[yazeh]

12 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Risk-averse Sailor likes the color, loves the sketches, finds the chroma and quotes intriguing, but you know the rest.  😜

 

12 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

This COULD be the one I'd get, though, if I was getting one, and using dip pens.  

Good plan. Just so you know, if you use a cheap pen, you can give it a whirl. All you have to do is to flush and let it soak in a diluted version of white vinegar. Bascially, you pickle your pen.   

12 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Thanks, @yazeh!  These iron gall reviews are always a fun read.

Glad it was fun and helpful. 

 

[LizEF]

Fabulous review, @yazeh! Wonderful quotes.  May we always strive to plant healthy trees in other people's gardens!

 

Good job capturing the oxidation!   (That's such a pain!)

 

I absolutely love the Swiss swatch!!    Downright inspired!  (I like them all, but that one particularly.)

 

And the water sketch has me grinning in anticipation - hold tight to your umbrella, Mousey!

 

Your pups are cuties, but I love Aadormuste the most!   So sweet! It makes me smile.

 

1 hour ago, yazeh said:

No fountain pens were hurt in preparing this review. 

Thanks for all the hard work to put these together and compare within the color sets - very helpful!

[yazeh]

7 minutes ago, LizEF said:

Fabulous review, @yazeh! Wonderful quotes.  May we always strive to plant healthy trees in other people's gardens!

 

7 minutes ago, LizEF said:

Good job capturing the oxidation!   (That's such a pain!)

Isn't it? I had to have the camera ready, I missed, I had to restart again  

7 minutes ago, LizEF said:

 

I absolutely love the Swiss swatch!!    Downright inspired!  (I like them all, but that one particularly.)

 

7 minutes ago, LizEF said:

 

And the water sketch has me grinning in anticipation - hold tight to your umbrella, Mousey!

 

7 minutes ago, LizEF said:

 

Your pups are cuties, but I love Aadormuste the most!   So sweet! It makes me smile.

Yes, I enjoyed doing that  

7 minutes ago, LizEF said:

Thanks for all the hard work to put these together and compare within the color sets - very helpful!

Thanks, means a lot. It meansa lot 🙏

[InesF]

WOW, I would love being able to draw faster than I can speak!   👍

 

Thank you so much, @yazeh, for this comparing ink review in Swiss style!  This is excellent work and makes me wish for the ink-drawer extension now more than before. ... and I will have Cheese-Fondue today evening ...  

 

I love your animal portraits 👍 - and for a moment, for a short moment, I thought, I must start using IG inks for drawing also by myself ... 

Sooo good, thank you, @yazeh!

[yazeh]

2 hours ago, InesF said:

WOW, I would love being able to draw faster than I can speak!   👍

🙏

2 hours ago, InesF said:

 

Thank you so much, @yazeh, for this comparing ink review in Swiss style!  This is excellent work and makes me wish for the ink-drawer extension now more than before. ... and I will have Cheese-Fondue today evening ...  

I try my best. Well, you can move your fondue set to someplace else and fill the spot with new ink, though one day, by force of habit, you might pour ink instead of cheese in the fondue pot.   

2 hours ago, InesF said:

I love your animal portraits 👍 - and for a moment, for a short moment, I thought, I must start using IG inks for drawing also by myself ... 

Why not?  

2 hours ago, InesF said:

Sooo good, thank you, @yazeh!

A pleasure

[LizEF]

2 hours ago, yazeh said:

though one day, by force of habit, you might pour ink instead of cheese in the fondue pot.   

[Baggins]

Fantastic group of IG inks not off the mainstream track. 
end up creating a learning experience for me and many others.

Thank you for all this work.

 

would the vinegar used for cleaning, be used in a “fine dining”, salad dressing?🤔

[LizEF]

16 minutes ago, Baggins said:

would the vinegar used for cleaning, be used in a “fine dining”, salad dressing?🤔

In the US, at least, there's a cheaper vinegar (in larger containers) intended specifically for cleaning.  That's what I've tried, though without luck.  I'll be trying ascorbic acid (vitamin C) for the 5 new formula inks I'm testing now.

[Baggins]

19 hours ago, LizEF said:

In the US, at least, there's a cheaper vinegar (in larger containers) intended specifically for cleaning.  That's what I've tried, though without luck.  I'll be trying ascorbic acid (vitamin C) for the 5 new formula inks I'm testing now.

Wow! Ok. Just keep trying. “Ink with Vitamin C. Your pen will Love it”😊 

BTW, is the Kakimori brass nib adequate for IG inks. Twsbi will be a problem in the long run, just forgetting to clean it for a week or two for some reason, just say goodbye to the pen, no?

[yazeh]

19 hours ago, Baggins said:

Fantastic group of IG inks not off the mainstream track. 
end up creating a learning experience for me and many others.

