Search the Community

For this test, I wrote with the ink and did a water test after 7 days to give some time to iron gall inks to oxide. I deliberately wrote in such a way that IG and dye based inks were more wet at some part to see how much it will get affected. Furthermore I diluted the Noodlers ink to test the them as Noodlers ink are very saturated and I have read that they can be diluted. I also diluted R&K sketch emma to see how will it fare. Water droplets were left for nearly 6 hrs for water test and then the page was attached to window where 4-5 hrs of sunlight is there every day and was left for 1 month. This being rainy season in India, the sunlight only came around 20 days After putting droplets if water- Water test - 1 month sunlight test Conclusion:- You can look at the water resistance test to draw your own conclusions. I am not reiterating for the sake of brevity. As for sunlight test the Krishna Lyrebird Water Sapphire was first one to fade in nearly 5-6 days, next was Pilot Blue in 10 days. Pelikan Blue Black also faded around same time but shows more resistant than Pilot Blue, it is still (very low) readable at some parts. Pilot Black held pretty good and is readable and even it's watered portion was readable (barely) for almost 22 days, I was surprised to see it fare better than Pelikan 4001 Blue Black and also very famous pilot G2 blue gel pen. Both Pilot Iroshizuku Yamaguri and & Rohrer & Kligner Sepia faded to lighter colour but are still readable, with yamaguri performing slightly better. Rohrer & Kligner Sketchink Lilly, Emma, Sailor Seiboku, Souboku, Noodler Anti feather Blue and Baltimore Canyon are all unaffected by sunlight and water as expected (even the diluted part were unaffected). KWZ IG Turquoise held pretty good to sunlight (similar to yamaguri) but it got wet due to rain at around 22nd day and therefore it was washed out.

Hello , Just wondering if could help with some questions I'm having about the Noodler's American Aristocracy ink. I know there are 3 "flavors" possible, but thats not what I'm thinking about. I bought a few bottles to try in my Kuretake Brush pen. Never made it there for the project I was doing. I journal often and always use waterproof, archival, and, or, bulletproof/eternal inks. I like variety and have many shades of blue and black. I also have a couple greens. Anyways... I was thinking about using this ink to journal, but have never used non bulletproof, waterproof, inks before for this purpose. I know that just because inks may not be water proof/resistant, etc, doesn't mean they won't last a long time. All that to ask my question... Does anyone know if the Noodler's American Aristocracy ink would be an ok choice for Journaling or anything else that would require lasting a long time? Would this ink fade quickly, after just a few years? Is this a ink that UV would destroy? Etc. Etc. I've seen many tests done for inks in the other forums, but haven't seen this ink used for any tests. So, I'm reaching out to see what everyone thinks. I would love to fill up a pen and writing with this ink. I just dont want to use it. And then a few years down the road I open up my journal, or view a document, or project, and the ink is gone, faded, or generally illegible. Appreciate your thoughts.

(tldr: scroll down to see image of the soggy test results) For reasons both pragmatic and neurotic, I almost exclusively use inks with some reliable degree of water resistance. Recently I noticed that a sizable range of Faber-Castell inks, while not mentioned in any of the online water resistant ink guides/forum threads I’d consulted when first getting into the FP hobby, are categorized as “waterproof” on the Vanness website and described as “document proof” in the Amazon product descriptions. So I got my hands on some cartridges of Moss Green, which struck me as the most attractive of these purportedly permanent FC inks, and popped one into my Kaweco Sport. Right off the bat, I found it to be a pleasure to write with and uncommonly lovely on the page: well-saturated with some fairly dynamic shading. For the test, I put some of it down on a page in a (surprisingly fountain pen friendly) Italian-made B&N notebook that I’ve been using for misc scribbling/inky ephemera (e.g. the phone number jotted down in the upper right hand corner which I had to blur out before posting 😅 ). For comparison, I then filled in the rest of the page with writing samples of the inks currently inhabiting my other daily use pens, all of which are also marketed as being "waterproof". After giving the writing samples roughly a minute to dry, I tore out the page, held it under the faucet of my kitchen sink, and turned on the water (full blast). For the duration of the test I steadily moved the paper back-and-forth to ensure each of the ink samples spent roughly equivalent time directly under the stream. Results: After a good 30 seconds under cold running water, the FC Moss Green writing sample remained more-or-less legible—enough so to indicate that any important writing would be recoverable in the event of an unexpected downpour or spilt drink. (Although, given how alcohol is (generally? always?) a more aggressive solvent than water, it would probably behoove me to test how this ink holds up under a horizontal glass of whiskey soda…) That said, post-dousing, the Moss Green (quite literally) paled in comparison to every one of the other inks I tested alongside it. FCMG probably meets the average fountain pen user's minimum standard for being considered “water resistant”. But it is not anywhere near “waterproof” and I have to wonder whether it would still pass for “water resistant” if the same test were performed with less absorbent paper. Verdict: Given the strong appeal of this ink’s wonderfully subtle coloration and suitability for general writing, the mere survival of the text after a punishing water test like this is good enough for me. I’m happy to add it to my short list of standard dye-based inks which, for reasons of chemistry beyond my ken, are robust enough to trust with preserving day-to-day handwritten work as I make my way around a turbulent city in an often unexpectedly wet world. (As of now, there are two other inks with a firm place on this list: Pilot Iroshizuku Yama-Guri and Sailor Doyou. I really wanted to include Sailor Miruai as well—I love the color and JetPens rates it as somewhat water resistant—but alas, it hasn’t performed well for me when put to the test).

