Bulletproof, Waterproof, UV resistance, What Next?

[skinnyPens]

I can't be the only one who likes to read and write in a nice bubble bath.

 

Am I?

[freznow]

I can't be the only one who likes to read and write in a nice bubble bath.

 

Am I?

 

I always wish I could but I never thought it would be wise. Does it work? Really?

[Paddler]

I kept a journal when I was a kid in the '50s and '60s. It was mostly written with Skrip washable blue. It was never exposed to excessive heat, light, or water. Now, it is almost illegible.

 

Before I dug up that old journal, I was unaware of any kind of ink permanence issue. I used any ink brand or color that caught my eye.

 

My house was built in 1886. Its original owner was the town doctor. Some of his day books have survived. They go back to 1847. They appear to be written with the common ink of the day - a "writing fluid" based on iron gall ink. They are perfectly legible, even the pages that were written with old, deteriorating ink that has turned brown. You might think that a doctor's day book and household accounts would make for pretty dull reading, but nay, but nay. They are fascinating to me.

 

So I think that someday someone may find my chicken scratchin' and read what my life was like. They surely won't read anything I write on a computer; that'll be gone in 20 years. Everything we write on computers today is headed for the bit-bucket. It will get there sooner rather than later.

 

Waterproof, fadeproof, bulletproof ink. Why? Why not? It is available. It is affordable. I have used Noodler's for more than a year and have never needed to flush the pens. I use it in modern and vintage pens. Some other inks are nearly as permanent. Herbin's Encre Noire is good. A few of Levenger's inks will take a beating. There are more.

 

I am writing for permanence. I use long-lasting ink on acid-free paper. It is all I can think of to do. If my books are chucked into a landfill someday, or go up in a fire, tough bananas! Nobody is gonna read about the interesting times I have had. If they lose my accounts, they don't deserve 'em.

 

Paddler

 

[JohnS-MI]

Rain, sweat, beverage spills, and sun are my big concerns. I have lost notes to all these. I have never had a "check washer" alter a check, so bulletproof may be more than I need.

 

In college (60's) I lost some important notes to a rain that turned a notebook into a chromatography test (sp?). As a result, I began using a technical drawing pen (Kohinoor Rapidograph) and India ink for course notes. Let me tell you, it makes a TERRIBLE writing pen. But the notes were waterproof. So I only used fountain pens for things that weren't "mission critical" if they got wet, from any cause.

 

I've been using Noodler's black for nearly two years and love it. I use other colors when I want, although they are not waterproof, but if I need to be sure, I use Noodlers Black. Legal Lapis isn't quite the blue I'm looking for, but I'll probably try it next.

 

As for fading, things can be indoors with some sun exposure and fade in weeks to months. For your grocery lists, it doesn't matter, for more permanent things it does. This thread caused me to remember a fading test I started about two months ago, half of a small note inside a west-facing window, poised to catch most of the afternoon sun, while half the note sat in the dark in a desk drawer. This has been running since March 29.

 

A black Pilot G2 gel pen is faded but quite readable, a red G2 has basically vanished. I think the Noodlers cheated and hid in a drawer, it looks unchanged -- although the paper around it is a little yellowed. Waterman Blue-Black is some horribly faded brownish color, barely readable. PR Midnight Blues and DCSS Blue are both faded to reddish-brown colors but readable, DCSS more readable. I'll try to scan and post it later.

 

Since it was poised to catch as much sun as possible, it was an accelerated test, but I've had the same thing (not quite as severe) happen to notes on a bulletin board at work. Many modern fountain pen inks are quite ephemeral -- again for grocery lists it doesn't matter, for other things, it does.

[skinnyPens]

I can't be the only one who likes to read and write in a nice bubble bath.

 

Am I?

 

I always wish I could but I never thought it would be wise. Does it work? Really?

It might not be wise. But it does work. I never read books or papers that don't belong to me. But I have read my own books, read and taken notes on photocopies, and written on individual journal pages. I don't take the whole journal with me, and when I read from my PDA I put it in a ziplock bag.

 

For margin notes, I just set the papers on the tub ledge. For serious writing I've been known to take a big aluminum cookie tray with me. I've always been tempted to buy one of the contraptions that span the tub, hold a book and papers at a slant. Just haven't done it yet. I keep a little towel handy to dry my hands and any stray droplets. Steam seems to be a bigger problem than droplets, so no rare books in there.

 

So far no disasters. I did a lot of my studying for law school in a tub. I think my grades took a dive the year I lived in an apartment with just a shower.

 

yeah, can't believe I'm posting this information in a public forum.

[xmattxyzx]

I'm a bit confused; if I'm looking for an ink with permanence is bulletproof really the only option?

[phe]

I have never had the permanence of my notes written with bulletproof black tested, however I can vouch for its permanent qualities on white cotton sheets... I use it as I think the potential benefits (everlasting notes) outweigh the potential drawbacks (inky accidents).

 

Incidentally, I find it interesting that if you wet Aircorp BB on paper, the black remains and turquoise washes out. However if you get it on your skin, the black washes away and leaves the turquoise!

[Federalist Pens]

YES, It's the amazing INK-PROOF INK!

 

If you act now, We'll include the Legibility Mix!

Make your handwriting legible in one stroke! :roflmho:

[JohnS-MI]

Incidentally, I find it interesting that if you wet Aircorp BB on paper, the black remains and turquoise washes out. However if you get it on your skin, the black washes away and leaves the turquoise!

 

Clear proof that humans are animals, not plants. The black reacts with cellulose. It washes off your hands easily, fibers, not so well.

