Nostalgic Russian Inks Raduga (Rainbow) - The USSR Inheritance.

[Julia161]

Hello

Today I'd like to share with you some information about ink in nowadays Russia. We only have one brand which survived from the USSR time - "Радуга" which means "Rainbow". This brand produces 2 different types of ink:

1. For fountain pens.
2. For dip nibs.

It's very important not to mess them. Because if you put a wrong liquid inside your fountain pen it has a chance to be blocked forever. Almost nothing can wash away Russian dip nib ink - checked by sad experience of many Russians

Dip nibs were widely used in the USSR to create propaganda posters and wall news papers. Each organization, or for ex. school class published such newspapers every week and displayed it on the wall.

Dip nib inks are called "Тушь" in Russian [Tush] and fountain pen inks are called "Чернила" [Chernila] - this spelling can help you to make sure what you buy in case you want to get these ink online from a Russian seller.

"Rainbow" inks have very beautiful colors - black, blue, violet, red or green. Black, blue and violet are the easiest to find. And they are cheap.

If you deside to use this brand ink, please, remember, that this ink dries very fast and if you don't plan to use a pen inked with "Rainbow" in the nearest 2 days, better remove the ink from the pen and wash it carefully with slightly warm water. It will help your pen not get blocked, especially in case of a hooded nib. "Rainbow" ink can get very sticky and difficult to wash away after drying. For the same reason it's better not use it in pens with white grip section or grip sections or light colors - they can easily pick the color of ink within seconds.

On the other hand the stability of this ink can be a plus on paper. I attached the pictures to see the difference - which jars are for dip nibs and which jars are for fountain pens.

If you have any questions feel free to ask

Edited May 23, 2015 by Julia161

[visvamitra]

Nice review, thank you.

[ehemem]

I have seen some other posts about these inks and they have been generally positive. Thanks for this!

[overwriter]

Really cool. I travel to Russia two to three times a year on business and have not found a pen store yet. I will keep looking.

[dcwaites]

Very nice, thank you.

How does one get this ink outside of Russia, do you know?

[Julia161]

  On 5/23/2015 at 10:22 PM, overwriter said:

Really cool. I travel to Russia two to three times a year on business and have not found a pen store yet. I will keep looking.

 

 

It's true, we have very few pen shops and they are often in inconvenient places. Sometimes inks can be found in large book stores which have stationery departments. When school kids were forced to use fountain pens (during the USSR) inks were everywhee. Actually "Raduga" can be also green and red - also nice. But these colors are harder to find. The ones I posted are the most usual.

 

 

  On 5/23/2015 at 11:17 PM, dcwaites said:

Very nice, thank you.

How does one get this ink outside of Russia, do you know?

 

If you want I can send you few bottles. I apologize for this offer before the admin, because this is not the selling thread. But I actually don't know any place outside Russia to buy these inks and pen shop as well as post office are just 2 steps away from my home. For some reason when I post about these inks always someone wants to try

Edited May 24, 2015 by Julia161

[Forgiven]

  On 5/23/2015 at 9:17 PM, Julia161 said:

Hello

Today I'd like to share with you some information about ink in nowadays Russia. We only have one brand which survived from the USSR time - "Радуга" which means "Rainbow". This brand produces 2 different types of ink:

 

1. For fountain pens.

2. For dip nibs.

It's very important not to mess them. Because if you put a wrong liquid inside your fountain pen it has a chance to be blocked forever. Almost nothing can wash away Russian dip nib ink - checked by sad experience of many Russians

Dip nibs were widely used in the USSR to create propaganda posters and wall news papers. Each organization, or for ex. school class published such newspapers every week and displayed it on the wall.

Dip nib inks are called "Тушь" in Russian [Tush] and fountain pen inks are called "Чернила" [Chernila] - this spelling can help you to make sure what you buy in case you want to get these ink online from a Russian seller.