We’ve been waiting for a while for this next round to start, but hopefully I can make up for it by saying that there are twice as many inks in this round? If not, then I don’t know what I can do for you. Without further preamble, let’s meet our latest batch of inks! In case you are viewing this on a small screen, here is a typed list of those inks: Left page Lamy CoralNoodler’s BSiAR (version #3)Sailor Jentle EpinardPrivate Reserve Gray FlannelJ. Herbin Ambre de BimanieDe Atramentis Black Ed.-BlueNoodler’s Air Corps Blue-BlackSailor Sei BokuMont Blanc Permanent GrayPilot Juice Black, Blue-Black, Blue, Grape, Light Blue, Green, Apple Green, Apricot Orange, Orange, Red, Coral Pink, and Baby PinkPlatinum Carbon BlackPilot FrixionDiamine Ancient CopperNoodler’s Kiowa PecanRohrer and Klingner SepiaSailor Kiwa GuroJ. Herbin Rouge Hematite, Bleu Ocean, and Stormy GreyRight page Noodler’s Heart of DarknessPrivate Reserve AvacadoMaruzen Athena SepiaIroshizuku Tsuki-yoKaweco Summer PurpleNoodler’s Apache SunsetKaweco Royal BlueRohrer and Klingner HelianthusIroshizuku Shin-RyokuNoodler’s BSiAR (version #1)J. Herbin Poussiere de LunePelikan VioletPilot BluePilot G2 BluePilot G2 GreenPilot G2 OrangePilot G2 PinkIroshizuku Murasaki-ShikibuPilot Blue-BlackI am excited about all of these inks. There’s a fair number of “conventional” inks, there’s some that claim to be all but invincible to the elements and time, and there’s some non-fountain pen inks that are quite popular in other circles as well. As usual, I will be doing three tests, plus the control: one sheet is hanging on my fridge, where it gets plenty of diffuse natural and artificial light during the day. One sheet is hanging in the window, though this is no longer a south facing window so it will not be getting as much direct sunlight as the pages did in my last apartment. And one sheet got a thorough soak, so let’s take a look at that: Left page: More than half the inks on this page haven’t been reviewed yet, so there was a good element of surprise here. The inks that claim to be waterproof (Pilot Juice, the pigmented ones, MB Permanent Gray) all performed very well and you would never know that they got wet in the first place. I was surprised by how waterproof the Pilot Frixion is, as I had no idea how it would behave (I also have no idea why I though it was 2012 when I wrote that line…). The Noodler’s inks are all partially water resistant and it shows, but they are all still readable to some degree. The Lamy Coral, PR Gray Flannel, JH Ambre, Rouge Hematite, and Bleu Ocean, and Diamine Copper all washed away nearly completely. R&K Sepia and J. Herbin Stormy Grey were surprisingly water resistant, which is nice. Right page: Most of these inks have been reviewed before, so not many surprises here. A lot of these inks are not touted to be water resistant and yet put up a good fight, like the three Iroshizuku inks that are still decipherable and the two standard Pilot inks that are pretty much unmoved. I’m still disappointed to see the G2 completely wash away, but at least now I know that the Juice is a suitable replacement with a bit more longevity. That’s what I have for now. I’ll check back in a month on the fade testing, and I’m quite interested to see how those bright Pilot Juice colors hold up to UV exposure… These inks were either purchased with my own money or provided for the purpose of review and I am not being compensated for this in any way. All opinions above are my own and you are free to disagree if you like.

