Most Disappointing Ink Buy

[Sebrazer]

I keep reading threads about favorite inks, best blue inks, etc. I was just wondering what ink(s) have been the most disappointing to you, and why?

 

Noodler's El Lawrence (first batch). I just loved the color, but the performance was just too much trouble. Any pen inked with it was a very hesitant starter when first uncapped. If a pen was left uncapped for any period at all, the ink would dry in the feed. Being enamored with the color I desperately wanted to make this ink work, trying it in a wide variety of pens over a (frustrating) period of several months. Trying so hard and repeatedly being frustrated is why I would label it "most disappointing."

 

 

Dave

 

I'm still new to this, so I don't know - does your "first batch" comment mean that since you bought your bottle they have improved on it? Like a 2.0 version when you got the beta version? I have been eyeballing both El Lawrence & Zhivago, and was trying to decide between the two - so your comment is of particular interest to me this rainy Saturday!

[myn]

Diamine Umber for me. I was expecting a very different green hue from what I got. In comparison to the varying swatches on different websites, in use it came out very blah or bland. Nothing wrong with the ink, just the colour completely surprised me. My expectations were far different then the reality. Perhaps it was the pen. :embarrassed_smile:

[The Good Captain]

I keep reading threads about favorite inks, best blue inks, etc. I was just wondering what ink(s) have been the most disappointing to you, and why?

 

Noodler's El Lawrence (first batch). I just loved the color, but the performance was just too much trouble. Any pen inked with it was a very hesitant starter when first uncapped. If a pen was left uncapped for any period at all, the ink would dry in the feed. Being enamored with the color I desperately wanted to make this ink work, trying it in a wide variety of pens over a (frustrating) period of several months. Trying so hard and repeatedly being frustrated is why I would label it "most disappointing."

 

 

Dave

 

I'm still new to this, so I don't know - does your "first batch" comment mean that since you bought your bottle they have improved on it? Like a 2.0 version when you got the beta version? I have been eyeballing both El Lawrence & Zhivago, and was trying to decide between the two - so your comment is of particular interest to me this rainy Saturday!

I've not tried El Lawrence but I'd vouch for Zhivago any time. There are posts on here that suggest that it will take up to 1:3 dilution and still keep colour and properties which I confess, I've not had a go at yet.

[Sebrazer]

.....I ordered a sample of both this evening.

[Confucius_cat]

My least favorite ink has to be LAMY's Blue-Black Iron-Gall Ink. It looked nice at first but then after it had set it took on this patchty faded looking appearance. I understand iron-gall inks may do this but this particular one just isn't doing it for me.

[Dave Johannsen]

I'm still new to this, so I don't know - does your "first batch" comment mean that since you bought your bottle they have improved on it? Like a 2.0 version when you got the beta version? I have been eyeballing both El Lawrence & Zhivago, and was trying to decide between the two - so your comment is of particular interest to me this rainy Saturday!

 

It is my understanding that the ink has been improved upon (a second formulation). I think that searching here at FPN should turn-up some threads.

 

By the way, I was certainly not bashing Noodler's inks. The permanent black has become one of my constant users. Aircorps Blue-black and Apache Sunset are also two inks that I use with some frequency and which have been impeccably behaved.

[mstone]

PR invincible black. It's so lubricating that it's hard to write with.

[DWR]

My only ink disappointments have been from Noodler's. I want to think it's a coincidence. Red-Black, Kiowa Pecan, and Apache Sunset are rather dry, though I have seen reviews that rank them as wet, especially AS. Not sure why mine is dry.

My experience with Kiowa Pecan has been super. I may have accidentally stumbled upon a fabulous combination that I enjoy...Kiowa Pecan in my Pilot 74 with a music nib! I received both the same day from different sources...Goulet for the ink and a private seller for the pen...and gave it a shot. It has some great shading and variation qualities with the nib. It goes down pretty wet, but not out of control. I haven't the need to use the ink in another pen and haven't tried. I like how the brown ink looks on ivory paper. This combo is always in my quiver of pen/ink combos.

 

Anyway...just my experience.

 

D

[carlos.q]

Private Reserve Invincible Aqua Blue... Who said baby blue would make a good ink color?

[sera0516]

+1 on the mention of Parker's washable blue. It just fades away. I've lost a lot of journaling, addresses, manuscripts.....I had no idea the writing would basically disappear. There ought to be a spray or something to apply to it, to save your material.

