Ink Acidity And Alkalinity

February 15, 2011

Hi All,

While looking for information on acidity/alkalinity of inks, I came across the following website, which came high up on the Google search.

http://www.marcuslin...d-ph-levels.htm

Out of curiosity, I measured the pH of the inks I have. I used an electronic pH tester that I bought to check the water in my aquarium. I calibrated the tester with pH 7.0 solution before the test, so these measurements are fairly accurate.

Well, as accurate as it can be with a $50 tester not particularly designed for this purpose, anyway.

3.14 Waterman Florida Blue

4.06 Lamy Black

4.28 Pelikan Violet

4.38 Visconti Blue

4.46 Visconti Sepia

5.67 Sheaffer Brown

7.54 Noodler's Heart of Darkness

7.72 Noodler's Coral Sea

7.89 Noodelr's Walnut

8.36 J. Herbin Gris Nuage

8.78 Pilot Iroshizuku Shyoro

Pelikan Violet turned out to be acidic, not alkaline as quoted in the link above. I checked the measurement again after I tried other inks and it still read 4.28, so it's not a mistake.

There shouldn't be such a huge difference between batches, surely? I wonder if Pelikan changed the recipe (?) of the ink. Perhaps the pH changes depending on the ink's storing condition etc?

February 15, 2011

Hi All,

While looking for information on acidity/alkalinity of inks, I came across the following website, which came high up on the Google search.

http://www.marcuslin...d-ph-levels.htm

Out of curiosity, I measured the pH of the inks I have. I used an electronic pH tester that I bought to check the water in my aquarium. I calibrated the tester with pH 7.0 solution before the test, so these measurements are fairly accurate.

Well, as accurate as it can be with a $50 tester not particularly designed for this purpose, anyway.

3.14 Waterman Florida Blue
4.06 Lamy Black
4.28 Pelikan Violet
4.38 Visconti Blue
4.46 Visconti Sepia
5.67 Sheaffer Brown
7.54 Noodler's Heart of Darkness
7.72 Noodler's Coral Sea
7.89 Noodelr's Walnut
8.36 J. Herbin Gris Nuage
8.78 Pilot Iroshizuku Shyoro

Pelikan Violet turned out to be acidic, not alkaline as quoted in the link above. I checked the measurement again after I tried other inks and it still read 4.28, so it's not a mistake.

There shouldn't be such a huge difference between batches, surely? I wonder if Pelikan changed the recipe (?) of the ink. Perhaps the pH changes depending on the ink's storing condition etc?

Member Sam Capote has posted results of his tests of ink pH. Sorry I don't have a link at my fingertips. I expect he'd be glad to compare notes.

February 15, 2011

How about this: not Sam but Sean. Sam does, of course, know what's up.

Mike

February 16, 2011

Thanks for the feedback. I read the link, the general consent seems to be "meh, pH doesn't matter".

I don't have any vintage pens and never worried about the pH, but then I found this notion on wikipedia that intrigued me:

"Sailor inks are reportedly highly alkaline, therefore not recommended for celluloid or vegetal resin pens."

Well, it's not as if the barrel is soaked in the ink all the time, so you don't need to worry about it so much, I guess.

February 16, 2011

Hi All,

While looking for information on acidity/alkalinity of inks, I came across the following website, which came high up on the Google search.

http://www.marcuslin...d-ph-levels.htm

Out of curiosity, I measured the pH of the inks I have. I used an electronic pH tester that I bought to check the water in my aquarium. I calibrated the tester with pH 7.0 solution before the test, so these measurements are fairly accurate.

Well, as accurate as it can be with a $50 tester not particularly designed for this purpose, anyway.

3.14 Waterman Florida Blue
4.06 Lamy Black
4.28 Pelikan Violet
4.38 Visconti Blue
4.46 Visconti Sepia
5.67 Sheaffer Brown
7.54 Noodler's Heart of Darkness
7.72 Noodler's Coral Sea
7.89 Noodelr's Walnut
8.36 J. Herbin Gris Nuage
8.78 Pilot Iroshizuku Shyoro

Pelikan Violet turned out to be acidic, not alkaline as quoted in the link above. I checked the measurement again after I tried other inks and it still read 4.28, so it's not a mistake.

There shouldn't be such a huge difference between batches, surely? I wonder if Pelikan changed the recipe (?) of the ink. Perhaps the pH changes depending on the ink's storing condition etc?

You can check my last update here. I'm more concerned about the pH levels for using a preventative biocide which loses effectiveness above pH 8.0, and perhaps for mixing of inks.

Most of the concern regarding pH began with people raising speculation that it was an important factor decades ago, especially with more delicate vintage pen materials. pH was further embellished because none of the ink makers were disclosing anything about their inks, including levels of acidity/alkalinity. Greg Clark began checking various details about inks, and wrote a couple of articles for pen magazines as Glenn references. Greg's reading for Pelikan Violet was 3.1 which is not so far from yours, given that both of you used $50 meters. You really need at least a 3 point calibration threshold to make a reasonable estimate, with checks of calibration solutions continuing to show validity before and after taking a reading. My tester is also not on the scale of medical or research grade equipment, but we are not doing that level of mission critical examination as ink hobbyists.

Certainly ink companies make changes to their inks over time, so it is hard to know how much of the variation you mention is due to testing equipment limitation, inadequate calibration, electrode deterioration (they die if you let them dry out), testing error, or ink manufacturing changes.

February 16, 2011

Thanks for the feedback. I read the link, the general consent seems to be "meh, pH doesn't matter".

I don't have any vintage pens and never worried about the pH, but then I found this notion on wikipedia that intrigued me:

"Sailor inks are reportedly highly alkaline, therefore not recommended for celluloid or vegetal resin pens."

Well, it's not as if the barrel is soaked in the ink all the time, so you don't need to worry about it so much, I guess.

Be very careful about what you find on Wikipedia. It can be a good place to start and to get leads for further research, but you should try to corroborate any information you expect to rely on.

The article you cite contains a deliberate lie. See the thread starting here and for an update, this post.

Fountain pen users have an occasional problem with SITB (Slime In The Bottle). More rarely, we have a problem with SOTB (Slime Outside The Bottle) like the author and distributor of that Noodler's libel and whoever inserted the false information in Wikipedia.

If you haven't been there already, Richard Binder's site is an excellent reference for all things FP.

February 17, 2011

Be very careful about what you find on Wikipedia. It can be a good place to start and to get leads for further research, but you should try to corroborate any information you expect to rely on.

You're right, I'm aware of the danger. I don't swallow whole everything I hear/read, but try to find different opinions/data, examine the evidence given and see things from different angles to make a reasonable, logical decision. (I'm not religious, just in case you're wondering...)

And that's where internet can be frustrating, many people just copy & paste other's without coming up with their own data/idea so there aren't enough information out there on certain topics.