Tintenlabor Dark Blue 3 (New Formula)

[yazeh]

Tintenlabor Dark Blue 3 (New Formula)

(Eisengallustinte 3, dunkelblau / schwarz)

 Ink Review # 189

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🧾 Description

 

Tintenlabor is a Swiss ink company specializing in Iron Gall inks. What differentiates this ink from other brands is that you would know the iron content. 

 

The samples were sent to me by the Ink-Meister, David. 

 

This is the new formula of Dark Blue 3, a Blue Black iron gall with 5 g/l iron and high dye content. I haven't tested the old formula, so I cannot compare them. But this is a wet ink. 

 

On most papers I tested, the ink oxidized immediately from sky blue/petrol blue (depending on the nib width) to blue-black/ grey. Midori was the only exception, which took 12 hours. 

 

Ink is almost waterproof from the moment it dries.

 

With a very wet, primed flex nib, I saw feathering on Midori and Hammermill. While there was some ghosting and bleed through on the latter, there was none on my cheap shopping list paper.

 

As with iron gall inks, it's best to clean them directly with a diluted ascorbic acid solution (to make your life easier). Never use ammonia-based cleaning solutions to clean iron gall inks. 

For more information, check this thread, especially our resident scientist @InesF explanations on page 2.

  

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 🧪 Chroma

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 ✍️ Writing Samples (scan)

Rhodia  / Iroful

 

 

 

Midori  /Tomoe River 68gsm

While it's written Blue 2 on the Tomoe River paper, it's actually Blue 3.

 

 

 

Hammermill 20lb  

 

 

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 📸 Photo

Rhodia, Hammermill,  Iroful

 

 

 

Midori,  Tomoe River 68 gsm

 

  

 

 

 

Oxidation

 

 

 

 🔍 Comparison

Tintenlabor Dark Blue 2 vs Dark Blue 3  - Artificial vs natural light

Swatches:

 

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 💧 Water Test

 

 

 

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 🎨 Artwork

Dragonfly

Tintenlabor Azur Noir/ Dark Blue 3 ( it's the background blue black)

Paper is Talents Mixed Media.

Part of Inktober yearlong challenge 2025.  Dragonflies were very important in Samurai culture. 

 

Fado

Tintenlabor Azur Noir (fado singer), the Portuguese guitar, and the landscape were done with Tintenlabor Dark Blue 3 – Paper is Strathmore. 

I'm a fan of fado music — a traditional Portuguese genre often played with the Portuguese guitar. It evokes saudade, an untranslatable feeling that blends nostalgia, longing, loss, and yearning. 

 

 

I Don’t want to be Human

Tintenlabor Dark Blue 3/Noodler’s Red Rattler Eel

A salute to all the cats who’ve had enough of human nonsense — and let their tongues, and their mouse companions, say it all.  

 

 

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- Pens Used:  Pilot Kakuno EF,  Lamy (EF/F/M/B/ Stub 1.1), Kanwrite with FPR ultraflex

- What I Liked: Nice wet, decent lubrication. 

- What I Did Not Like: Nitpicking: With some nibs, the base color was petrol blue, not my favorite colour. 

- What Some Might Not Like: Cleaning and IG inks. 

- Writing Experience:  Delightful.

- Pros: Waterproof. Lovely colours. Small bottle. 

- Cons:  You can buy it only from the website. It's not as good as Essri for copy paper. 

 

 🧷 Ink Characteristics

 

- Shading:  Good.

- Ghosting:  Yes on Hammermill, not on shopping list. 

- Bleed Through:  Flex nib can't handle copy paper. 

- Flow Rate:  Wet, to very wet. 

- Lubrication:  Very good. 

- Nib Dry-out:  Did not notice. 

- Start-up: Great with most pens. Kakuno was a bit fussy. 

- Saturation:  Lovely

- Sheen:  Did not notice.

- Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line:  Only with a wet flex primed nib.  

- Nib Creep / Crud: Did not notice.

- Staining (Pen):  You'll need a Q-Tip. 

- Clogging:  No.

- Cleaning:  Like all IG inks, water, a pinch of ascorbic acid, Q-tip and patience is necessary.

- Water Resistance:  Excellent after oxidation. 

 

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 🛒 Availability

 

- [ ] Available in 30/50 ml bottle directly: 

https://tintenlabor.mycommerce.shop/products/eisengallustinte-3-dunkelblau-schwarz

 

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 💬 Closing

 

This is lovely ink by Tintenlabor. The final question remains: What is the difference between Dark Blue 2 and Dark Blue 3? Both oxidize to a charcoal grey colour. Blue 2 has low dye content, and Blue 3 has high dye content, but both look similar in the end.

