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Members - and little kids alike - love invisible inks and secret messages. I have a huge fondness for Noodler's Ghost Blue. After years of using different inks (I have now sampled more than a thousand unique inks), I was looking for my doodle with Noodler's Proctor's Ledge, so I had my notebook and a strong UV light. Much to my surprise, I found a whole lot of inks fluoresce. So, here is where we can show some pictures. It doesn't matter if the ink was advertised as UV reactive ink - just show us what it is all about. This thread is not for full blown reviews, just show us the ink under blacklight (or blue light, uv-a, ultraviolet light, filtered light, mercury vapor, LEDs ... you get the idea). Here is the first sample, Vintage Sheaffer Permanent Red. This ink was said to fluoresce AFTER someone tried to tamper with it. The middle ghost is untampered and the side ghosts have water washes. http://www.sheismylawyer.com/2017_2_Ink/12-December/slides/2017-12-28_UV_05.jpeg

Just found this and thought I'd pass along the warning. http://www.hakuminurushi.com/conservation/light.html "Urushi lacquer is very sensitive to light, especially in the range considered ultraviolet light (below 400nm) and can be damaged by overexposure. Avoid exposing lacquerware to direct sunlight or other sources of ultraviolet radiation such as halogen lamps, black-lights and sterilization chambers and avoid exposing lacquerware to strong or direct light over long periods of time. Avoid Light Exposure Avoid Strong or Direct Sunlight, Ultraviolet Light and Long Exposure to Light Unfortunately this fact is urushi's greatest weakness and is one that any owner of lacquerware should know and understand. Overexposure to light can cause noticeable discoloration and loss of lustre and gloss of the lacquer surface. Severe overexposure (especially to that of wavelengths 365nm or less) can cause additional damage including cracking or crazing of the surface, and as a result, exfoliation of the lacquer layers. This type of damage typically will not happen in an average setting but it is clear that care should be taken to prevent such irreversible damage. Preventing damage from over exposure to the most damaging range of ultraviolet light is not a difficult task. Simply avoiding the display and use of lacquerware in and around the strongest sources of this range of light will prevent any severe damage. Sunlight remains the strongest source of ultraviolet light will typically be encountered. Avoid using lacquerware outdoors during daylight hours and do not place or display lacquerware in front of a window or in other places where strong or direct sunlight may enter. Halogen lamps may still be encountered frequently for display lighting in stores and sometimes in the home. Although halogen lamps typically come with UV filters which effectively block a large portion of the emitted ultraviolet light, due its strong intensity and high temperatures, it is still recommended to avoid displaying lacquerware under halogen lamps. In is inadvisable to use a halogen lamp with its UV filter removed. Lacquerware should also never be sterilized in a UV based germicidal or sterilization chamber as these use strong doses of ultraviolet light in the most damaging spectrum (UV-C, 280-100nm) to kill pathogens. Other sources of ultraviolet light include various less common light sources such as high intensity discharge lamps, specialty gas discharge lamps, and certain high intensity LED lamps. Most of these particular sources of ultraviolet light would not be encountered in a normal setting, but should be avoided should the case arise. Ultraviolet light, however, is not the only portion of the spectrum that may damage urushi. Although the level of damage is drastically reduced, light in the visible spectrum can also noticeably deteriorate a lacquer surface. Frequent, extended exposure to the visible spectrum can cause a noticeable change in color and a reduction in luster and gloss in as little as 6 years for transparent or lighter colored lacquer surfaces and 21 years for black lacquer surfaces1. In practice, this type of damage is difficult to achieve in a typical household setting, but it becomes understandable when it is suggested that urushi should not be put on constant display and be illuminated only when they are actually being viewed. Maki-e lacquerware with a heavy layer of exposed metal powder covering the entire surface, as frequently seen in kintsugi repairs on ceramics, will experience very little or no damage from this type of exposure. Heat is also a factor in damage caused by lighting excessive heat over long periods of time also contribute to the surface deterioration in lacquerware. If lighting must be used in close proximity, only low temperature lamps such as fluorescent lamps should be used and they should be arranged to reduce the amount of heat as much as possible. However, at times, unintended damage may still occur. If the layer is severely damaged to the extent of cracking and flaking, little can be done to restore the surface and the only measure that can be taken is to solidify the oxidized lacquer layer and prevent additional damage. However, slight damage can be reversed to some extent. Although changes in color may be permanent, a restoration treatment will typically be able to bring a slightly