This is the second round of ink testing that I am doing - the first is already three months in and you can find those posts on my blog. I figured that for this one I would start from the beginning on here and post updates as I go along. Eek! I am so excited about this. After taking nearly a month to fill up a new page full of inks (partly because I went on vacation for a week), it’s finally ready: As with my first epic ink test, I will have four tests running in parallel: a control which will be kept in a plastic sleeve in a notebook, an ambient light test which will hang on my fridge, a water test, and a sunlight test which will hang in my bedroom window. The ambient and sunlight tests are already in place, so let’s meet our contenders for this round, shall we? Just in case you cannot easily read my handwriting, here are the inks that will be tested: Pilot Varsity disposable pen in black Diamine Salamander Noodler’s Black Swan in Australian Roses Pelikan Edelstein Aventurine Iroshizuku Tsutsuji Private Reserve Shoreline Gold Paradise Pen Turquoise Iroshizuku Ku-Jaku Fisher Space Pen, black ink Yoobi gel pen Organics Studio Gregor Mendel Diamine Poppy Red Standard Sharpie marker Noodler’s Sequoia Green Organics Studio Edgar Allen Poe Noodler’s El Lawrence Pilot G2 in purple Sharpie pen in purple *The test indicator was written in a black sharpie pen* This is sad because it also shows you just how far behind I am on posting reviews. I will eventually post reviews for all of these inks except probably the Sharpies… Anyway, I am very interested in seeing how these inks perform because a lot of them are not marketed as being “bulletproof” or “archival” or “eternal” - they are just regular inks. The paper used is Staples bright white 24 lb inkjet paper and the pens were mostly a mix of M and B nibs. Right away I can share the results of the water test: To do this test I submerged the paper in a bowl of cool tap water and let it soak for a few minutes. I then pulled it out, gently blotted off the excess water with a paper towel, and allowed it to air dry on a metal rack. I would say the following inks “passed” my water test, in that they would be easily still readable by someone who did not do the original writing: Pilot VarsityDiamine Salamander (this is weird, because as I noted in my review I saw some water resistance there but then retested on different paper and it was not there, but this is the same paper I used in the review so…?)Noodler’s BSiAR and El LawrenceIroshizuku Ku-Jaku (I saw similar performance on the water test which will accompany my review)Fisher Space Pen and Yoobi gel penOS Gregor Mendel and Edgar Allen PoeBoth Sharpies The rest of the inks I would say are not terribly water resistant. Obviously this is my opinion and you might feel differently, but a lot of them washed out just a bit too much for me to write anything that needs to be permanent. So, that’s where I will leave this for now. In a month I’ll update on how the other two tests are coming along and in the mean time I’ll start working on the page for round 3! :-)

Howdy! I have been posting the results of my second round of ink testing as an ongoing project, but I just hit the six month mark on my first round and I figured that I would post the results as kind of an overview without the along-the-way commentary. Because, science. :-P Here is the setup for the first test (same as for the second one), followed by the control sheet and the water test: After one month: Two months: (control on left, ambient indoor on right) (Control on left, sunlight on right) Three months: (Control on left, ambient indoor on right. At this point I decided that there wasn't much happening here so I retired the ambient indoor light test.) (Control on left, sunlight on right) Four and a half months: (Control on left, sunlight on right) Six months: (Control on left, sunlight on right) At this point I am planning to do another check towards the end of December since I will be moving and so the test might end around the 8 month mark. I am also filling a sheet or two for my third round to start in January and I would love suggestions on inks that I haven't tried yet. I'm open to non-FPs as well, so if you have other types of pens you want to see tested, let me know! :-)

I've always liked grey in clothes or on paper but it was relatively recently that I added a grey ink to my daily users. Having become quite satisfied with Diamine, I restricted my search to their Graphite and Grey. Graphite I liked a lot but it wasn't a pure grey, so the choice was easy. Recently I received a bottle of J. Herbin's Encre Grise Nuage so I tried that one too. The results of a brief comparison were as follows: http://www.re-h.nl/alexander/pens/greys_dry_s.jpg Probably the most interesting part was that Gris Nuage didn't appear that much lighter as in other comparisons (e.g. https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/6567-herbin-gris-nuage/). As usually after every trial, I put the paper under the tap. In this case I was impressed by both inks because they exhibited enough resistance to water. Even on the top right where it hit Diamine Grey rather violently, causing some smudging, the text remained clear enough for any practical purpose. After thirty seconds or so I turned the tap off. Diamine Grey was the winner by a slight margin: it had remained grey, while Gris Nuage had turned a bit beige. http://www.re-h.nl/alexander/pens/greys_wet_s.jpg The conclusion is that I'm going to trust Diamine Grey more in my note-taking. Its pencil-like appearance makes it appropriate for rough notes and being reasonably resistant to water means I can use it under more circumstances than I had expected initially. Links to large versions of the figures: http://www.re-h.nl/alexander/pens/greys_dry.jpg http://www.re-h.nl/alexander/pens/greys_wet.jpg