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[LizEF]

Great job, @yazeh!  Clearly a lot of work went into your review!

 

And I've just realized that having all the blue swatches together like you did reveals the tiny bit of violet in the Violet Blue/Black.   (And I'm fascinated by the differences between the four colors!)

 

I love the sky in "Fado" - all that gorgeous blue-black!

 

"I Don't want to be Human" makes me smile.  Smoke often leaves his tongue poking out - Klaw, never.

 

Thanks for sharing it all with us!

[yazeh]

5 minutes ago, LizEF said:

Great job, @yazeh!  Clearly a lot of work went into your review!

It did. But you know how it is.

 

5 minutes ago, LizEF said:

 

And I've just realized that having all the blue swatches together like you did reveals the tiny bit of violet in the Violet Blue/Black.   (And I'm fascinated by the differences between the four colors!)

Isn't it? I'm going to rescan all 4 inks, plus Essri ( the ink, not the Snek ) at the end, and do a comparison, in a month or so. The thing is when I use a wet flex pen, blue 2 and 3 are indistinguishable. Their both black. 😊

5 minutes ago, LizEF said:

 

I love the sky in "Fado" - all that gorgeous blue-black!

 

I did the lady few weeks ago. And then did the rest this morning. It's incredible when you do the wash, the oxidation stops.  A

5 minutes ago, LizEF said:

"I Don't want to be Human" makes me smile.  Smoke often leaves his tongue poking out - Klaw, never.

 

Their so funny. Suddenly the tongue is sticking out. It reminds me of the famous Einstein photo. 😋

5 minutes ago, LizEF said:

Thanks for sharing it all with us!

Thanks for your support. 🙏🙏🙏

[LizEF]

2 hours ago, yazeh said:

Essri ( the ink, not the Snek )

[Sailor Kenshin]

I wonder what's the difference too!

 

Always interested in your Tintenlabor reviews, @yazeh.  I like the color before it galls itself to gray, but the 'afters' are all too similar.  
 

The 'ageing' process is interesting to see, and the cat-tongue illustration made me smile.  Thanks!  I'll keep reading and enjoying.

[yazeh]

4 hours ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

I wonder what's the difference too!

I added a side by side photo of both inks on Tomoe RIver paper side by side, under artificial and natural light.  

4 hours ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Always interested in your Tintenlabor reviews, @yazeh.  I like the color before it galls itself to gray, but the 'afters' are all too similar.  

You're right. The difference is subtle, but it's there. Then there's the intangible experience of writing, which is difficult to convey.  

4 hours ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

The 'ageing' process is interesting to see, and the cat-tongue illustration made me smile.  Thanks!  I'll keep reading and enjoying.

Glad my little sketch brought you and review is entertaining. It's been quite an intense month of IG ink review.  

[yazeh]

11 hours ago, LizEF said:

Today, I'm gonna review one of the most annoying creatures in the world, Makhabeshed purred. 

It's short, it's mispronounced my species, my name,  and his too. 

"Thpinkth" Makhabeth, Thnek,Ethri,"  Essri chimed. 

"Thtop interrupting me," Makhabesh fumed....  

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, yazeh said:

Today, I'm gonna review one of the most annoying creatures in the world, Makhabeshed purred. 

It's short, it's mispronounced my species, my name,  and his too. 

"Thpinkth" Makhabeth, Thnek,Ethri,"  Essri chimed. 

"Thtop interrupting me," Makhabesh fumed....  

[inkstainedruth]

These reviews are dangerous to my wallet....  I'm hoping that one of the major pen sellers here in the US picks up the line at some point (like I REALLY need more ink  -- especially after tossing a few samples into the order I just made to Vanness earlier today, to get to the "free shipping" threshold, in addition to the stuff I really needed, which was a couple of Parker twist converters and a replacement Lamy Z-28 converter).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[yazeh]

13 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

These reviews are dangerous to my wallet....  I'm hoping that one of the major pen sellers here in the US picks up the line at some point (like I REALLY need more ink  -- especially after tossing a few samples into the order I just made to Vanness earlier today, to get to the "free shipping" threshold, in addition to the stuff I really needed, which was a couple of Parker twist converters and a replacement Lamy Z-28 converter).

I hope so, too, for the sake of your wallet. Enjoy your new samples from Vanness. I can list the pros and cons of IG inks if your self-control is dwindling.

