Best Well-behaving permanent RED ink?

[luigiwu]

I'm currently trying Noodler's Samsui Red. Its really a perfect shade of red BUT I left it alone for a week and the ink won't flow now.

It was writing soo nicely too when I first inked it up. So, I'm back to looking for a new PERMANENT red that will be okay when it is not used everyday.

 

Thanks!

[finansista]

Same here, Samsui Red clogs my pens I agree the shade is just perfect, but the ink quite unusable unless you use it often. I tried the Parker Quink Red before and it tended to form strange little dark-burgundy lumps on the underside of the nib, just next to the pellet, so maybe it's something that is in all reds? I've heard Waterman Red is a nice *real* red, but haven't tried it yet.

 

I normally use J.Herbin inks, but they apparently have no good red one, or do they?

[lapis]

Try out Sheaffer's Skrip red. My best red as re colour and, more importantly, flow.

 

Mike

PS: Richard sent me

[Robert Hughes]

I like Watermans red, but it certainly isn't any good past the first drop of water on your page.

 

A permanent red, you say? And Noodlers' ain't cutting it for you?

 

You may have to roll over and join the ranks of rollerballers.

[jbn10161]

I normally use J.Herbin inks, but they apparently have no good red one, or do they?

Herbin's Rouge Caroubier is a red red. Their Rouge Opera is a slightly dustier, pinker, almost bluer red that is an interesting and pleasing color but not red red. Lately, I've been using Sailor's Red-brown, which is exceptionally well-behaved and an unusual, interesting color that is like a saturated red-caramel.

 

[Tricia]

J Herbin's Rose (one of the scented inks) is a beautiful red, but I don't think it's permanent.

 

If by permanent you're meaning waterproof, have you tried Swishmix Burgundy? It's a great color, more wine colored than red red, imo, but still nice. Noodler's Fox Red is a tad orangeish for my taste (definitely red-orange, though), but it is one of the permanent inks.

 

 

 

 

 

[kookychick]

I haven't used Samsui Red in a FP yet, but I've had similar experiences with Noodler's Russian Rachmaninov, which I always have in at least one pen! You could try adding a little distilled water to the ink (try a small amount in a separate container). I've had good luck with a 3:1 dilution (ink:water) of Rachmaninov--in my XF Sensa Meridians, it will start up again even after not using it for a week (whereas before, it would dry in the nib after a couple hours). The ink is so saturated, I don't really notice any difference in color.

 

You could also try a little of Tryphon's InkSafe--I've used that in Noodler's Russian Lermontov, with good results. (No affiliation, etc.) I purchased mine here: http://www.tryphon.it/catalogo.htm

 

Hope that helps!

[StephY]

I haven't used Samsui Red in a FP yet, but I've had similar experiences with Noodler's Russian Rachmaninov, which I always have in at least one pen! You could try adding a little distilled water to the ink (try a small amount in a separate container). I've had good luck with a 3:1 dilution (ink:water) of Rachmaninov--in my XF Sensa Meridians, it will start up again even after not using it for a week (whereas before, it would dry in the nib after a couple hours). The ink is so saturated, I don't really notice any difference in color.

 

You could also try a little of Tryphon's InkSafe--I've used that in Noodler's Russian Lermontov, with good results. (No affiliation, etc.) I purchased mine here: http://www.tryphon.it/catalogo.htm

 

Hope that helps!

 

Thanks for the reminder of InkSafe. I was having the same sort of trouble as the OP and was priming and dipping the nib to get it going again. I actually have a bottle of InkSafe in my drawer - will give it a try tonight.

[jbn10161]

I normally use J.Herbin inks, but they apparently have no good red one, or do they?

Herbin's Rouge Caroubier is a red red. Their Rouge Opera is a slightly dustier, pinker, almost bluer red that is an interesting and pleasing color but not red red. Lately, I've been using Sailor's Red-brown, which is exceptionally well-behaved and an unusual, interesting color that is like a saturated red-caramel.

Oops... I hate it when people do this, and now I've gone and done it myself. I failed to read the OP well enough. He's looking for something permanent. I look at permanence as being resistant to both light and water. Concerning water, the Sailor Red-brown is nowhere near permanent; the Herbin Rouge Opera is somewhat water resistant depending on the paper; and I cannot recall about the Rouge Caroubier. Concerning light, I have no idea about any of these. If I were looking for something permanent I think I'd go with Noodler's Fox Red.

[kookychick]

Oops... I hate it when people do this, and now I've gone and done it myself. I failed to read the OP well enough. He's looking for something permanent. I look at permanence as being resistant to both light and water. Concerning water, the Sailor Red-brown is nowhere near permanent; the Herbin Rouge Opera is somewhat water resistant depending on the paper; and I cannot recall about the Rouge Caroubier. Concerning light, I have no idea about any of these. If I were looking for something permanent I think I'd go with Noodler's Fox Red.

 

IIRC, many of the Herbin inks have really poor UV resistance--there were some threads in the Ink Reviews/Ink Comparisons subforum testing UV light resistance. I don't remember Rouge Caroubier specifically being tested, but many Herbin inks were pretty obliterated after spending some time in a window.

 

Found some links: try here and here. Rouge Opera seemed to do better than some of the other Herbin inks, but I don't know if that's any indication of how Rouge Caroubier would do.

 

Water resistance seems to vary--Violette Pensee has pretty good water resistance, for example (but horrible UV resistance). Not sure how they do with other detergents/chemicals.

[kookychick]

Thanks for the reminder of InkSafe. I was having the same sort of trouble as the OP and was priming and dipping the nib to get it going again. I actually have a bottle of InkSafe in my drawer - will give it a try tonight.

 

You're welcome! I tried it in a separate small vial for mixing, and wound up using a lot more than the recommended amount for the desired results. I don't have my ink notebook with me now, but I used way more than 1 drop per bottle's worth. I may have even used a few drops of InkSafe per 7ml vial of ink, but my memory fails me at the moment.

 

Happy experimenting! Hope it works!