"Rainbow" inks have very beautiful colors - black, blue, violet, red or green. Black, blue and violet are the easiest to find. And they are cheap.

If you deside to use this brand ink, please, remember, that this ink dries very fast and if you don't plan to use a pen inked with "Rainbow" in the nearest 2 days, better remove the ink from the pen and wash it carefully with slightly warm water. It will help your pen not get blocked, especially in case of a hooded nib. "Rainbow" ink can get very sticky and difficult to wash away after drying. For the same reason it's better not use it in pens with white grip section or grip sections or light colors - they can easily pick the color of ink within seconds.

On the other hand the stability of this ink can be a plus on paper. I attached the pictures to see the difference - which jars are for dip nibs and which jars are for fountain pens.

If you have any questions feel free to ask

 

zdravstvuyte moya podruga!!

 

Menya zavut Forgiven I ya Kanadets (I have forgotten most of my Russian, I apologise). Ms. I was curious to know if Raduga was the only brand available for fountain pens. I wanted to buy some niche fountain pen inks. I got hold of Indian ones (Camlin, Chelpark etc) but finding Russian fountain pens and inks is really hard (at least for me). Can you shed light on what other Russian ink brands are there and how to buy them? I am more than happy to pay (as long as they are not too expensive....like $50 or more). Also I apologise in advance for any broken Russian that has caused you inconvenience...I thought I'd try Russian since there is no one in my friend circle to speak Russian with.

 

Speciba

 

-Forgiven

Edited June 28, 2015 by Forgiven

[PS104]

Interesting colors but it sounds like using them is akin to playing Russian roulette with your pen

[lapis]

I bought all 5 together one year ago from this site:

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ink-For-Fountain-Pen-Raduga-70-ml-5-Colors/121210245269?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D31729%26meid%3D3d6264df1a2d4beab7f5ab4197ea9f20%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D151698481606&rt=nc

 

Altogether US $8.00 + shipping US $5.00. Fast and efficient information and confirmation via luda.gvril@gmail.com. My recommendations!

 

Mike

[Forgiven]

  On 6/28/2015 at 11:23 AM, lapis said:

I bought all 5 together one year ago from this site:

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ink-For-Fountain-Pen-Raduga-70-ml-5-Colors/121210245269?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D31729%26meid%3D3d6264df1a2d4beab7f5ab4197ea9f20%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D151698481606&rt=nc

 

Altogether US $8.00 + shipping US $5.00. Fast and efficient information and confirmation via luda.gvril@gmail.com. My recommendations!

 

Mike

 

The person says that the price is for one ink only though.....I was thinking of buying it from there too but once I learnt it was $8+$5 for one ink only..I thought of passing it because others are selling it for $6.

[kvippal]

At the moment It costs about 1$ in a shop.

[Mew]

Currently in Russia, nice to hear about these inks. Will try to find some in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

 

Thank you.

Edited February 18, 2016 by Mew

[Cyber6]

  On 2/18/2016 at 7:50 PM, Mew said:

Currently in Russia, nice to hear about these inks. Will try to find some in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

 

Thank you.

 

 

Your flag says Japan....

 

 

C.

[Angel91]

Wow, how exciting. So you kids at school don't write with fountain pens any more, do they?

[Mew]

  On 2/18/2016 at 8:38 PM, Cyber6 said:

 

 

Your flag says Japan....

 

 

C.

I don't change my flag with the countries I visit. I assumed that it refers to home country only.

I left from Japan 2 weeks ago. Visited Canada and now in Russia. Landed in Moscow and now in St. Petersburg.

[Julia161]

  On 2/19/2016 at 4:42 PM, Angel91 said:

Wow, how exciting. So you kids at school don't write with fountain pens any more, do they?

Expand  

No, they don't  My generation was forced by teachers. Nowadays sometimes parents try to cultivate the happit of writing with fountain pens in their kids, but kids mostly hate it )