Ink Physical Properties

September 9, 2006

Hello! I'm glad I found this website; the amount of information here is amazing, and everyone seems very friendly and supportive.

After some helpful advice from pigpog.com I purchased my first fountain pen last week (not counting the one I played with when I was younger) and I love it.

I have a couple questions about the ink though. I couldn't really find anything on here about this when I searched the forums unless I overlooked it, so hopefully these are new questions for you all.

First, I was wondering if light/sunlight can affect the properties of fountain pen inks while in the bottle. (I'm currently using Noodler's eternal Black ink) The Noodler's ink came in a clear glass bottle which means that no light will be filtered (i.e. all wavelengths of light will pass through the glass into the ink). Will this affect the ink over time? Is it necessary to store the bottle in a dark place or at least avoid keeping it next to a window?

Second, does heat affect the properties of the ink? If I had the ink outside on a hot day, or had it close to a fireplace or stove, would this potentially damage the ink? What about using it near an open flame; is the ink at all flammable? It has a slight odor, but not a strong one so I want to assume that it isn't very volatile; however, I'd rather not find out the hard way!

And my last question has to do with the rate of evaporation. How long can you leave the lid off a bottle of ink before the evaporation will compromise the ink? (significant evaporation would be bad, right?) If I decide to give dip pens a try, would it be wise to get a small ink well for holding a small amount of ink so I don't have to leave the lid off my larger bottle every time I use the dip pen?

I know that not all inks are created equal, but I'm still learning about all this great stuff, so any information you may have will help my interest.

Honestly, at the rate I've been enjoying the use of my new fountain pen, my first bottle of ink will probably be empty before it even gets a chance to be ruined! I may have to branch out and try different colors next... that will be fun!

--Stephen

September 9, 2006

I would keep ink in a drawer, or at least not in a window.

Don't heat the ink on purpose, but having it outside on a hot day shouldn't harm it as far as I know. (However, I don't know much.)

Fountain pen ink is almost entirely water, with dyes, surfactants, and mold inhibitors. I can't imagine it being flammable. It would certainly be less flammable than the paper you're writing on, in any case.

Leaving the lid off the ink while you write is OK if you do it occasionally. For frequent constant dip pen use, I guess it would be best to have some kind of inkwell. Anybody who likes dip pens is going to want an inkwell anyway, right? In leaving the lid off, the more urgent problem is contamination, because evaporation is so slow.

Significant evaporation will slow the flow of the ink, making it hard to write with, but generally not cause any chemical problems. If your ink does evaporate too much, you can water it down again - as long as what's left is still clean and otherwise in good shape.

Noodler's black is kind of funny - I find I have to shake it if I haven't used it in a while. Most fountain pen ink does not and should not do this, and I honestly don't know if it's really a problem with Noodler's or not. But I continue to use the ink because I like everything else about it.

September 10, 2009

Yeah..It' true they have much water..Like Parker and etc.

Regards

Albert

________

Pret immobilier

September 10, 2009

Light will cause most inks to fade on paper. The more light, the faster the fade. Some inks fade faster than others. A couple of months in a sunny window will make some inks illegible. Even Legal Lapis (a "bulletproof ink") begins to look a bit dull after a year on the windowsill. Carbon inks (and perhaps some pigmented inks) won't fade. I haven't done any experiments with ink in liquid form. They will probably fade also if the proper wavelengths can make it through the walls of the bottle.

Moderate heat is probably OK. I would say that if it is not too hot for you, it will be OK for the ink. Fountain pen ink is not flammable. The stuff in a Sharpie probably is.

Evaporation will thicken the ink. Many inks will form a sludge of precipitated dye if evaporation proceeds far enough. If you see this on the feed of your pen, it is time to flush the pen with water. If ink thickens in the bottle, you can thin it with distilled water. Evaporation rate depends on your climate and the relative humidity. If you want to use an inkwell, get one that seals tightly. Evaporation is like rust: it never sleeps. If you want to use a dip pen, you will probably want an inkwell that only holds a thimbleful at a time. This is not to curb evaporation; it just makes dipping way easier and a lot less messy.

Paddler

September 10, 2009

Light will cause most inks to fade on paper. The more light, the faster the fade. Some inks fade faster than others. A couple of months in a sunny window will make some inks illegible. Even Legal Lapis (a "bulletproof ink") begins to look a bit dull after a year on the windowsill. Carbon inks (and perhaps some pigmented inks) won't fade. I haven't done any experiments with ink in liquid form. They will probably fade also if the proper wavelengths can make it through the walls of the bottle.

...

True. Legal Lapis is surprisingly 'bright' after a year IMO:

over a year in...

To the OP's questions. I think ink should be kept (when in bottle) away from light. Regular glass will filter most of the UV light effectively, but it isn't that complicated to use an additional closet or the box the ink came with. I have some stored out of sight, but some of the Noodler's just lay around in their boxes.

Extreme temperatures are a hazard, but I think modern inks should be okay when dealing with normal conditions: sometimes in a hot car, or carried in a bag in wintertime. ...Then again, I'm kind of new to this too.

-O