Complete List of Waterproof Inks

[bemon]

Thought this might be useful to some, since many people are attracted to inks that are permanent or at least highly water resistant, but may not be aware of the complete selection. I know most of this stuff has been discussed before, but it would be good to have a complete list compiled. Please feel free to correct me if I make any mistakes, or add more inks that I left out.

 

I'm not making the distinction between bulletproof, waterproof, eternal, etc... Just a list of inks that survive water well.

 

Thanks to Viseguy, saintsimon & FLZapped for additions/corrections to the list.

 

Noodler's Inks:

 

Black

Polar Black

Luxury Blue

Hunter Green

Fox Red

Blue Ghost (invisible)

Lexington Gray

 

Legal Blue (Art Brown exclusive)

 

Legal Lapis (Pendemonium exclusive)

Eternal Brown (Pendemonium exclusive)

Iraqi Indigo (Pendemonium exclusive)

 

Aquamarine Blue (Swisher exclusive)

Hellbender Red (Swisher exclusive)

Devil Red (Swisher exclusive)

Verdun Green (Swisher exclusive)

Naval Orange (Swisher exclusive)

Goldfinch (Swisher exclusive)

Gulf Stream Blue (Swisher exclusive)

Grizzly (Swisher exclusive)

 

Recently promoted to "near-bulletproof" status:

 

Aircorps Blue-Black

Blue-Black

Standard Brown

Golden Brown

Kiowa Pecan

Marine Green

Navy

Red-Black

Walnut

Zhivago

 

UK exclusive eternals:

 

El Lawrence

Britannia's Blue Waves

Mata Hari's Cordial

Victoria's Royal Mint

Socrates

The Sun Never Sets

Highland's Heather

Empire Red

 

Germany exclusive eternal:

 

Prussian Blue

 

Russian exclusive eternal:

 

Rachmaninov (pink)

Tchaikovsky (purple)

Dostoevsky (dark turquoise)

Lermontov (violet)

Tsvetayeva (pink red)

Pushkin (grey)

Akhmatova (green)

Tolstoy (orange)

Esenin (red)

Pasternak (blue)

Chekhov (peach)

Kuprin (magenta)

 

 

Advantages:

Will not damage pens, can be rinsed out easily.

 

Disadvantages:

Ink likes to creep out onto nibs

May sometimes be smudged even when dry

 

 

Swishmix (Made by Noodlers, Swisher exclusive):

 

Nile Ebony

True Rouge

Lakeshore Spruce

Glacier Blue

Burgundy

Tahitian Pearl

Seminole Sepia

Royal Aztec

 

Advantages:

Quick drying for left-handed writers.

 

Disadvantages:

May feather on some papers.

 

 

Iron-Gall Inks:

 

Mont Blanc Blue-Black (same as Lamy)

Lamy Blue-Black (same as MB)

Rohrer & Klingner Salix

Rohrer & Klingner Scabiosa

Diamine Registar's Ink

 

Advantages:

Will not creep like Noodler's products.

 

Disadvantages:

May clog pens and are acidic, but modern formulations should be milder.

Not resistant to bleach, may not be resistant to UV.

 

 

Carbon/Particle Inks:

 

Pelikan Font India

Platinum Carbon Black

Sailor Kiwagura Very Black

 

Advantages:

Very very black.

 

Disadvantages:

High clogging risk.

 

 

Other water resistant inks, but not waterproof:

 

Namiki/Pilot Blue-Black

Namiki/Pilot Blue

Namiki/Pilot Black

Sailor Blue-Black

Sailor Blue

Sailor Black

Pelikan Black

 

Disadvantages:

Not completely waterproof.

 

 

Ok, that's the best I can do from memory. Now is the time for everyone to point out my mistakes.

Hi there,

 

Late to the party, but if you could fast forward to 2016, I have a question: I've heard Pelikan makes Cross branded inks, and I prefer Cross black due to it's depth of hue over my alternatives- Noodlers Heart of Darkness and Herbin's Perle Noir.

 

I only keep black ink in one pen which I use to approve documents at work and sign other official papers, so while it's the least inspiring colour in my arsenal I need it to be the most reliable.

 

Thoughts?

 

Any thoughts?

[Taiin]

Because the creator of the thread hadn't been active since 2014, I wonder if perhaps a new thread could be made, with all the new inks compiled into the first post?

 

I know I haven't seen the Super 5 pigmented inks listed here. Nor the Sailor Storia inks, I think. I skimmed the pages, so I might've missed them.

[Sasha Royale]

My test for "water proof" is simple.

Let dry for three minutes. Drip water onto it. Wait ten seconds, and blot. Can I still read it ?

Yes, my standards are minimal. I don't write in the rain. I don't take my journal on canoe trips.

 

Under these standards, the list becomes much longer.

 

Still, I keep a first-generation Sheaffer cartridge pen, loaded with Noodler's Heart Of Darkness.

However, there are few situations that warrant "bulletproof" ink. Still, it's fun.

[Peregrinator]

This is really helpful. I am looking for an ink I can use when I jump back into the truck on a wet day to make notes. Probably a good black or blue black. And is an iron gall ink an advantage in these conditions? Thanks all.....

[Yarn-Yogini]

I was thinking the same @Taiin

I actually found this thread looking to see if there was a list

 

@Peregrinator I have a cheap Hero pen filled with Noodler's Heart of Darkness that works great for this kind of thing.

 

I also just did a test run of Noodler's La Reine Mauve today for a friend. I wrote about 6 lines on both sides of a sheet of cheap paper in a notebook and then waited a few minutes. I soaked the the sheet of paper in a bowl of water all day about 8hrs and it never budged! Both front and back are still perfectly legible as if it was never wet.

[marthared]

? Why not all the De Atramentis Document inks?

[Torrilin]

? Why not all the De Atramentis Document inks?

I forget when exactly they came out, but it was more recent than 2006. I think rather more recent than 2011.

 

Thread isn’t current, tho a more current one that gives an overview of quality of waterproof would definitely be useful.

 

As a stopgap, I find jetpens’ blog posts on particular ink colors give a good overview of waterproof. They’re not going to cover everything, just inks they carry when the post was written. But their waterproof vs water resistant ratings cover the difference between getting rained on or spilled on vs I need it to work for ink and wash without destroying the color balance.