Ink Fade Test

[Arkanabar]

And now for my naked-eye impressions.

The paper in the window has yellowed slightly. This may be affecting my perception of the inks' colors.

• The Parker Blue cartridge has hardly any blue left in it.
• The MontBlanc-Simplo Black with SuperCleaner SC21 is reduced to a dark gray with yellow tones.
• The Noodler's Widow Maker is moving from a "dark" red towards a "true" red, but it really isn't there yet.
• Sheaffer Turquoise is clearly quite faded. It is also becoming a duller color.
• Noodler's Heart of Darkness is unchanged.
• Noodler's Borealis Black is still in excellent shape, but showing a slightly yellowish undertone.
• Blackstone Cashmere Red 8% is lightening up ever so slightly.
• Diamine Damson isn't really showing any signs of fading, which is a remarkable performance for a purple.
• Noodler's Purple Martin and Violet are showing definite signs of fading, but still doing very well.
• DeAtramentis Aubergine is turning warmer and redder.
• Iro Ku-Jaku is losing some color intensity.
• Diamine Sherwood is losing its blue and looking like more of a yellow-green.
• Quink Permanent Black with Solv-X is fading and showing yellow more quickly than Borealis Black, but more slowly than MB-S black.
• "Waterman Florida Blue" is turning darker and duller, ever so slightly. Some bright blue dye in the mix must be fading. I continue to maintain that this is not normal Waterman Florida/ Serenity blue, if it's WFB at all.
• Noodler's Red-Black is looking more shaded than it originally was.
• Bad Black Moccasin is showing slightly more color loss and yellowing than Borealis Black, but clearly less than Quink Permanent Black with Solv-X. So much for the Warden line's alleged compleat and total imperviousity.
• Noodler's VMail Midway Blue is losing a bit of cyanosity. So too is Noodler's Blue, which is morphing from the total cyan I think of it as being, to a slightly more conventional royal blue.
• I don't know if the Space Pen is fading, or if it's the paper yellowing. I can believe it is pigmented with carbon black.
• The red Sharpie marker is turning a faded orange.
• The black medium-point Bic is well-faded, and it may even wind up being the first ink to lose a line.
• The Sarasa blue-black gel pen is showing absolutely no signs of fading whatseover.
• The black Pilot Precise V5's lines are fading in the middle, where the ball touched the paper. The red Precise V5 ink is getting visibly desaturated, but I don't think its actual color value has changed.

Edited April 26, 2016 by Arkanabar

[amberleadavis]

Excellent report!

[Aelie]

Now that the summer is almost here, we should see some more drastic changes! Seasonal increase in temperature and relative humidity should also affect ink fading as well. I personally think the combination of all those factors makes this test a lot more useful compared to ones being done in a controlled environment for certification.

[Arkanabar]

My naked-eye impressions:

 

The paper is a little yellowed. The inkjet ink has lost essentially no color. The Parker blue cart appears to have stabilized at a cool, pale gray. The MB-S black remains at "very dark gray with yellow undertone." The Noodler's Widow Maker has lightened to a more middling red. The Sheaffer Turquoise has become a desaturated pale blue. Heart of Darkness shows some yellowing, but that might be the paper. Borealis Black is starting to lighten just a bit. Diamine Damson has definitively won the fade-off. I can see light lines within where the slits were on the Hunt C-4 dip nib used to lay it down. It is only slightly less brilliant than the test sample. The Purple Martin is second best, followed by Noodler's Violet and then DeAtramentis Aubergine, which has lost even more color than the Iroshizuku Ku-Jaku. The Diamine Sherwood has faded to a meadowy green. Quink Permanent Black with Solv-X has faded from black to a deep charcoal gray. My so-called "Waterman Florida Blue" (which I suspect is either concentrated by age or something else entirely) has actually darkened a tiny bit with age. The Waterman Purple is now pink, but still legible. The Noodler's Red-black looks more shaded in the test sample than the control sample. When looking at the Noodler's Bad Black Moccasin, I can't tell if the color change is in the ink or the paper. Both Noodler's VMail Midway Blue and Blue show very slight signs of darkening; I suspect some more reflective part of the ink has faded away. Fisher Space Pen black shows almost no signs of change. The Sharpie Red Marker is red-orange. The black Bic ballpoint is the least legible thing on here. I suspect that any change in the blue-black Sarasa Gel Roller is due to the paper, rather than the ink. The Pilot Precise V5 black is no more faded than the MB-S black, and perhaps less. The Pilot Precise V5 Red appears to be fading in much the same way as the Sharpie Red Marker, but perhaps not as fast.

[amberleadavis]

I love these. Thank you.

[robeschi]

This is amazing, thanks for sharing!

[AmaranthMoor]

Wow-I love this experiment! Very scientific!

And the fading on that Blue Parker ink is incredible...crazy to think about what light can do! It's enough to put anyone off tanning for a while... XD

[Arkanabar]

I'm happy to be of service.

Here are my impressions, looking at the high-resolution scans and at times the actual samples. I am a week late, but I do not worry too much.

