Noodler's Switch To Plastic Bottles

[NewPenMan]

I caught Nathan's video yesterday in which he explained about the switch to plastic.

 

Hats off (again) to Mr. Tardif. I will wait for the when and if Noodler's can return to plastic, and I'm satisfied with the testing Nathan has done on the plastic containers and looks like we'll end up with about a penful more of ink — depending on the pen, of course.. Several pages' worth of mad ramblings at the very least..

 

I have to admit loving the Noodler's inks and colors but I like them a lot more with a guy like Nathan making them, having such a pro-humanist stance and walking his talk.

 

Need more of that.

 

npm

Edited August 19, 2015 by NewPenMan

[Joane]

I could not find the video. Why is he switching to plastic?

[NewPenMan]

Seems the supplier of the famous Noodler's ink glass bottle is cranking the price and Nathan wants to keep his prices for ink same as they are now.

 

His primary concerns aside from price are: non-reactivity with the ink, and slowing/eliminating evaporation from the container. Nathan says that the Noodler's inks can be re-constituted by adding water, should you ever have a container where most/all water does evaporate. I can't imagine having a bottle of ink long enough for that to happen, unless you forgot to put the cap back on and forgot about it for a few years..

 

The plastic bottle is cheaper, I think for the bottle itself, but also shipping is probably cheaper for the much-lighter plastic as well. I don't know how the numbers mash out for Nathan, but if anyone is dancing on the edge of a knife, it's Noodler's Ink.

 

The video was posted yeterday and you can find it here:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6L0lL-VzSE

Edited August 19, 2015 by NewPenMan

[jmccarty3]

The weight reduction might lower the cost of shipping enough to make Noodler's inks less expensive for those overseas.

[Joane]

Thank you. I appreciate the ethics behind this move. I would not throw my glass bottles away. They could always be refilled from the plastic if one finds the glass bottles more aesthetically pleasing.

[NewPenMan]

Same..I plan on keeping those Noodler's glass bottles too and when I buy Noodler's in plastic, will transfer to glass when available..

 

..and will properly re-cycle the plastic, although the labels are pretty nice to have around, too..

[Ambrose Bierce]

Any ideas on if the 4.5oz bottles will change too?

[NewPenMan]

He didn't cover that but I believe that, based on his reasoning, all Noodler's containers will be plastic until/unless he can find a source of glass containers that's inline with his margins. This is only my speculation, based on Nathan's comments.

 

He's adamant about keeping his prices static, so I think he's doing everything humanly possible to achieve that.

[Oldtimer]

One reason why I use only Noodler's is the constant price at an affordable level, plus they have lots of colors some very similar to more pricey ones. My concern about plastic is : is this recyclable plastic? Pouring ink into empty glass bottles work if you buy the new ones when these are empty. I usually buy additional colors, not to replace the used ones- because they last long on my desk. I am constantly changing colors and use a bit of each. For me it would take along time to empty a bottle, unless I spill the ink and that has happened only once. It may apply to heavy users of ink, which I am not, but I started this hobby seriously a year ago. I don´t know about the öld timers¨of FPs.

I will check that video and I think they know that price

 

Having watched the video, I have to congratulate him for the conscientious effort. This is seldom seen in the industry.

 

This is why I am not sponsoring Diamine any more. Their prices have gone up and they provide 10 ml less than Noodler´s. Do the math.

Edited August 19, 2015 by Oldtimer

[NewPenMan]

I don't have much data (yet) on time to empty a noodler's bottle. However, I am a moderate-to-heavy writer, and I'm an artist..one of my forms is pen and ink and FPs and noodler's are now part of my toolkit.

 

I write with a fine line, so I get more pages per fill of ink than persons who use a broad. As of now, I have 9 Bottles of Noodler's ink; only 2 of them down a bit, but none are below the cap threads.

 

I will want more colors, but I have enough ink to last a very long time. If it were just writing, with a fine nib, I might possibly have a lifetime supply, even if I live for a very long time.

 

One thing I do not do is toss ink simply to make a color change, so that helps..

[fountainpagan]

The weight reduction might lower the cost of shipping enough to make Noodler's inks less expensive for those overseas.

 

 

Absolutely!

[graystranger]

 

I have to admit loving the Noodler's inks and colors but I like them a lot more with a guy like Nathan making them, having such a pro-humanist stance and walking his talk.

 

Need more of that.

 

npm

 

Amen to that! I agree completely with you, npm. Most of my inks are Noodler's and I love them and his philosophy. Fraud resistant inks, fluorescent inks, wonderful colors.

 

Tom

Edited August 19, 2015 by graystranger

[Randal6393]

Vintage Nathan! Who else can make a decision to economize by switching from glass to plastic into a knell for freedom? Note that several of the ink manufacturers have switched from glass to plastic recently. So guess the glass crunch is affecting more than just Nathan. Guess I will have to buy up a few more ink-well bottles to hold my working inks now.

 

Enjoy,

[inkstainedruth]

Part of me is applauding Nathan for trying to keep the bottom line down for customers. But part of me is going "Ick -- more plastic?" Not so environmentally friendly -- and I'd have to see in the long run what # plastic the bottles will be made from (my town only recycles #1-#5 plastics -- which is an improvement over when they used to just recycle #1 and #2 containers.

As for the evaporation factor, well, I was in an antiques shop last spring, and they had a case of vintage Quink Blue-Black that the owner had bought as (IIRC) NOS. She told me she opened the box herself -- it had been sealed when she got it. Well, she and I went through and looked at EVERY bottle and every one had evaporated completely. So somehow there was a bad batch where the caps weren't really sealed (these were the old-style bottles from the 1940s). I think that may be part of the reason why she just gave me the one partially filled bottle of QBlBk when I bought several other bottles, including a 4 oz. bottle of Microfilm Black (she said she couldn't sell a partially filled bottle).

I guess I'll have to go watch the video and see what Nathan says. Admittedly, the glass bottles weren't the easiest to fill from. I wonder if he is going to a different shape, and if he will have to revamp all the labels. I'm not sure when the guy ever sleeps as is....

Ruth Morrisson, aka inkstainedruth

[migo984]

Oh great. More waste plastic to float around in the ocean and pollute the planet.

[rafapa]

Similar form factor. Even de caps are the same. What I cannot understand in the video is the problem with SI units (Nathan erroneously call them european). My worry with the plastic bottles is the possible lost of stability.

[TSherbs]

The new plastic is opaque! Darn. I like looking at inks and knowing how much is left without actually having to unscrew the lid and look in.

 

Save your old glass bottles!

[katerchen]

I wish he'd ease up on the act a bit though :/

 

"We had the option for this bottle, but it was in heathen European measures and around here we use good ole' American measures"

 

Slightly paraphrased, but still. There are other ways to say : "I'm not ready to switch to Metric just yet, due to logistic and manufacturing constraints"

[VinnyCordeiro]

"We had the option for this bottle, but it was in heathen European measures and around here we use good ole' American measures"

 

Then perhaps it is time for americans start using a new measurement system because, you know, they use the Imperial system, from good ole' England.

[clazbill]

I'll admit my knee-jerk response was to go buy a bottle of any Noodler's ink I've fancied just to have a glass bottle. I like the glass bottles, but really the plastic versions will get the job done just as well.

 

Still... I just might buy a few more bottles of ink, just to have them for display.