Mrs. Stewarts Concentrated Liquid Bluing

[amper]

It may have been here:

 

https://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/pigmt3.html

 

Handprint has a lot of information about artists' pigments. There is a list of pigments ranked by particle size on that page, and it shows carbon black (a natural organic pigment) as smallest, and then in the next category up, zinc white (zinc oxide, a natural inorganic), Prussian blue (ferric ferrocyanide, a synthetic inorganic), and the Quinacridones (which range from violets to reds to golds, although Quinacridone Gold is no longer in production) and Phthalocyanines (which are blues and greens), both modern synthetic organics.

[milkb0at]

28 minutes ago, amper said:

It may have been here:

 

https://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/pigmt3.html

 

I think you're right, since that's one of the links you referenced for particles sizes in Page 2 of this very thread - way back in 2013!

[XYZZY]

1 hour ago, amper said:

 

I can't remember where I got that information off the top of my head, but I found it while researching pigment particle sizes in the hopes that I could find other pigments that would be usable in fountain pens.

 

I resemble that.  Lots of details floating around in my head, but don't ask me for a source. 😜

[XYZZY]

1 hour ago, amper said:

It may have been here:

 

https://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/pigmt3.html

 

Handprint has a lot of information about artists' pigments. There is a list of pigments ranked by particle size on that page, and it shows carbon black (a natural organic pigment) as smallest, and then in the next category up, zinc white (zinc oxide, a natural inorganic), Prussian blue (ferric ferrocyanide, a synthetic inorganic), and the Quinacridones (which range from violets to reds to golds, although Quinacridone Gold is no longer in production) and Phthalocyanines (which are blues and greens), both modern synthetic organics.

Thanks for the link. Lots of good stuff there.

 

I think that not too long ago there was a post related to sizes of nano-pigments.  Although it might have been somebody discovering lab equipment to measure that, sharing it, and commenting something to the effect of "if I had $10000 to spare..."

 

ETA: Found it!  

 

[USG]

Thank you everyone and Amper...  it's another fun project.... 😀

So what color is it?  On most paper it looks like, to me, a washed out light turquoise, maybe in the Edelstein Topaz family, and very dry. 🤷‍♂️.  The photo shows it bluer than it really is.

Shaken not Stirred

 

 

[txomsy]

How much did you dilute it?

 

[USG]

9 minutes ago, txomsy said:

How much did you dilute it?

 

 

The color isn't strong enough to dilute.  I used it straight out the bottle and it still looked washed out....BUT IT'S AMAZINGLY WATER PROOF..

[amper]

The color density can be highly variable and is dependent on how much ink actually flows out of the pen. There is no dye in it, so the color comes only from the pigment. There's nothing in it besides water, pigment, a bit of oxalic acid that helps keep the pigment in suspension, and a biocide.

If you fill a pen all the way up, it won't flow as well. I tend to only fill my ECOs about halfway, because the air in the ink chamber will be heated by your hand as you write, and the resulting higher air pressure inside the pen will tend to make the ink flow better, so you get a nice dark blue. The emptier it gets, the darker the line it will produce, and when it starts to get a bit unmanageable, that's when you know it's time to refill.

[amper]

My shopping list, on my own design Filofax insert printed on Staples 20 lb copy paper. The last five lines were written with the same TWSBI ECO-T EF this week, on three different days, without refilling. The pen is about half full.

 

[USG]

10 hours ago, amper said:

The color density can be highly variable and is dependent on how much ink actually flows out of the pen. There is no dye in it, so the color comes only from the pigment. There's nothing in it besides water, pigment, a bit of oxalic acid that helps keep the pigment in suspension, and a biocide.

If you fill a pen all the way up, it won't flow as well. I tend to only fill my ECOs about halfway, because the air in the ink chamber will be heated by your hand as you write, and the resulting higher air pressure inside the pen will tend to make the ink flow better, so you get a nice dark blue. The emptier it gets, the darker the line it will produce, and when it starts to get a bit unmanageable, that's when you know it's time to refill.

 

10 hours ago, amper said:

My shopping list, on my own design Filofax insert printed on Staples 20 lb copy paper. The last five lines were written with the same TWSBI ECO-T EF this week, on three different days, without refilling. The pen is about half full.

 

 

I'm not getting anything like your deep turquoise color and nothing like those very dark lines.  Pen is Medium Jinhao X-159

 

I'm at about 1/2 full now.  I'll see if it gets any darker.

The color is lighter than what shows up on the pic.

 

 

[Karmachanic]

I gots to haz this beautiful, shading ink.  The expense does not deter me, as I can amortize the cost of the 8oz bottle over eight or so years, at £1 per annum.

 

Thanks to all who keep this thread alive.

[JonSzanto]

I realize that this thread is 10 years old - I even have a somewhat early comment - but seeing it pop back up made me think...

 

That was around the time that the current explosion of new inks was just getting started. Inks had never been offered in a big array, save for a couple of makers. Now there are hundreds and hundreds of inks with all manner of color/hue/characteristics/behaviors. With all that said, and knowing that they were all (supposedly) formulated to work in fountain pens, why would anyone use something like the product this thread is focused on? Is it the color is so impressive? (There are sooooooo many blues today) Waterproofness? (a lot of those, too) Unless it is dirt, dirt cheap (and that doesn't seem to be the thrust of the thread), I am not certain why I would put up with the caveats offered for use, especially with any of my better pens.