 

[dmmcf]

I'm thinking fireproof might be nice to have.

 

Wouldn't that be funny, you could pull little cursive strands of writing out of the ashes, like frosting letters.

 

You make a good point. I'd been planning to burn my filled journals, but shredding may be required, at least as a pre-processing step.

 

Michael

 

[succubus]

I also can't understand the need to keep my notes eternal.

 

Juan

 

I, for one, have accidentally washed a small journal in the back pocket of a pair of jeans. Sometimes "bulletproof" can come in handy.

 

But for me, it's the colors that have clinched it. I don't necessarily go for bulletproof Noodler's inks, I go for the colors I like. I've always been more of a "jewel-tone" rather than a "pastel" type of gal, so saturated colors are appealing to me.

[JohnS-MI]

As for fading, things can be indoors with some sun exposure and fade in weeks to months. For your grocery lists, it doesn't matter, for more permanent things it does. This thread caused me to remember a fading test I started about two months ago, half of a small note inside a west-facing window, poised to catch most of the afternoon sun, while half the note sat in the dark in a desk drawer. This has been running since March 29.

 

A black Pilot G2 gel pen is faded but quite readable, a red G2 has basically vanished. I think the Noodlers cheated and hid in a drawer, it looks unchanged -- although the paper around it is a little yellowed. Waterman Blue-Black is some horribly faded brownish color, barely readable. PR Midnight Blues and DCSS Blue are both faded to reddish-brown colors but readable, DCSS more readable. I'll try to scan and post it later.

 

Since it was poised to catch as much sun as possible, it was an accelerated test, but I've had the same thing (not quite as severe) happen to notes on a bulletin board at work. Many modern fountain pen inks are quite ephemeral -- again for grocery lists it doesn't matter, for other things, it does.

 

As promised, here is my scan. Paper is Ampad Gold Fibre, 5.5" x 8". The written area was cut in half vertically. Left half placed in dar drawer, Right half was placed in a window facing west, getting essentially all the afternoon sun. Paper was oriented to the southwest, and inclined about 30 degrees to vertical to maximum sun exposure. I forgot it and it ran 73 days, longer than I intended (Someone else here did a 21 day fade test). Results as summarized in original message. Note than even the blue lines on the paper faded. Also the sunny half is slightly yellowed which doesn't show well in scan.

[succubus]

As promised, here is my scan.

 

Wow - that's really interesting. I should try that some time; I sit in front of a 8' southern-facing window. (Half the year my right arm is darker than my left, from sun exposure at work.)

[Rapt]

I can't be the only one who likes to read and write in a nice bubble bath.

 

Am I?

 

I always wish I could but I never thought it would be wise. Does it work? Really?

It might not be wise. But it does work. I never read books or papers that don't belong to me. But I have read my own books, read and taken notes on photocopies, and written on individual journal pages. I don't take the whole journal with me, and when I read from my PDA I put it in a ziplock bag.

 

For margin notes, I just set the papers on the tub ledge. For serious writing I've been known to take a big aluminum cookie tray with me. I've always been tempted to buy one of the contraptions that span the tub, hold a book and papers at a slant. Just haven't done it yet. I keep a little towel handy to dry my hands and any stray droplets. Steam seems to be a bigger problem than droplets, so no rare books in there.

 

So far no disasters. I did a lot of my studying for law school in a tub. I think my grades took a dive the year I lived in an apartment with just a shower.

 

yeah, can't believe I'm posting this information in a public forum.

 

I read in the tub all the time. As you say steam seems to be an issue, so no valuable/rare books. Like you I keep a towel for my hands and stray droplets. Often I also bring a cool drink.

 

[mturk]

I've really enjoyed reading all the responses. As I thought, it's purely a matter of personal choice. As for me, when I run across something I wrote twenty years ago, my reaction is usually: "Jeez, what a complete moron! That ink should have faded to nothing fifteen years ago..." In an aside, I spent half a day digging out notes for my thesis (1975), written with a Mont Blanc Meisterstuck 14 and Quink black (the only ink sold at the college bookstore). The notes have spent 30+ years in a cardboard filing box, but the Quink is about 90% as dark as when first dried. The paper hasn't faired nearly so well.

[bizerkel]

The easy choices in life are between right and wrong.

 

Splicer,

 

I loved this post. Nice work.

 

 

[savarez]

Bulletproof, Waterproof, UV resistance, What Next?

 

Personally, I'm looking forward to the ink that resists spelling errors. I'm a terrible speller.

 

[Viseguy]

As promised, here is my scan.

Oooh, interesting. I put a DCSS writing sample in my window on the Memorial Day weekend. It's not coming down until Labor Day. I wonder if it'll turn red, like yours. (It hasn't, yet.)

 

 

[digitalnative]

I think Splicer's post is going to end up on am radio like one of those spoken word pop songs that promote the use of sunscreen. </pop culture reference>

[Paddler]

I'm a bit confused; if I'm looking for an ink with permanence is bulletproof really the only option?

 

No. I have tested a few other inks. Waterman black, Permanent Blue Black and Permanent Royal Blue Skrip all remain legible after an 18-hour soak in cold well water (no chlorine). After four months on an outside porch, exposed to direct sun and indirect rain, they are pretty much gone, but you can still make out the writing in very strong light. Four months in a sunny southwest-facing window (Jun - Oct) fades them to gray: Waterman black goes to dark gray; both Skrips become light gray.

 

The above conditions will fade Noodler's bulletproof inks (Fox Red and Legal Lapis), but not by much.

 

Paddler