Noodler's Ink

[Randal6393]

The inks are, generally, cellulose-reactive, meaning they wash off most plastics without staining. Anything with cellulose (meaning papers) will bond to the ink. Many Noodler inks are guaranteed by Nathan Tardiff (manufacturer of Noodler inks) to resist water, bleach, and solvents to the extent that they are "bulletproof" or "eternal".

Most Noodler's inks are not cellulose-reactive -- only the bulletproof/eternal/contract inks are. The majority of Noodler's are conventional FP inks, albeit with high dye content (a/k/a highly saturated). Bulletproof or not, they all wash out of pens like any other brand of FP ink, although some (e.g., reds and purples) may be more tenacious than others (same as other brands). This is a function of the dyes used for that color, not the cellulose-reactive (or non-reactive) nature of the dye. The point about the cellulose-reactive inks is that they are no more staining, and no less easy to wash out, than conventional inks. In some cases, easier: Bulletproof Black, for example, washes out much faster than, say, Visconti Blue (in my experience).

 

I stand corrected.

[betsypreston]

I have also found the fuss about Noodler's to be quite curious. People really seem to "go after" it with a viciousness that makes me wonder what's feeding such strong feelings.

 

I've use mostly Noodler's inks for years now. I've got 30+ colors of various formulations, including bulletproof, eel, polar, and others. The high saturation and variety of colors really appeals to me. I've got all kinds of pens - new, old, cheap, expensive, cartridge (refilled by me with Noodlers), converter, eyedropper, piston, gold nibs, steel nibs. Only recently have I become better about cleaning the pens well. I tend to have too many filled and to let them sit for months between uses. I've never had any kind of problem which affected use. I've seen a few posts about Noodler's supposedly eating away at the finish on nibs or tarnishing them or something. I'm not observant enuff to say for sure that hasn't happened, but there's nothing that my uneducated eyes have noticed.

 

Again, I'd be really curious to know what it is about Noodler's that attracts such detractors.

[RLTodd]

FWIW

 

As I've read the posts for the last couple of years it was my understanding that almost all of the pen repairers objected to both Noodlers & Private Reserve inks solely on the grounds of their dye saturation. The heavy dye loads depositing dye on the feed channels with constant use and no periodic clear water flushing by the users.

 

If you search around here you will note occasional comments about these ink families having dye perticipate out of the solution as they sit on the shelf.

 

BSB is the only one I recall comments on the attacking of the feed material.

[Possum Hill]

Thanks everyone for the responses to the post. I'm trying to sort out what is accurate information about Noodler's and other inks and it is evident that there are two different points of view on Noodler's. Two people have warned me not to use Noodler's at all and others who are using Noodler's have some reticence for Bay State inks, but not necessarily all Noodler's ink.

 

I am merely asking the question and passing along the words of caution given to me about Noodler's along with a photo allegedly of a nib damaged by Noodler's. I have used Noodler's for probably no more than six months with the ink left in the converter for the entire time and haven't yet noticed any problems with my pens.

 

If problems do arise in my Lamys then the damage is not too great. I do want to exercise caution in putting safe ink in my new CS Winston. Maybe I'll stick to CS cartridges!

 

B

Read the posts about Noodler's inks carefully. If they don't include sufficient detail to support the points made (for or against), ignore them. If they do have sufficient detail or links, check them out. Some posts have shown what appears to be personal animosity toward the brand or its proprietor. Remember it's only ink!

 

I'm not personally concerned about the warnings. Right now I'm using only Noodler's ink, because the bulletproof feature of some is very useful to me and because I don't have the time or do enough writing to use all the other interesting inks available.

[Thornton]

This has been a very interesting thread. I love Noodler's ink, but sometimes I get paranoid about using them in my more expensive pens. However, I know of members on the board using Noodler's in pens more expensive than mine and haven't heard any ill effects. I guess it's something I'll have to look into further.

[ismellarat]

The regular water-based Noodler's inks have been very problem-free for me. They appear to have good flow characteristics combined with consistent and deep colors. A superior ink.

ALL fountain pen inks are waterbased.

 

I have only tried bulletproof black, and I adore it. I have now started writing ONLY in BP black and BP black mixes, but not because I love the ink that much. The area of texas had a HUGE high pressure system over it all spring and summer long. The other day, we got our first rain, not counting the drizzle we got a few days before, and I was waiting for my bus afterschool and stood in the downpour while talking to friends. The bus was late, so I was standing there for at least 45 minutes. My swiss army backpack was not letting water soak in, and I checked that every few minutes. Or so I thought. Water soaked in through the bottom. I just finished transferring 3 weeks of work into a new journal for english and rewriting the bottom half of all my assignments for my other classes. The only stuff the remained on the page was noodlers BP black, of course, and it saved me hours of work.

