Quink Permanent Blue

[Nellie]

I hope the following text is legible & perhaps also useful to the few people who have not tried this ink.

I'll add a sample that shows the fading. It's from my diary, so the ink has not even been exposed to much light.

 

edit: yay, hooray, I've finally managed to upload all images!!

Edited December 7, 2007 by Nellie

[fjf]

Yes, this one is probably the easiest to find anywhere in the world. It is also one of the worst inks: it is rather lifeless, and it fades to disappear in time. Other than that, it behaves very well in any pen I tried it. Pity.

[Ann Finley]

Would you believe I've never tried Quink Blue? Really, I haven't. Before it fades it looks like a very pretty blue IMO. I wonder what the Parker Co. had in mind when they called it "permanent." Maybe it's permanent if it gets on your clothing!

 

Thanks for taking the time to do the review and covering all of the pros & cons.

 

Ann

[fpfanatic5]

I had a Parker blue cartridge, and I'm not sure if it was permanent or washable. It was a nice, lighter, blue, which flowed well. A few weeks ago I looked through a notebook from last year, and I came upon a page written in a shade of blue, which looked like it had been soaked in water. It was Parker Blue all right, it faded a great amount, almost to the point of being unreadable. It's too bad, it is a nice ink besides for that fact.

[hatherton_wood]

Quink permanent blue is not that easy to find in the UK - everywhere it is washable. I've used washable for 40 years and the notes from back then are still perfectly readable. But the formulations have changed with the move to France so they now seem to be more similar to Waterman inks. I've tried the recent permanent blue though and have not noticed a problem with it - notes from a year ago are still OK. Is it exposure to light or some chemical in the atmosphere or paper causing it? i.e. still traces of bleach on the paper?

[Nellie]

Quink permanent blue is not that easy to find in the UK - everywhere it is washable. I've used washable for 40 years and the notes from back then are still perfectly readable. But the formulations have changed with the move to France so they now seem to be more similar to Waterman inks. I've tried the recent permanent blue though and have not noticed a problem with it - notes from a year ago are still OK. Is it exposure to light or some chemical in the atmosphere or paper causing it? i.e. still traces of bleach on the paper?

I do not know what causes the fading but it has happened on all kinds of paper I use, even if the writing hasn't been exposed to much light (e.g. my notes in notebooks). I can even already tell a slight difference between something I've just written and the review I wrote yesterday (and that spent the night in my scanner). Somehow the colour loses its purple hues and vibrant quality and becomes paler.

[psfred]

If sulfite type ink eradicators (not chlorine bleach type) will remove the color, so will the residual sulfites in sulfite process wood fiber paper (i.e. nearly all paper out there). It may be more permanent on acid free 100% cotton or low pulp content paper.

 

Peter

[hatherton_wood]

We have a possible answer here then. If an ink is fading significantly on paper then some chemical reaction must be happening either with the paper or something in the atmosphere if exposure to light has been eliminated.

[titrisol]

I checked my diary from the last 2 years, written mostly in Quink Blue-black but some Blue from a Vector (F) pen I bought in October 06

Between 10/06 and 11/06 I used the blue quink and notes are fine.

The notebook is a standard "Aurora" buro-class which I assume is normal paper (sulfite-free?)

Blue quink is fine, nice blue color could be bolder but for everyday note taking is fine.

Even though I prefer blue-black

 

[richardandtracy]

I've had problems with this ink fading too.

 

I also noticed that the Quink Black disappears in hot (nearly boiling) water.

 

Regards

 

Richard.

 

[yttl]

Hi,

 

I know this has absolutely nothing to do with your review, but i was wondering why you dash your 'u's. An interesting habit...

 

--

YTTL

[cchan]

Hi,

 

I know this has absolutely nothing to do with your review, but i was wondering why you dash your 'u's. An interesting habit...

 

--

YTTL

That's a Germanic thing to do according to Wikipedia. I have a repro Mercedes-Benz poster which says "50 Jähre Automobilbau" with swishes over the u's. Seems like if Nellie didn't dash her u's, n and u would become indistinguishable.

[RoyalBlue]

Hi,

 

I know this has absolutely nothing to do with your review, but i was wondering why you dash your 'u's. An interesting habit...

 

--

YTTL

That's a Germanic thing to do according to Wikipedia. I have a repro Mercedes-Benz poster which says "50 Jähre Automobilbau" with swishes over the u's. Seems like if Nellie didn't dash her u's, n and u would become indistinguishable.

 

I hope it doesn't say 'Jähre', as it should be 'Jahre' (while we're at it!).

 

About the Parker permanent blue, some writing of mine has faded but other instances - e.g. in a Moleskine notebook - have lasted well. The same happens with Waterman Florida blue, which is washable blue in its French name. And a plus for the Quink; it doesn't bleed through the Moleskine unlike all the Waterman inks, which I otherwise prefer. Maybe because it dries so fast?

 

Tom

Edited October 31, 2009 by RoyalBlue

[kwinana]

I have a 3 bottles of blue quink. One is made in UK, the other says Shanghai, China and the third is Made in France. I will test them over the next few days and see if they appear the same. Recently I tried the French made blue and it reminded me a lot of Waterman Florida Blue. Possibly, country of manufacture may affect the colour. It will be interesting to see the results. Has anyone else found a difference in ink colour depending on country of manufacture?

[kwinana]

I have 3 bottles of blue quink. One is made in UK, the other says Shanghai, China and the third is Made in France. I will test them over the next few days and see if they appear the same. Recently I tried the French made blue and it reminded me a lot of Waterman Florida Blue. Possibly, country of manufacture may affect the colour. It will be interesting to see the results. Has anyone else found a difference in ink colour depending on country of manufacture?

[kwpalzang]

I was wondering the same thing, about the u's. I sort of like your handwriting, it looks unique and I can read it alright. I wonder if this would be a good ink for me for use at school, as my science teacher can only read our handwriting if it's in dark pencil, or black or blue ink. That sort of annoys me...

[Ed Ronax]

Nice review, I've used this ink in the past and found it to be a good ink.

[prinzhernan]

Just bought this ink. Very nice color though after reading the comments I'm a bit hesitant to use it if it fades so easily.

[Parker Quink Turquoise]

Permanent Quink Blue is the only blue I use and is the only colour ink my wife uses period.We have not had any fading problems with the Permanent Blue ink.

[ugly]

Permanent Quink Blue is the only blue I use and is the only colour ink my wife uses period.We have not had any fading problems with the Permanent Blue ink.

This is also my experience.

It's a very good ink.