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Not sure if I should be posting these in multiple places, as this also falls under the Impulsive 'Purchases thread, the CRVs, and the Big Pens thread. Plus the ink colors. If anyone wants me to add to those, I will. I blame this purchase on @amberleadavis! The only thing I don't like is that the feed has an odd smell; I hope it goes away. It's clearly the feed and not the body. pic 1 pic 2 pic 3

For the last few years I've enjoyed Platinum Carbon Black. It dries quickly, works in practically any paper, and is basically indestructible, so it is good for things like addressing envelopes, making grocery lists, and writing down recipes. I don't use very much black ink, though; my usual Carbon Black pen is a Platinum Plaisir. Ink will live in it more or less indefinitely without drying out, so I only open my Carbon Black bottle once or twice a year. As a result, even though my bottle of Carbon Black is several years old, it's nearly full. This morning I opened it up and it made a *FSSS* sound, and a VERY powerful ammonia smell issued forth. I assume (and the internet seems to agree) that this ink has Shuffled Off This Mortal Coil. This happened to me once before with some Noodler's inks - but those inks were maybe a decade old or older, and since then I have improved my ink hygiene (now filling from a clean dispensing syringe each time). So, sown the drain went my nearly full bottle of PCB. On the other hand, my old bottle of Quink is maybe 15 years old, and just as good as the day I got it (which is to say, not a great ink, but it still seems perfectly fresh). So I'm looking for a new black ink, one that will age well in the bottle. I've used samples of J. Herbin Perle Noire, Aurora black, and Lamy black. I found them to be perfectly nice. Does anyone know how they keep over time? In addition, I'm sure there are other black inks I don't know and/or haven't tried. The three above are somewhat less waterproof (understatement!) than Carbon Black. If there's a more waterproof one that will sit in the bottle without turning into cat pee, that would be great! - N P.S. I should mention, I dislike Noodler's black. I know a lot of people swear by it, but it's so oversaturated that it smears long (I mean weeks or years) after drying.

I recently purchased my second bottle of Diamine Poppy Red from a reputable source that sells over Amazon, and I have had it on hand for about a month while I've been finishing up the last few drops of my first bottle. When I opened up the fresh bottle today, I was immediately hit with a strong scent resembling mildew (mold). I know some inks can have a certain "musk" to them (such as Diamine Imperial Purple), but my first bottle of Poppy Red had no discernible smell. I should also note that the new ink is much darker in appearance (more opaque) as seen in the bottle than my first bottle of Poppy Red. I compared samples of the new bottle's contents to some from my old bottle, and the colors matched up on paper. It could be possible that there was a bit extra of some ingredient put in my new batch that would darken the appearance and make it smell funny, but I'd rather play it safe until I know for sure. Thoughts?

I have just received a beautiful restored Parker Vacumatic in the mail from Ebay. Got it for $83. It has a nasty strong perfume odor on the body and cap. I tried cleaning it with windex, light laundry soap and soft sponge, and alcohol wipes. Also tried "Pet Odor Remover" which normally takes any organic smell away. And, it still reeks so bad that my hand smells from holding it. Questions: 1. Can the smell be removed? . . . How? 2. Is the smell absorbed into the plastic? 3. Should I just try to return it? Thanks for your help. jim

I've read a lot of topics here and noticed that the first suggestion for many problems on this forum is: "Have you tried soaking in ammonia?" So I decided to get some ammonia to see the magic for myself. Apparently the regular grocery stores don't sell it around here anymore, so it took some time to find some in a chemical shop. I was given the choice of 18% (technical) and 25% (analytical). I chose the 18% one. However, the first thing I noticed when opening the bottle is that it reeks! The smell reminds me of freshly cleaned swimming pools and the toilets in big supermarkets. Even when diluted to a fraction of its original content, it still has a noticable smell. Is this normal? How long should I soak a pen in ammonia anyway? Say, a Parker 51 which is skipping? I would think that only the nib and feed assembly would need to be soaked, and maybe the inside of the filler, but carefully. What is your experience with this? EDIT: Also, what pens are safe to flush with an ammonia solution? Would it damage the celluloid of an Esterbrook or a Parker Vacumatic? And is it safe to use on a metal cap?

