Inky T O D - Feathering - What Makes An Ink Feather And Can I Prevent It?

[amberleadavis]

So, in my various reviews, I always track feathering. Does a particular ink feather. I admit, some papers are just miserable and every ink except ball point feathers on them.

 

So, in my observations, recycled papers are more prone to feathering.

 

Papers which are prone to feathering, do not show shading.

 

Are your observations the same?

 

If you have a paper that you MUST use (the copy paper at work), and you have an ink that you love, but it feathers on that paper, can you do anything to prevent your beloved ink from feathering?

 

Let's hear from you.

[swanjun]

I don't know how to keep an ink from feathering, alas. But I *have* found that the notoriously feather-tastic Blue Nose Bear does *not* feather on Tomoe River, so I am happy that I'll be able to use it.

[The Blue Knight]

Talking about feathering I an having this problem at the moment because I'm having to use cheap copier paper for the work I am doing and I only on Waterman green (I have to use green ink) and it feathers badly.

Edited June 23, 2014 by top pen

[amberleadavis]

This paper was a gift -- THANK YOU. It is from a journal. As you can see a lot of non feathery inks...feathered.

 

http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/2014-Inklings/slides/2014-Ink_537.jpg

[Pentulant]

My only suggestion would be to try limiting the amount of ink going to the paper - fine or extra-fine nibs could help.

 

Yama-budo above is so ugly for such a delicious ink!

[disillusion]

For recycled paper, I think it really depends on how much recycled content it contains, and maybe how it is processed. It seems that it can vary from 10% to 100% and they will all have big "Recycled" words on the packaging to appeal to customers. I have had some good results (little feathering) with some made in Japan Muji notebooks, which says "more than 10% recycled paper".

 

If I must use a particularly bad paper, dry and fine nibs are the only way to go. Also, adding distilled water to ink will increase the surface tension and decrease the feathering somewhat. I have found that a lot of inks will have virtually the same colour even when diluted down to 50%.

[swanjun]

Honestly, if I am writing on really bad paper, I don't even waste good fountain pen ink on it. I'd use a Pilot Varsity or something.

[WaskiSquirrel]

I agree about the feathering and shading link. I think the ink has to sit on top of the paper to shade, and if it feathers, it's soaking into the paper.

 

But, one disappointment is an ink I purchased that is designed to feather: Noodler's Blue Nosed Bear. I was looking forward to light blue halos around my writing. That hasn't actually happened much.

[PJohnP]

Interesting Topic-Of-the-Day, Amber !

 

I'd quite like to know how to reduce feathering in inks beyond "using good paper". There are several inks, including the Dreaded-Ink-Whose-Name-Cannot-Be-Denigrated, that I would like to use, except that the incessant feathering that I experienced trounced the color and/or shading characteristics. I've tried with some of the inks with several bottles, all without success. Feathering is, for me, a deal breaker on inks.

 

It's reasonably possible to address "dry" inks or inks that are "hard to start" by adjusting the colligative properties using a surfactant - there are now a fairly substantial number of threads on this topic - but I've yet to learn how to adjust feathering in a substantive manner. Dilution has a very small effect, but little more.

 

 

 

John P.

[ac12]

All 3 parts of the triangle (paper, ink and pen) affect feathering.

 

PAPER can be like blotting paper where it will suck the ink out of the pen and spread it.

I ran into a cheap filler paper that blotted every pen and ink that I tried on it. The only thing that did not blot was a ball pen and a pencil.

 

INK can be too WET, where it will flow through the paper.

I have this problem with Noodler's Emerald City Green. With my test pens, it will blot and feather BADLY on all 4 of my test papers. The ink line from the F nib looked like it came from a B nib.

 

PEN can be too WET, putting too much ink on the paper, causing normal paper to blot and feather.

 

Bad case is WET ink in WET pen on bad paper.

 

In my example above, with Noodler's Emerald City Green. To make it work, I used my driest pen (a Pilot 78G). The dry pen was able to tame the blotting and feathering, by choking and limiting the amount of ink that flowed onto the paper.

 

So based on my experience, to limit feathering on poor paper, you need to limit the ink flow, by a narrow nib and/or a dry pen and/or a dry ink. Really bad situations will require a combination of these to really choke the ink flow.

[cpark2005]

ac12 really already hit the nail on the head. If you have to use cheap paper, your best bet is to use a dry ink or an ink that is known not to feather. If you have to use cheap paper and you simply must use a specific ink--and said ink feathers on said paper--then your only option is to try to get the smallest amount of ink possible on the paper. Try going with an extra-fine or Japanese fine nib (e.g., Pilot Metropolitan with a fine nib).

[Bo Bo Olson]

Top Pen,

Waterman is a or was before noodlers a wet ink, change to a dry green, Pelikan 4001.

 

Ink jet paper is not good for fountain pens,.

Edited June 24, 2014 by Bo Bo Olson

[dneal]

Concur with the Pelikan recommendation for feather-prone paper. The nano-pigments (like Sailor) do a decent job as well.

[amberleadavis]

So, what happens when you add something like glycerin? Does it improve feathering or make it worse?

[TheModernGent]

So, in my various reviews, I always track feathering. Does a particular ink feather. I admit, some papers are just miserable and every ink except ball point feathers on them.

 

So, in my observations, recycled papers are more prone to feathering.

 

Papers which are prone to feathering, do not show shading.

 

Are your observations the same?

 

If you have a paper that you MUST use (the copy paper at work), and you have an ink that you love, but it feathers on that paper, can you do anything to prevent your beloved ink from feathering?

 

Let's hear from you.

I would say that paper absorbency plays a massive factor in feathering. Take a wet ink and put it to a super absorbent paper, boom, you've got feathering. Seeing as FP inks are liquid ink, any paper with a super high absorbency will (should) feather. Low grade copy paper used in most corporations and offices across America, recycled paper, newsprint etc. On so/so paper with a medium absorbency rate (think typical notebook paper like Mead or even Office Max brand), this is where you will start seeing some inks feather and others not. The super wet inks (I class Noodler's Black Swan in Australian Roses in this category) will bleed and inks on the drier side (Noodler's 54th Massachusetts) do not. Nibs also come into play here as well. The broader the nib, the more ink transferred to paper, more ink transferred to paper, the wetter the paper becomes. Even with a paper with a medium type of absorbency you will see feathering with the same ink in a B nib where you didn't see it before in a F.

 

As I am learning very quickly with all things ink related (sheen, feathering, finger oils transferring to paper etc) there are multiple variables. Usually it's ink, nib size and paper

 

Sheen: non absorbent paper, wet saturated ink, juicy broad nib

Feathering: absorbent paper, wet ink, juicy broad nib

Shading: non absorbent paper, non saturated ink, drier broad nib

Finger Oils Causing Skipping: non absorbent paper, any ink, more noticeable with broader nibs