Noodler's Ink: Periwinkle

[Signum1]

I had this ink sitting on the shelf for a few months simply because I didn't have the time to use it. I would say this ink colour is in the same shade as Noodler's Kung Te Cheng and Noodler's Violet Vote. Anyways, onto the typical ink review.

 

http://img856.imageshack.us/img856/1146/scannedimage9.jpg

[PaperDarts]

Nice review, and very timely - the periwinkle in my garden is starting to bloom! The colour is quite similar.

[jrduarte]

Regarding it being hard starting: I had the same problem with Noodler's Boston Brahmin Blue (also bulletproof).

And to some extent also with Bad Blue Heron.

 

I found that for these inks the choice of pen is critical. My number one choice is to refill a Pilot Varsity. The capillary feed and airtight cap are a perfect match for the ink.

I've never had a problem with this combination. The pen starts readily every time even after weeks of not being used. The nib doesn't dry even if left uncapped for extended periods (minutes) which also makes it great for jotting notes intermitently or working on crossword puzzles.

 

The other pen that works very well for me is the Platinum Preppy that comes with the 4.5oz Noodler's bottles. I think here the airtight cap also helps keep the ink flowing.

 

I know this is not a solution for everyone but if you are after the ink and don't much mind which pen you use then this might be useful.

 

Adding a bit of water might help for other pens.

 

JRD

[arthury]

Color:

Your color seemed wildly different from my sample. When this ink was paired with my Pelikan 200 italic medium nib, on white college rule paper, it looked more like really faded Lamy Black/Blue ink. There was no trace of violet or magenta at all. I am not sure how yours could be so different.

 

Post-drying:

After the ink dried up, the writing produced by this fairly broad & wet pen, looked like those that came from a frayed felt tip with a really pale color.

 

Feathering:

The frayed look came from the feathering. There was quite a bit of feathering on a regular college rule notebook.

 

Smell:

There's a certain chemical smell when you open up the bottle. It's not the usual ink smell that you get from the other Noodler's ink but it almost smelled like paint.

 

Writing experience:

The writing experience is something I have to get used to. It felt like writing with water, very dry and I had to push and pull the pen. It almost felt like writing with an iron-gall ink but without much color to show for and neither did the color change magically after it dried up.

 

Conclusion:

I am not thrilled with this ink. Besides the shading, I am not really sure what's the motivation behind creating ink. It looks quite pointless to me.

[Uncle Red]

Arthury, did you notice the comments about 20# paper? This ink needs a very high grade paper to perform well. Look at Clairefontaine, Triomphe, maybe Rhodia. You could try Staples Arc line paper, Black and Red paper or maybe Sustainable Earth by Staples. Others may have suggestions for a good, hard-surfaced paper.

This is a water proof ink and that's hard to do with blue inks.

[arthury]

Looks like I have missed that part about it being successfully used only a 20 lb paper. Thanks for highlighting that fact.

In that case, it might warrant a little warning on the product description that this ink requires a really high grade paper to work correctly.

 

Yes, it is waterproof after it dries up. Quite up to snuff for that property and I am impressed when I tested it.

 

Visually, after it dries up, the ink does look chalky or like crayon. Cute as some may say but not a lot to write home about.

In the bottle, the ink looks very much like the Periwinkle snail-shell but when it is written, it is no where near what it looks in the bottle.

In fact, I just tried it on a 100% cotton rag paper, the best paper I have and the color still remains on the dull bluish side of the spectrum, no sign of magenta or violet. May be my sample is stale, who knows.

Edited March 13, 2012 by arthury

[Uncle Red]

No Arthury, you're still missing the point. This ink works best on better than 20# paper, like the papers I listed. Also, 100% cotton rag paper is absorbent, the papers I listed aren't. A 100% rag paper may hide shading too. It's great paper but it has to be used with the right ink.

[arthury]

No Arthury, you're still missing the point. This ink works best on better than 20# paper, like the papers I listed. Also, 100% cotton rag paper is absorbent, the papers I listed aren't. A 100% rag paper may hide shading too. It's great paper but it has to be used with the right ink.

 

I will have to look for these recommended papers to give it another try one of these days but one has to be highly motivated to help this ink along.

Thanks for your suggestions.

[arthury]

Would Moleskine do? I saw some in my local store but it does specify the paper quality weight.

[arthury]

No Arthury, you're still missing the point. This ink works best on better than 20# paper, like the papers I listed. Also, 100% cotton rag paper is absorbent, the papers I listed aren't. A 100% rag paper may hide shading too. It's great paper but it has to be used with the right ink.

 

You should be proud of me, Uncle Red. I have finally found a store here that sells Rhodia products, not many but several. I bought one of them that is rated 90g. So, I'll give that a try to see how it goes.

 

The thing is that not many stores sell Clairefontaine/Rhodia products because they are considered upmarket papers which most people don't use and buying them online incurs quite a bit of freight charges due to their weight.

[arthury]

After chasing the dream in the wind, I am back to square one, so to speak.

 

Tried this ink on a Clairefontaine paper (90g) and Moleskine (80g) and I had the same dull light blue. There's no periwinkle color, no trace of magenta nor violet, no not one. Product description is highly inaccurate in my opinion. I have given it all I've got to make this ink work and it is a failure. This is a broken ink, in my opinion.

 

Sorry, I'm not going to spend more resources or time on this anymore.

Edited March 16, 2012 by arthury