Thank you for all this work.

Glad it was helpful. 🙏

19 hours ago, Baggins said:

 

would the vinegar used for cleaning, be used in a “fine dining”, salad dressing?🤔

The best acid is pure ascorbic acid powder. Tomorrow, I'll post how it should be done.

 

[Baggins]

38 minutes ago, yazeh said:

The best acid is pure ascorbic acid powder. Tomorrow, I'll post how it should be done.

Thanks. Always learning 😊

[yazeh]

I hope @InesF or any other chemists can confirm this information, which I got from ChatGPT:

 

🧪 1. Chemistry of Iron Gall Ink

Iron gall ink contains ferrous sulfate (Fe²⁺) which oxidizes to ferric (Fe³⁺), reacting with tannic acids and cellulose in paper. When dried, this can become insoluble and adhere stubbornly to pen components. Cleaning requires either:

• Chelation (binding and removing the iron ions), or

• Reduction (converting Fe³⁺ back to Fe²⁺, which is more water-soluble)

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🍊 2. Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C)

• Reduces Fe³⁺ to Fe²⁺, helping to re-solubilize dried iron gall residue.

• Chelates iron ions, making them easier to flush out.

• Much gentler on metal parts (especially steel nibs) than stronger acids.

• Safe at low concentrations (0.5–5% solution).

✅ Pros:

• Non-corrosive to metals

• Helps both dissolve and lift iron residues

• Buffered pH (mildly acidic, less aggressive than vinegar)

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🍷 3. Vinegar (Acetic Acid)

• Acidic (pH ~2.4), can help loosen dried ink, but:

• Doesn’t chelate or reduce iron as effectively

• Can be corrosive to steel, especially over time

• Has volatile acidity and a strong smell

• Not selective — it can etch plated parts if overused

⚠️ Cons:

• Harsh on delicate metal finishes

• No reduction or chelation of iron

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✅ Conclusion: Use Ascorbic Acid

• Prepare a 1–2% ascorbic acid solution in distilled water

• Soak nib/feed (if removable) for 10–20 minutes, then flush

• For persistent buildup, combine with a mild surfactant (like a drop of dish soap)

🧼 For regular pen maintenance, distilled water + gentle dish soap is usually enough. Reserve ascorbic acid for deeper cleans, especially after long use with iron gall inks.

 

Here is the factual experience. I rinsed several IG filled pens (blue + gold ) and put them in an ultrasonic cleaner, with a quarter teaspoon of ascorbic acid. 

1. After the first cycle, the water was blue. 
2. 2nd cycle: the water was filled with tiny (1 mm) particles. It is my understanding, that  this is the result of chelation. 
3. 3rd cycle, only 1  particle. 
4. 4th I added a dab of dishwater soap, water was clear
5. 5th cycle Water was clear.

Obviously, the pen were soaking in between cycles, as I forgot about them. 

@LizEF is doing her own texting, so it'll be fun to see if we had the same experience. 

 

 

[LizEF]

37 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Prepare a 1–2% ascorbic acid solution in distilled water

For those who don't know how to do this, here's an excellent set of instructions: https://irongallink.org/images/file/pdf 2_preparation of ascorbic acid_ok.pdf

[LizEF]

38 minutes ago, yazeh said:

with a quarter teaspoon of ascorbic acid.

The powder, or the 1% solution?

[LizEF]

39 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Here is the factual experience. I rinsed several IG filled pens (blue + gold ) and put them in an ultrasonic cleaner, with a quarter teaspoon of ascorbic acid. 

1. After the first cycle, the water was blue. 
2. 2nd cycle: the water was filled with tiny (1 mm) particles. It is my understanding, that  this is the result of chelation. 
3. 3rd cycle, only 1  particle. 
4. 4th I added a dab of dishwater soap, water was clear
5. 5th cycle Water was clear.

Did you change the water between cycles?  (Just being obsessive. )

[yazeh]

31 minutes ago, LizEF said:

The powder, or the 1% solution?

The powder.

 

[yazeh]

30 minutes ago, LizEF said:

Did you change the water between cycles?  (Just being obsessive. )

Yes. I did.

I should've taken a photo, but forgot. I took  one, later, but the lighting is awful. I'll try to take several photos the next time. 

I don't use distilled water. just filtered water, btw.

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, yazeh said:

The powder.

 

 

57 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Yes. I did.

I should've taken a photo, but forgot. I took  one, later, but the lighting is awful. I'll try to take several photos the next time. 

I don't use distilled water. just filtered water, btw.

Thanks!!

 

I forgot to use distilled water when I mixed up my 1% solution (and I forgot to do it the right way, so it's slightly less than 1% - oh well).  The Gold/Black didn't need it.  IG2 Dark Blue/Black is in the pen now - we'll see next Tuesday if I get to try the vitamin C on my pen.