dulled urushi surface back to its original shine. Nevertheless, this type of restoration effort is best avoided in its entirety and steps should be taken to prevent its need. Avoiding overexposure to light is most important, but a treatment of the lacquer surface is suggested approximately every 20 years. This treatment involves a thorough cleaning, inspection and a re-impregnation of any oxidized or damaged areas with lacquer. However, this type of treatment is not necessary to maintain the beauty of a piece of lacquerware. With proper care, damage caused by overexposure to light is not something that will be encountered over the lifetime of a piece of lacquerware, but knowing how to avoid this damage is important to prevent it from occurring at all. References: • Ogawa, Toshio; Arai, Kazutaka; Osawa Satoshi, "Light Stability of Oriental Lacquer Films Irradiated by a Fluorescent Lamp." Journal of Polymers and the Environment 6:1 (1998): 59-65 • Webb, Marianne, Lacquer: Technology and Conservation (Oxford and Boston, 2000) • Araki, Tadashi; Sato, Hisayishi, "Relationships Between Exhibition Lighting and Discoloration of Lacquered Wares." Scientific Papers on Japanese Antiques and Art Crafts 23 (August 1978): 1-24 1. JRank.org Arts, Conservation - 1. Introduction., 2. Urushi., 3. Insect and associated lacquers., http://arts.jrank.org/pages/9696/III-Conservation.html (21 July 2010)

I placed an order for a bottle of Noodler's Blue Ghost back in March, when I saw it was offered at a good price. However, the retailer was unable to fulfil the order right away (and that's understandable), and when their order of inks came in from the US a month later but there was no Blue Ghost in sight, that was the last update I got, even though I told the staff there I still wanted a bottle of ink and wasn't letting them off the hook so readily. Then, I saw this other invisible ink in 18ml bottles on eBay, with no brand name or detail -- including whether it's safe for fountain pen use, much less whether it's "bulletproof" -- for just a few dollars and came with a tiny UV torch, I bought one just for the hell of it, even though the per-millilitre unit price is 220% of that of the Noodler's ink. However, since then I was able to order a bottle of Blue Ghost sold and delivered by Amazon US for a reasonable price, so I had confidence it was actually in stock. That order was delivered yesterday. (I have since cancelled my original order from the first retailer and got it refunded.) I wonder how many of us here would bother with getting two different invisible inks, even though we wouldn't blink an eye about ordering the sixteenth "different" shade of blue, or even coloured two inks that are supposed to dopplegangers of each other? Anyway, so here they are: Both are equally invisible on the page under normal lighting conditions, of course. Once dried, you can write on top of it with coloured inks, with minimal interference (feathering, etc.) and certainly not every place where two ink tracks cross, but there is nevertheless some with either of the invisible inks if you look closely. Neither of the inks are what I'd call waterproof (but they are fairly water resistant), which I guess precludes them from being "bulletproof". This is what they look like after a two-hour soak: Even though the Wing Sung 3008 into which I filled the Turritopsis ink has an EF nib, and the Sailor Profit Junior that holds the Blue Ghost ink has a MF nib, I don't expect the difference in the line widths to be substantial. What I'm finding, though, is that Blue Ghost has more of a tendency to spread once laid on the page. The paper in the Maruman m.memo DMP-A7 notepad I used there is not apt to be absorbent, and I was careful to cover the rest of the page with a paper napkin while I wrote, so as not to compromise the paper coating. (I can see from the washed out writing how fine or broad the contact surface from the nibs are. (Yes, I can test them properly against each other with a different ink, or even swapping the inks around in the pens, but right now I don't feel like cleaning them and flushing ink down the drain.) Between the lack of evidence to support the claim of being "bulletproof" (but I really should look up if there is any word definition and test procedure published by Noodler's), and the tendency for the lines to be broader than they need to be because of the spreading, I must say that the Blue Ghost ink has disappointed me, if so no-name ink (actually, there is one in 3-point Flyspeck on one side of the bottle label: Tramol) from China proves equally as water-resistant but seems to work better. Now, of course I don't actually trust or assume the Turritopsis ink to be perfectly fountain pen safe, so I'm not going to put it in a $200+ gold-nibbed pen, but then I'm not inclined to do so with Blue Ghost (or Noodler's inks in general) either; a Sailor Profit Junior which cost me twenty-odd bucks to acquire is about as much as I care to risk on a lark. Still, writing with invisible ink is fun, and more fun (and much easier!) when my order of UV bulbs for my desk lamp comes in. I can't wait to show the young'uns at the next Christmas family gathering, and I've already put in an order for some non-fountain pens that also dispense invisible, fluorescent-under-UV-light ink to give them -- and a couple of big UV torches for their parents; I'm sure they'll need those.