 

Just curious, not unhappy that people are enjoying it.

[txomsy]

Thing is, many of the inks you can buy at a much higher price tag will likely contain a pigment (like this one) plus may be -depending on the pigment- something to correct pH, a biocide and something to correct flux.

 

If you can find a pigment that is neutral, biocide and behaves well, the question should rather be why buy it in a bottle at a huge price penalty?

 

Following the style of your post, likening with accepted standard practice: it is true nowadays everyone goes for the careless safety of bottled inks, but it is not less true that for over a thousand of years many if not most people preferred to make their own inks and pens instead of buying them ready for use (even if there were).

 

There are many things I prefer to do myself instead of letting others do them for me or getting them done. And there are many I prefer not to play with.

 

To me, it is just a matter of attitude, be a depending consumer or be self-sufficient. True, the last requires one to learn to get proper results, but if one is willing to do it properly, there may be great gains at minimal cost. Any of both approaches is -to me- valid. Thanks goodness we are not all the same.

[JonSzanto]

@txomsy So, it is economic? I just did a price check and the bluing product is less expensive. I could see a bottle lasting for years. Which is fine: to each their own. Unless I adored the color, I don't see a reason to deal with the other performance issues that have been detailed to save mere cents, but if it gives some kind of renegade satisfaction, I'm glad it makes people happy. I'm pleased to support the ink world, allow myself a variety of colors, and enjoy the varied formulas. I'll likely pick up a bottle of Mrs. Stewart's for fun at a local store.

[USG]

It's just a hobby..... 😁

 

[JonSzanto]

2 minutes ago, USG said:

It's just a hobby..... 😁

 

Oh, I get that. Doesn't mean one can't be curious. Not to mention gathering enough information to protect non-cheap writing instruments.

[USG]

11 minutes ago, JonSzanto said:

 

Oh, I get that. Doesn't mean one can't be curious. Not to mention gathering enough information to protect non-cheap writing instruments.

 

JS, You actually might have hit the nail on the Head with "Renegade Satisfaction".   Who would think that laundry bluing would make a waterproof ink.   It's a curiosity to explore that's off the beaten trail. 🙂

[SLinkster]

How do we feel about Bluette? It's a little more than half the cost of Mrs. Stewart's and appears to be the same recipe.

[USG]

5 hours ago, SLinkster said:

How do we feel about Bluette? It's a little more than half the cost of Mrs. Stewart's and appears to be the same recipe.

 

It's probably OK, give it a shot.  

[amper]

On 11/16/2023 at 11:21 PM, JonSzanto said:

I realize that this thread is 10 years old - I even have a somewhat early comment - but seeing it pop back up made me think...

 

That was around the time that the current explosion of new inks was just getting started. Inks had never been offered in a big array, save for a couple of makers. Now there are hundreds and hundreds of inks with all manner of color/hue/characteristics/behaviors. With all that said, and knowing that they were all (supposedly) formulated to work in fountain pens, why would anyone use something like the product this thread is focused on? Is it the color is so impressive? (There are sooooooo many blues today) Waterproofness? (a lot of those, too) Unless it is dirt, dirt cheap (and that doesn't seem to be the thrust of the thread), I am not certain why I would put up with the caveats offered for use, especially with any of my better pens.

 

Just curious, not unhappy that people are enjoying it.

The only real caveat is that there is an unconfirmed possibility that it can negatively affect gold nibs, according to an article by someone at Sheaffer that if I remember correctly was published in the 1940s. I haven't wanted to sacrifice any of my gold nibs to Science to confirm this, but I'm perfectly happy using stainless steel nibs, so happy in fact, that they are all I use, now. I haven't even inked up my Pelikan M800 in about 10 years.

The TWSBI ECO does everything I need from a fountain pen, and I now own 7 of them, and I'm about to buy two more. And Leonardo makes some gorgeous $200-250 USD pens with stainless steel nibs. I'd like two of those, and those will probably be the last expensive pens I buy in my life. I've been mulling over selling the M800 to finance a Leonardo Momento Zero Grande Blue Marina Capri, but giving up a pen I've had for 30+ years is a hard pill to swallow, even if I don't use it.

I guess you could say that having to shake up the ink now and then to make sure all the pigment is in suspension is a minor caveat, but that would be common to any pigmented ink.

I do happen to absolutely love the color of Prussian Blue pigment—it is actually my favorite color other than black—and I like the history of it, as the first synthetic inorganic pigment discovered. I used to be the purchasing manager of a fine artists' materials retailer in Philadelphia, and the study of the composition and properties of artists materials is something in which I've delved pretty extensively. So, personally, I get a kick out of it.

The use of Mrs. Stewart's as fountain pen ink actually has a long history, and was commonly used to save money during the Great Depression. Mrs. Stewart's does everything I need my primary daily writing ink to do. It's the right color, it's virtually waterproof, it doesn't stain my pens, it doesn't bleed even on cheap paper, it's cheap as dirt, and it's available everywhere, at least, in the US that I've been.

You don't have to use it, if you don't find its features compelling. I do own other inks, but the one I use for most of my writing—and have now done so continuously for over 10 years—is Mrs. Stewart's. I have two pens filled with it, an EF for my Filofax, and a 1.1 mm stub italic for cheque writing and signatures. If I get two Leonardos, they will replace those two pens, and I'll continue to use TWSBI ECOs for everything else.