I'm reviewing Essri (the ink ) and Diamine Registrars to complete the Blue Black IG saga.  

[inkstainedruth]

Oh, I already have a number of IG inks: several of the ones which FPN member Pharmacist (who was somewhere in the EU -- Belgium IIRC), was playing around with using other colors besides blue-black a number of years ago (I shudder to think what condition those are in now, which is sad because they were amazing, and I didn't know whether to use them up or hoard them) back when I first started on here).  And then when KWZ got started, there was an FPN group buy, so I have some of those (but sadly, their turquoise IG ink was NOT the same color as the one that Pharmacist had made).   And somewhere along the line I bought a 60 ml. bottle of Akkerman Ijzer-Galnoten (but it went bad because I didn't use it up fast enough... ).  So I'm VERY hesitant to get something like ESSRI -- I would definitely NOT be able to go through a 100 ml. bottle fast enough -- even it was the ONLY ink I used, AND I was using it in a pen with some super wide stub nib.... 

I had tried a sample of Diamine Registrar's early on, but while it had lovely shading (to the point that Bo Bo Olsen would have been more than happy ) the color seemed sort of meh to me (to the point that I wondered if the sample I'd been sent was ALREADY starting to oxidize  -- and no, I don't remember at this point where I'd ordered it from...).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[InesF]

"I Don't want to be mouse. I'm OK with being human - but, yes, cat would be better." - unknown author of the present.   

 

Thank you, @yazeh for the effort with comparing all those IG inks!  And especial thanks for your charming drawings. All three are so well done - and I let you guess, which one I like the most ...  

 

As done and told before, the oxidation photos tell the most about the inks. That's great and so well done! 👍

I have to admit, I like the colours of the more fresh inks the most.

 

Looking forward to the next review!

[yazeh]

8 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

Oh, I already have a number of IG inks: several of the ones which FPN member Pharmacist (who was somewhere in the EU -- Belgium IIRC), was playing around with using other colors besides blue-black a number of years ago (I shudder to think what condition those are in now, which is sad because they were amazing, and I didn't know whether to use them up or hoard them) back when I first started on here).

They have probably expired by now. I used one of my expired bottles for artwork. Quite pleasent feeling actually.

8 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

 And then when KWZ got started, there was an FPN group buy, so I have some of those (but sadly, their turquoise IG ink was NOT the same color as the one that Pharmacist had made).   And somewhere along the line I bought a 60 ml. bottle of Akkerman Ijzer-Galnoten (but it went bad because I didn't use it up fast enough... ).  

Yes, that's the downfall of IG inks. It's not for inkswappers, but for dedicated ink users, like marriage vows.  

8 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

 

So I'm VERY hesitant to get something like ESSRI -- I would definitely NOT be able to go through a 100 ml. bottle fast enough -- even it was the ONLY ink I used, AND I was using it in a pen with some super wide stub nib.... 

When I got my Essri, I had to order 3 empty glass bottles for transfer. The one with the least amount of ink, (3/4 of the bottle was air) expired. The full bottles remained intact. I once read to blow into your IG ink bottles, on a scientific research website on iron gall ink, that would slow the oxidation process. Of course some user panned the idea.  

8 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

I had tried a sample of Diamine Registrar's early on, but while it had lovely shading (to the point that Bo Bo Olsen would have been more than happy ) the color seemed sort of meh to me (to the point that I wondered if the sample I'd been sent was ALREADY starting to oxidize  -- and no, I don't remember at this point where I'd ordered it from...).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

I am currently reviewing Essri and Diamine Registrars. I prefer Essri's writng experience by farr. Pity it doesn't come in 30 ml bottles.

 

[yazeh]

3 hours ago, InesF said:

 

Thank you, @yazeh for the effort with comparing all those IG inks!  And especial thanks for your charming drawings. All three are so well done - and I let you guess, which one I like the most ...  

🙀😸

3 hours ago, InesF said:

 

As done and told before, the oxidation photos tell the most about the inks. That's great and so well done! 👍

I have to admit, I like the colours of the more fresh inks the most.

I understand that. IG inks are like the passage of time in fast motion. Even though they are mostly used in the West, to me, they are the perfect Buddhist ink. 🙏 

 

3 hours ago, InesF said:

Looking forward to the next review!

Same here

 

 

3 hours ago, InesF said:

"I Don't want to be mouse. I'm OK with being human - but, yes, cat would be better." - unknown author of the present.