Thank you everyone for being here reading my new ink review about Noodler’s Blue Ghost. http://s16.postimg.org/h86itr5b9/Bottle.jpg This ink is indeed a particular one on many aspects. I suspect that the original intent by Noodler’s was to create an ink invisible to normal light, which shines and stands out the paper only under UV light, without being the already seen highlighter colours. The result in my opinion is a partial success, because it’s visibility under UV light is strictly dependant to the paper you’re writing on. On 80 gsm cheap copy paper, and on Favini’s Schizza & Strappa paper, due to the particularly white finish, under UV light it’s likely to shine as much as the ink, making a real mess in trying to discern normal size words from the background. On the other side, on differently coloured paper, this ink is an absolute beauty. I’ve tried it on tracing paper and it was a great success, the glows really comes out in a light blue ghostly colour, which I enjoy a lot (I’ll keep that in mind for Halloween!). I suppose that, for the particular composition of the ink, this could be a great choice for writing on black cardboard, to create particular drawings or similar, I should give it a try). Coming back to the most usual features, this is quite a wet ink, takes ages to dry but flows without problems through my Lamy Safari and keeps up writing from the finer nib to the broadest. It’s really hard to see in my photos, but against all odds, this ink actually has a little shading, giving much more luminous points where the pen stops or slows down while writing. Another thing that has to be said, this ink behaves very well in terms of waterproofness. If soaked in the water the lines remains as brighter as before without fading. In the end, is this ink worth a try? This question is difficult to answer. It depends. If, like me, you like to spend some time on drawing, toying around with pens, if you have about any other colour of the visible spectrum, well, this ink can really be something different to experiment because it’s a lot of fun, especially on demonstrator pens. Is this ink something I really needed? Not really. It’s not an ink I’m going to bring at work, and it’s not going to be in my everyday carry so often. Probably, if you’re the kind of people who likes to buy work safe inks, but you still want to experiment a little of “UV friendly Inks” you can just get a Pilot Parallel fill it up with Pelikan Duo ink (Yellow or Green) and in this manner you’ll have a rechargeable highlighter which works fantastic even under the UV bulb. Hope you enjoyed, sorry for the bad photos (this ink is not scanner-friendly), and for any further questions on this ink, I’m ready to give you any answer you may need. FABRIANO COPY PAPER http://s16.postimg.org/cc2w2255x/Faviano.jpg FAVINI SCHIZZA & STRAPPA PAPER http://s16.postimg.org/ogi7cj6lh/Schizza_strappa.jpg TRACING PAPER http://s16.postimg.org/xhwqq54it/Tracing_paper.jpg WATER RESISTANCE ON TRACING PAPER http://s16.postimg.org/4410ak1t1/waterproof.jpg DROP OF INK ON KITCHEN TOWEL http://s16.postimg.org/ul9nwda5h/Blotch.jpg CROMATOGRAPHY http://s17.postimg.org/vbi4vn4nz/Cromatography.jpg http://s16.postimg.org/7brnovvdx/Artwork.jpg