The Parker blue cartridge has only a rather faint gray component left; were it at my usual writing width, I doubt it would be legible. MB-S black is a very good dark gray, slightly less dark than the HB pencil by now. Widow Maker has shifted from a very dark red to a middling one. Sheaffer Turquoise has become very light, but it remains legible to the naked eye. As always, Heart of Darkness shows no change at all. Borealis Black has become a little lighter and a little warmer. Given the variability in the control sample of Blackstone Cashmere Red 8%, it's very hard for me to say that it has changed by looking at the samples. But when I compare the most recent scan to the first, a slight fading is just apparent, and also with Diamine Damson. In the purple four way fade off, Purple Martin is next most resistant, followed by Violet, and then Aubergine. Ku-Jaku is more greenish to the naked eye than the scanner. Sherwood has faded to a color I find reminiscent of the scans I've seen of Meadow. The Quink black has faded at least as much as the MB-S black. It's hard for me to say if it's actually more faded, or the fading is more apparent because of the wider line, but I am beginning to think that fade comparisons should use the same pen whenever possible. The Waterman Florida Blue has not shifted any more than in the last scan, that I can tell. Waterman Purple is very faded indeed, but remains legible. The Red-Black is just starting to show some change. Bad Black Mocassin is showing slight but readily apparent fading when comparing test and control samples. VMail Midway Blue and Noodler's Blue do not appear to have changed since the last scan. Fisher Space Pen Black shows no change that I can see. The test sample of Sharpie Red Marker is now a faded, pinkish orange. The Bic Black Ballpoint is faded to very poor legibility. The Sarasa blue-black gel pen shows no change I can see. The Pilot Precise V5 black is nearly as faded as the MB-S black, and the Pilot Precise V5 red is about as faded as the Sharpie red.

If all goes well, I will post again in four weeks.

[amberleadavis]

Your inks are still holding up fairly well.

[Arkanabar]

Yeah, it's a bit surprising. Part of it is because I'm using indirect sunlight. It would have faded a bit faster on the other side of the house, but it would have been a big pain.

[Arkanabar]

It's been five weeks instead of four. Shoot me.

 

So, as usual, here are my impressions.

So far, the following colors are nigh unto illegible: Parker Blue Cartridge, Sheaffer Slovenian Turquoise, Bic Black Medium Ballpoint. Waterman Purple would be nigh illegible with a regular nib instead of a Hunt C4 dip pen.

Noodler's Violet, De Atramentis Aubergine, Iro Ku-Jaku, Diamine Sherwood, Sharpie Marker Red and Pilot Precise V5 red are moderately faded.

MB-S Black, Quink Permanent Black with Solv-X, Noodler's Purple Martin, and Pilot Precise V5 black are mildly faded.

Fisher Space Pen black, and Noodler's Widow Maker, Borealis Black, Red Black, and Bad Black Moccasin are only minimally faded.

The only inks to show no noticeable fading are "Waterman Florida Blue," Heart of Darkness, Blackstone Cashmere Red, Diamine Damson, Noodler's Blue, Noodler's VMail Midway Blue, and the Sarasa Blue-Black Gel pen.

One of these days, I'm going to have to set up a decent photo hosting account, and link to it from here. Does Google still do that?

[amberleadavis]

Thank you for doing these!!

[visvamitra]

Great work

[Arkanabar]

I am closing this up. I've reposted the images to a gallery/thread on imgur.

 

This is going to be my final scan. The test paper is yellowing, my windows get a lot of dew on them during the winter, and I'm not willing to be bothered any further. Still, we have a ten-month continuous exposure to outside light, albeit not direct sunlight.

Next time, everything gets written with the same pen, probably a dipped Bulow 750, or perhaps my Pequod's Smoke Noodler's Konrad.

Worst-to-best performances.

1. Parker Blue Cartridge, provided with a Vector calligraphy set, most likely Parker Washable Blue.
2. Waterman Purple, from before the name changes.
3. Sheaffer Turquoise (Slovenian). A narrow line impedes legibility.
4. BIC Medium Ballpoint, Black. This was quite a surprise to me. Clearly, BIC doesn't use carbon pigment in their black ink.
5. Pilot Precise V5 Rollerball, red.
6. De Atramentis Aubergine. It's still legible (at Hunt C-4 width), but it's gone from a lovely deep dark purple to relatively pale mauve.
7. Sharpie permanent all-surface red marker.
8. MontBlanc-Simplo Black with SuperCleaner SC21. It comes in a cone-shaped plastic bottle covered in gold paint. It's bound to be quite old.
9. Quink Permanent Black with Solv-X. It's at least 30 years old.
10. Diamine Sherwood. It retains full legibility, so I suppose that's "good", but it has lost quite a bit of its blue color.
11. Noodler's Violet.
12. Noodler's Purple Martin.
13. Pilot Iroshizuku Ku-Jaku.
14. Noodler's Widow Maker.
15. Pilot Precise V5 roller ball, black.
16. Blackstone Cashmere Red, 8%.
17. Noodler's Borealis Black.
18. Noodler's Red-Black.
19. Noodler's Bad Black Moccasin.

**********************
NO COLOR LOSS APPARENT
**********************

• Noodler's Heart of Darkness
• "Waterman Florida Blue" (I remain convinced that this ink is either adulterated or concentrated; it was PIFfed to me, and it's always been much darker than the online scans I've seen appear to be).
• Noodler's VMail Midway Blue.
• Noodler's Blue.
• Fisher Space Pen ballpoint, medium, black
• Sarasa Gel Roller, 0.7mm, blue-black/navy blue.

 

My next experiment will be in another forum, wherein I mix Noodler's Widow Maker and Noodler's Blue with distilled water at 3:2:1 to see what I get.

 

http://i.imgur.com/uvz8kbT.jpg

Edited October 23, 2016 by Arkanabar

[effika]

Thanks for the effort you've put into this! I love seeing tests like this, and yours has been a great one to follow.

[amberleadavis]

Thanks again!

 

Gotta love Midway blue!

[LWJ2]

Thank you, this was interesting to read (I just stumbled across it today). Hope you had a happy Christmas, and wishing you the best for the new year.

 

Leon Jester

Roanoke, VA USA

[amberleadavis]

Arkanbar, I think I'm ready to do another year long test. You have inspired me.

[KKay]

Thank you! Awesome test, I loved it.

[amberleadavis]

Arkanbar, you have inspired me. I'm loading up the boards to put back in the caboose for the new year.