Will Diamine Syrah Stain My Pen?

[Lady P]

When I buy a new pen, it is often with a particular ink in mind. About a month ago, I bought a Pelikan M400 White Tortoise with an M nib with the intention of inking it up with some black ink, and it's currently happily inked up with Aurora Black. Then I bought a Pelikan M200 with a B nib with the intention of inking it up with some Diamine Syrah, which I thought would look gorgeous if used with a broad wet nib. Alas, the M200 B nib turned out to be awfully dry, so much so that it turned Syrah's rich burgundy color into something rather pink. After much tinkering (think: flushing, brass shim work, ink changes), I found that my M200 works decently well with Aurora Black. Granted, it makes Aurora Black look lighter than Waterman Intense Black looks in some of my wetter pens , but then, I've always been a "black is black is black is black" kind of gal, so I don't particularly mind. Except that now I have two broad-ish nibbed pens inked up with black ink, and none with Syrah, which made me consider inking up the M400 with Syrah. But! My M400 is a white pen. Diamine Syrah is a red-ish ink. You see where I'm going with this...

So here's my question: will Diamine Syrah stain my pen? Has anyone tried using this ink with a white pen (or with a demonstrator)? Did anything bad happen?

Reason for editing: spelling

Edited February 7, 2014 by Lady P

[JefferyS]

Diamine Syrah isn't particularly noted as a stainer, though any ink will stain to some degree. Flushing has always cleaned up my clear fountain pens.

[Renfield]

Maybe

 

It has not stained any of my pens.......

[dojocho]

4 Duofolds, a P25 and a TWSBI Mini...no problem whatsoever

[Lady P]

Okay. I think I'll give it a shot!

Interestingly enough, I'm very, very picky about my red-ish inks (much more so than with other colors). I like deep, rich burgundies, but I don't at all like bright reds (to say nothing of pink!). So I can be enamored with a given red in one pen, and absolutely hate it in another. With other colors, it can be a matter of liking an ink better in some pen than in another, but with reds, it gets pretty extreme (love turns into hate and vice versa). We'll see how the M400/Syrah combination measures up!

Edited February 7, 2014 by Lady P

[lapis]

No, but if you find that it does, soak the barrel and/or cap in a dilute solution of houshold bleach. The nib itself needs no more than the usual water cleaning.

[Lady P]

No, but if you find that it does, soak the barrel and/or cap in a dilute solution of houshold bleach. The nib itself needs no more than the usual water cleaning.

 

Okay, good to know!

[sargetalon]

No problems with Syrah staining any of my Pelikans.

[hoppes no9]

It has not stained any of my pens.......

 

+1

[Lady P]

Okay, I tried Diamine Syrah in my M400 (M). Ultimately, I found that I didn't like it. Yes, it's better (=darker) than in the M200 (B ), but it's definitely lighter than in my M200 (M). I also tried Syrah in my Italix Parson's Essential with a fine italic nib, which is broader than both my M400 M nib and my M200 B nib, and that was even better, but I'm still not thrilled.

I love, love, love the color that I get when I use Diamine Syrah in my M200 (M), and I was hoping to find a pen that would give me that same color, only a thicker line. But perhaps that's not possible. Perhaps I just wasn't meant to use this ink in broad-nibbed pens.

Still, there's no point in having two broad nibbed pens inked up with black ink, and since Aurora Black is pretty much the only ink that I like in my new M200 (B ), I set out to find an alternative ink for my M400 (M). I tried several of my inks, and I've settled on Diamine Sherwood Green. I like this pen/ink combination, even though I'm still not 100% sold on it. I'll stick with it for a bit, though, and see if it grows on me. If not... I'll be in the hunt for new ink for my M400 (M)! It's a special pen, and it deserves special ink.

Edited February 7, 2014 by Lady P

[amberleadavis]

I only use demonstrators and I've never had it stain.

[Lady P]

Actually, I changed my mind: I love Diamine Syrah in my Italix Parson's Essential with a fine italic nib (which, being italic, is actually a pretty broad nib). It didn't look that great on the paper that I initially tested it on (some no-name notebook that I got in a local supermarket), but it looks pretty amazing in my Paperblanks journal.

So. Syrah problem solved: I found a perfect broad-ish nib for it. (Plus I don't have to worry about staining since the pen is burgundy with a black section.)