 

Now, I am paranoid and write only with my trusty BP black

 

Anyone with moderately managed pen hygiene can enjoy the multitude of colors of noodlers inks.

[lapis]

Here's a word or two on the main culprit:

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=115286

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=123962

http://www.penexchange.de/forum_neu/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2819

 

Long story short:

[A] "Basically" it is only Noodler's Baystate Blue which can be "dangerous".

Apparently It depends a lot on the pen involved. Most are resistant, a few not.

 

Mike

 

Ed: Sorry, third site is in German, maybe you can decipher that anyway.

Edited September 20, 2009 by lapis

[haziz]

 

Noodler's Ink Where Can I Find a Thread Discussing Noodler's as Safe or Not?

 

Thanks.

 

B

 

All over the place!

 

Sorry, could not resist.

 

Sincerely,

 

Hany.

[Possum Hill]

Noodler's Ink Where Can I Find a Thread Discussing Noodler's as Safe or Not?

 

Thanks.

 

B

 

All over the place!

 

Sorry, could not resist.

 

Sincerely,

 

Hany.

 

ROFL << (I miss the pertinent emoticon)

 

Such threads do seem to pop up in just about every forum.

[Bill Smith]

I have also found the fuss about Noodler's to be quite curious. People really seem to "go after" it with a viciousness that makes me wonder what's feeding such strong feelings.

 

I've use mostly Noodler's inks for years now. I've got 30+ colors of various formulations, including bulletproof, eel, polar, and others. The high saturation and variety of colors really appeals to me. I've got all kinds of pens - new, old, cheap, expensive, cartridge (refilled by me with Noodlers), converter, eyedropper, piston, gold nibs, steel nibs. Only recently have I become better about cleaning the pens well. I tend to have too many filled and to let them sit for months between uses. I've never had any kind of problem which affected use. I've seen a few posts about Noodler's supposedly eating away at the finish on nibs or tarnishing them or something. I'm not observant enuff to say for sure that hasn't happened, but there's nothing that my uneducated eyes have noticed.

 

Again, I'd be really curious to know what it is about Noodler's that attracts such detractors.

 

I too never got the hysteria over Noodlers ink. I have been using Midnight Blue for a couple of years now in both vintage and modern pens with no issues whatsoever and the much feared Baystate Blue in a beater Parker 51 and a Pilot Vanishing point for over a year, again with no real issues. I have used Private Reserve in the past but for this left handed overwriter, it just takes too long to dry for me.

 

Part of the problem is some pen users don't flush their pens on a regular basis, even so called gentle inks can build up over time. Secondly a lot of Pen makers we know and love also make or contract brew ink which of course is "specifically formulated" to their pens. Someone like Tardiff or the people behind Private Reserve are eating into incremental income. Considering most people will buy the same brand of ink to match their pen, that is a steady income stream they don't want to lose because you sell bottles of ink a lot more than you do a pen to an individual customer.

 

Allow me to repeat, Noodlers and by extension Private Reserve will not destroy your pen.

Edited September 21, 2009 by Bill Smith

[NDHoosier]

FIRST POST!

 

I'm late to this party, but I wanted to comment on Noodler's Ink.

 

When I got back into using fountain pens a few years back, I quickly learned about Noodler's bulletproof inks, and scrapped the Quink I had been using.

 

I have a Waterman Phileas fine point that has never had anything but Legal Lapis in it for about three years. I have never bothered to clean the pen either - I just keep refilling it, and I have never had a problem with it. I never had a problem with Bulletproof Black either, which I used in another Phileas (medium point), a Lamy Safari, and an old Esterbrook.

 

I like Noodler's so much I refuse to use anything else - I just bought a bottle of Antietam. Admittedly, I've never used the Baystate line.

[cl0123]

...and the much feared Baystate Blue in a beater Parker 51 and a Pilot Vanishing point for over a year, again with no real issues...

 

Bill,

 

That's good to hear. I've had Baystate Blue on a VP fine nib for about a dozen fill-up's, but lately I have noticed that the ink is creeping out and smearing all over the outside of the "stem". I do not want to risk any BB staining and damaging to the inside of the VP trap-door and hence stopped using it all together. I do flush and dry every time I refilled.

 

If you were to take out the VP nib unit from the pen barrel, do you see any ink smearing on the neck of the VP nib unit? I have other inks in other VP nibs and none of them has smearing stains. I almost always have Noodler's Tienanmen red on another VP fine nib and it has been fine. I am going to ink up another VP fine nib with PR Tropical Blue to see if the ink creeps out.

 

I also have a 78G B with only its 2nd fill of BB. It now becomes quite dry and very "sentimental".

 

I really like the unique BB color, please keep it up!