Hi pen friends, I have searched online to get an answer for this but I haven't had any luck finding it... The ebonite on my Ryan Krusac's L-14 fountain pen (I want to make a note that there is no problem with the pen that Ryan makes, just wanted to specify the pen I am having the problem with) started smelling like a dirty towel. I have soaked the section in soap water for a day, dried it well and the smell was gone for a couple of days, but the smell is now back. I am using tissue papers only to wipe the section. I wash my hands before using the pen, so I don't think the smell is comming from my hands either... Do you have any suggestions? This pen is so awesome that I want to use all the time, but I don't want to offend others by the smell... Thank you!

Could some one who owns Diamine Sapphire Blue ink go and smell your bottle of ink for me please? I just ordered a few bottles of ink directly from Diamine UK, and among them is a 30ml plastic bottle of Sapphire Blue. As soon as I opened the cap, I noticed the unmistakable mouldy smell. Very strongly. If you have this ink, can you tell me if your Sapphire Blue smells differently from other Diamine inks you own? I have 20 odd other Diamine inks and most of them don't have any smell, or some of them have just a faint solvent type of smell. But this bottle just stinks! And I know what mould smells like. When you lived in an old house with mould in the wall for 12 months, you just know. I may have even developed some allergy to the smell of mould because I get teary eyes and sneezy when I smell such strong mouldy smell now. Thank goodness we have our new house built and everything is fresh these days. After I smelt the mould in Sapphire Blue, I went and opened every bottle of Diamine inks I own and sniffed all of them one by one. I noticed a faint hint of mouldy smell in Sargasso Sea as well, interestingly, another bottle from this new batch of inks I ordered. Both of these smelly 30ml ink bottles have the silver tape on top of the cap with the black text to show the name of the ink as usual, but the black font used on these is a little bolder or larger than my other older bottles. First of all do you think this mouldy smell is normal? Have you noticed anything like this from your recent Diamine order? I haven't contacted Diamine yet, because I wanted to check with you to see if this smell is normal for these particular inks i.e. Sapphire Blue, and maybe Sargasso Sea as well. Thanks for your input! Even if it is normal, I can't use these because just the smell gives me stuffy nose and headache. SNAK Eddited to add: I do love my Diamine inks, and I am not badmouthing them or anything, I am sure if this turns out to be a contaminated ink they will happily take them back and exchange for good ones. I will continue to be their customer too.

One of my daughter's inks hardened and she took it upon herself to microwave it, thinking it would liquify. I realized she was doing this about 5-10 seconds in, and stopped her immediately. The smell emanating from the inkwell and the microwave, though, is horrific. Does anyone know if there is any danger in the fumes produced by doing this?? The ink just says "Aladine" on the front. Thanks!!

I have a Youth fountain pen (I think it's a Chinese knock off of a Parker pen). Anyway, I use it because it has sentimental value, but lately, and by lately I mean in the past year or so, I've always sensed a strange smell when writing with it. I wouldn't describe it as a rubber smell, but similar to it. It's that intense that I can smell it while writing (so my head is at least 20cm away from the pen). I think that the ink is smelly as well, but I don't know if it's from the rubber ink container in the pen, or something else. Does anyone have any remedies for this or should I stop using this pen in public?

So I am just sitting here working on some math for college pondering over the fact that I just turned 30 and wondering where the last few years of my life went.. As I'm writing with Noodler's Black ink I catch of whiff of the inks aroma and Its a familiar pleasant smell lol.. I don't know what it is but I just really like the smell of Noodler's black ink. It's like when I'm writing with it I can't help lifting my pen to my nose to smell it.. Really weird..I know. But now I'm wondering if anyone has any inks that they just really like the smell of? Or am I just a complete weirdo..(Don't answer that lol)

As a sailors daughter, this gives me a mild fit of the giggles, thinking of "a stinky sailor"....but genuinely am wondering....a bottle of Sailor Jentle, opened it yesterday, and poooooeeee.....it had such an odd smell. (To be clear - I had a stroke a while back, and one of the lasting effects was that it affected my sense of smell, which I lost completely, but has since come back, though with intermittent off days. My taste was also affected, and sometimes things taste completely 'wrong' - or not there at all. So, this may be related to that) Can't remember the colour name - it's not in English. A lovely dark red/brown. Alex