Ink Review: Noodler's Polar Black

[ladyambrosia]

Full review on The Ink Rack

 

My scan bleached a little bit of the color out of this ink. I have needed a black in my ink arsenal for a while and I now have two. J. Herbin Perle Noire and Noodler’s Polar Black. The Noodler’s is the one I decided to try first as I have taken a liking to their saturated colors. I like nice thick saturation with my wet writers.

 

When writing with this ink my very first thought as it came out of my Jinaho F5 M Nib and onto my Staples Bagesse paper was wow THIS is BLACK. Moreover, that opinion held as I continued to write. There is light shading with my M nib, and none with the fine nib. But over all I found it to be a well behaved ink. It did not feather, nor bleed through on my Bagesse paper although it did shadow some.

[beluga]

Full review on The Ink Rack

 

My scan bleached a little bit of the color out of this ink. I have needed a black in my ink arsenal for a while and I now have two. J. Herbin Perle Noire and Noodler’s Polar Black. The Noodler’s is the one I decided to try first as I have taken a liking to their saturated colors. I like nice thick saturation with my wet writers.

 

When writing with this ink my very first thought as it came out of my Jinaho F5 M Nib and onto my Staples Bagesse paper was wow THIS is BLACK. Moreover, that opinion held as I continued to write. There is light shading with my M nib, and none with the fine nib. But over all I found it to be a well behaved ink. It did not feather, nor bleed through on my Bagesse paper although it did shadow some.

 

 

I can't make up my mind about Noodler's Polar Black and would not go as far as to describe this ink as "well-behaved".

To my way of thinking, a well-behaved ink should not show significant nib creep and this is where Noodler's Polar Black falls short in my book.

Nib creep varies from pen to pen and may be unavoidable with highly saturated inks, but is one of the reasons that I don't use this ink more regularly.

 

Lubrication is excellent and on some papers (e.g. Filofax yellow organizer note paper inserts) Polar Black draws a steady, rich line while other inks - even Noodler's bullet-proof black - are "repelled" by the paper.

Unfortunately, Polar Black is more prone to bleeding than the bullet-proof black and did show on some of my cheaper writing papers greyish undertones.

 

 

All that may explain while my Polar Black bottle is still more than 2/3 full.

 

 

 

 

B

[ladyambrosia]

I didn't have a nib creep probablem when using it. I can understand your thoughts on it though for sure. I just tend to write my reviews as a how the ink is behaving when I write it and how it responds to that paper.

 

That said I do have another Black which I reviewed I just have not done the review yet. And for flow I prefer the other ink. But for my taste I still think Polar Black is AOK.

[rdh]

I have had very good luck with Polar Black when used in the Platinum Preppy that came with the ink. All the other pens that I have used developed nib creep. This eventually becomes cap creep, section creep and finally finger creep, or when used in my VP, it gets all over the mechanism inside and eventually on the outside of the barrel.

 

I like the permanence, the color, the feel, flow and appearance on paper, but because of the mess, I just use it in the Preppy now.

 

Dave

[Ed Ronax]

Nice review, thanks.

[kv3x]

Thanks for the review. I'm searching for a "black" that is waterproof, but well behaved. I appreciate your viewpoint. I'll have to give it a try.

[djh]

That looks like an ink that I should try. I filled the Lamy 2000 that I carry each day in my messenger bag with Polar Blue last winter (even though it doesn't really get that cold here ) and I might do the same next winter with black!

[ToasterPastry]

Thanks for the review. It looks good on this good quality paper. How is the feathering on cheaper paper?

[ladyambrosia]

Welcome all

 

and Toaster I think Staples is fairly cheap (2.59 for the notebook) it is the cheapest I have anyways so I couldn't say for something cheaper. It has behaved perfect on all my other papers.

[dadoody]

Thanks for the review. It looks good on this good quality paper. How is the feathering on cheaper paper?

 

It feathers to fuzz on cheap paper.

 

My experience has mostly been with Noodler's Polar Black ink for the last year; however, today, I finally went to my local pen shop and picked up Bulletproof Black. Big difference in feathering and color. Polar Black is not as black as Noodler's regular Bulletproof Black, and Bullet proof black does not feather on cheap paper. Polar Black looks fuzzy on cheap paper.

 

I'm switching to Bulletproof Black from now on. I'm in California, and I guess I have no real need for Polar Black.

[eezacque]

I had my mind set on buying Noodler's Borealis black, but the salesman at the only place here in Toronto that carries Noodler's, Sleuth and Statesman, talked me into Polar Black, as this would be the better choice for the cold winter weather. This appeared to be a big mistake, as I find it impossible to get a consistent line down with my extra fine Lamy Safari. As I use this ink mostly for drawing, it is totally useless. Also, I use to add washes with diluted ink, and I find that Polar Black stains almost as badly as some of the cheaper inks I have used. A total waste of time and money.

[inksmears]

I was looking for a different black than BPB and I liked Polar Brown, but I found the nib creep to be something fierce in my Safari, to the point where overnight it looked like I just dipped it in the bottle. The flow was lousy too. I regretted this purchase.

[VillersCotterets]

I left a pen in a freezer for several hours to test the antifreeze properties of this ink. It works! However, at room temperature, I find this ink slightly runny (lacking a bit of viscosity). The colour is well saturated (dark enough) but not as much as my everyday ink (a little bit grey compared to Waterman Encre Noire). Takes about 4 seconds to dry completely (fine nib on a TWSBI 540), so it can be considered a little bit slow drying, but not much. Once dried, it becomes super waterproof. One can soak it in water for hours, the ink won't fade or dissolve. I notice a little bit of "nib creep" (weak surface tension), however no bleed-through even on cheap porous paper. Some feathering on bad paper.

 

Very good ink to have in winter, in a dry pen one leaves in the glove box of a car. For regular use, I prefer other black inks.

[Pen2009]

Once dried, it becomes super waterproof. One can soak it in water for hours, the ink won't fade or dissolve.

I need to pull my polar black ink from my ink drawer. I need to use a water proof black ink for my side job. I will put aside my Aurora Black aside for now to put my Polar Black in active duty.

[raging.dragon]

I don't like Polar Black. The properties that annoyed me most were extreme nib creep and the hard to clean sticky residue that left on nibs and feeds. It also exhibited poor (dry) flow, skipping and moderate feathering on cheap paper.