 

With Aloha,

 

Clarence

[Pippin60]

I use several Noodlers inks in a few pens all the time such as HOD, or Zhivago which are bullet proof to a degree. I also use BSB from time to time but rotate it out fairly often. Also BSB is water resistant but not resistant to UV light or bleaches as are other Bullet proof inks.

[riff raff]

The regular water-based Noodler's inks have been very problem-free for me. They appear to have good flow characteristics combined with consistent and deep colors. A superior ink.

 

Anyone with moderately managed pen hygiene can enjoy the multitude of colors of noodlers inks.

+1

 

I suspect that is key, right there.

[welch]

While there are many threads debating whether Noodlers or Private Reserve are safe, my own experience with Noodlers, Diamine, and PR is that they cause no problems unless you let them dry out inside a pen.

 

I've never used any of the "bullet-proof" inks, and never used Baystate Blue. There seems to be evidence that one ought not to put BSB in a Safari, but that's about all.

[Rainwalker]

Noodler's is safe.

[professionaldilettante]

This is more than a dead topic and there isn't much debate about it it seems, just that people don't bother reading around. There are known culprits in the Noodler's Ink lineup. The most notable one is the Baystate Blue and related Baystate inks, which are more alkaline(basic). To say that the solvents in the ink are corrosive, you'd be partially correct. It is a substance that can dissolve almost anything on this earth and it goes by the name of water. From what I've read, most Noodler's are safe for most pens. There are only a few exceptions to that, for example someone putting Baystate Blue into their vintage pen, and it eating the pen from the inside out, and i've read stories of people not having any issues with any problems with Baystate Blue. Hoever, I've yet to come across a useful thread, saying THIS ________ COLOR of Noodler's is dangerous. Generally it seems that these topics are either Noodler's is bad, or Noodler's is good, but what needs to be done is WHAT type of Noodler's is potentially harmful to pens. There are many formulations, and while one Noodler ink may be dangerous to a small minority, A majority of inks by Noodler's are safe. It's just that we hear bad news more often than good news, and the idea of danger posed by these inks are blown out of proportion. The regular line of inks and the bulletproof series seem to be pretty harmless, and I'd hate to see a company blackmailed because of some unknown factors that are out of their control. Someone should make a table of incompatable pens and inks, and then we can say what inks are the cultprit.

[Mrsal]

noodlers are some of the best and safest inks available.

[rookieboyliu]

I bought a Baystate concord grape, and dipped it with my Lamy Safari nib. My safari wrote like a dream when dipped in the ink, and still writes well after I dipped the same nib in another Noodler's ink, so there you go.

[stevo]

Hi, B,

 

Yes, there are many messages about Noodler inks. Just run a quick search and read to your heart's confusion.

 

A quick thumbnail on Noodler inks:

 

* Most Noodler inks are pH neutral and very safe. They are high-saturation inks with lots of color, so may need a stir before using. Especially if they have sat a while. The inks are, generally, cellulose-reactive, meaning they wash off most plastics without staining. Anything with cellulose (meaning papers) will bond to the ink. Many Noodler inks are guaranteed by Nathan Tardiff (manufacturer of Noodler inks) to resist water, bleach, and solvents to the extent that they are "bulletproof" or "eternal".

 

* Nathan has a line of inks that is a reformulation of 1950's inks. That is called the Baystate line and the ink most heard of in that series is the Baystate Blue (BSB). BSB is not waterproof, not cellulose-reactive, stains like crazy, and is alkaline. It is also one of the most brilliant blue inks made. Most of the canards used about Noodler inks involve BSB. People have had problems with a Safari feed -- but we aren't sure whether BSB caused the problem or exacerbated a flaw in the Safari feed. Symptom: The pen nib lifts off the feed and falls off. However many people have used BSB in their Safari for six months or more and report no problem. My solution is to use another (non-Baystate) ink, especially in my Safari pens.

 

Well, hope you find this information useful. I attest to the general safety and usefulness of Noodler inks -- they are the only brand of ink I use regularly. YMMV, but I think you might like them. If you try one, work carefully and be cautious. Enjoy,

 

Your response was interesting. Thanks for including the summary of other discussions.

 

The nib meister sent me photos of two nib feeds (not Lamy pens) that he says were the result of Noodler's use. He is making money from pen users who have to pay to have feeds and ink sacs refitted by him or the mfr. So, Lamy wasn't the issue and he insists that Noodler's is the issue. Diamine, he says, are not as bad as Noodler's, but for both the issue is the solvents in the ink.

 

Run from that nib Meister. Admittedly, Baystate lines have been problematic, but the rest are harmless. So there is no basis in fact here. There is no debate to be had, it's all rumor, myth and hearsay. If anything, Noodler's other than Baystate are safer than some others with very low pH.

 

S