[JimB]

Got a load of samples in just a month ago and can add to my disappointing ink tally:

 

Sheaffer Skrip Turquoise - too pale even on pure white paper

 

Noodler's Apache Sunset - too light, mainly yellow with hints of orange

 

Noodler's Habanero - darker and better than Apache, but not for me. It feathered on bagasse paper.

 

Diamine Ancient Copper - not bad, just disappointed me in the shading department on any paper except some Rhodia I had laying around.

 

Coming soon: I have three more turquoise-like inks that I'm afraid I just won't like at all, and some red-orange inks that I hope are closer to the dark red side than the yellow-orange. Two greens that I hope are dark enough, and some blues that I really am looking forward to. This is telling me I am a traditionalist in ink colors. Black, blue, dark browns, maybe a sepia are all the colors that make me content. Good God, I'm a conservative!!!

[tophercarlton]

DA Havana...too much gold and green for my tastes. Only bought a sample, so no biggie...

[CAG_1787]

Weirdly enough, one ink that I love and hate is Diamine Ancient Copper. I love the color and the shading is not overwhelming, but enough to appreciate. But the ink is so vulnerable, even after drying. I've smudged it just by resting my left hand on a long-dried sheet of it while writing on the other.

[imwithtractor]

I know there's a lot of fans of Noodler's Heart of Darkness but I am kind of disappointed with this one. I bought the big bottle with the Preppy ink dropper pen and it feathers and bleeds through like a mofo and in that "F" size nib writes way TOO thick. I thought maybe the problem was the Preppy pens and tried it in my Lamy Safari M nib (which runs on the dry side) but the ink wrote grey-black and not the dark black I was hoping for.

Edited September 19, 2012 by imwithtractor

[tophercarlton]

Diamine Poussiere De Lune...way darker than I thought it would be -almost a washed out black.

[OPG4711]

Easy.

 

Noodler's Rome is Burning.

 

So looking forward to this ink and so disappointed with colour, performance. Sigh. Win some, lose some.

[angelofmusic81]

I know there's a lot of fans of Noodler's Heart of Darkness but I am kind of disappointed with this one. I bought the big bottle with the Preppy ink dropper pen and it feathers and bleeds through like a mofo and in that "F" size nib writes way TOO thick. I thought maybe the problem was the Preppy pens and tried it in my Lamy Safari M nib (which runs on the dry side) but the ink wrote grey-black and not the dark black I was hoping for.

 

 

Unfortunate, isn't it? I did exactly the same thing with hopes of a black that would practically melt paper and ended up with a huge bottle of something grey-black at best that bloats on almost all papers. It's actually lighter than the Noodler's Black/water mix we have that resulted from my husband spilling half a brand new bottle of it (miraculously none hit the floor--all on his messy black desk!) and trying to be sneaky and fill it back with water. It has actually worked well and is darker than HoD. It has made me wonder if it might be worth diluting some HoD and uttering some magic words in hope it will come back somehow darker...

[een brouwer]

Eclat de Saphir. I bought a bottle of it without trying it first based on all the great reviews and photos, but for me it's just too washed out and feathery (at least on Moleskine).

[write to me often]

I'm in the same boat with the Edelstein series. I bought a bottle of mandarin because at the time I didn't have any orange ink. I got it home and loaded it up in a fine nibbed pen and wrote just one sentence. I couldn't read it, could barely see what I had wrote because the color was so pale. I put it in a broad nib and it was marginally better. I guess I just like more saturated inks.

 

 

I have the Edelstein mandarin and at first I was thinking "where to use that ink?". Then I bought a Kaweco Ice Sport Orange, turned it into an eyedropper and now, I am using it as a highlighter and underlining my books and documents.

 

Maybe you can give it a try.

[write to me often]

My disappointments:

 

J. Herbin Poussiere de Lune. I guess everybody can be surprised with this. But recently I understood why it became a disappointment. I am in love with dusty purples like: Caran d'Ache Storm, R&K Scabiosa etc. However when I received J. Herbin PdL it was just a dark purple. Then I learned that they changed the formula of some inks due to the EU Regulations which affected the colors. So keep well your old PdL's if you like them.

 

J. Herbin Blue Myosotis: I thought it was something between blue and purple, a dusty color. But it turned out that it is just a washed away blue. Nothing special.

 

Waterman Havana: Again, I know there are lots of people who like it, but it is too dry for me.

 

Pelikan Edelstein Ruby and Turmaline: Nothing to regret when using (though Turmanile feathers a bit) but I made some swatches the day I bought them and pinned it to my office board. Ruby and Turmaline is unbelievably faded. So very disappointing.

 

 

That's all now.