My Red Ink Is Now Green! What Happened?

[Houston]

Just wanted to provide a late addition to this thread: My old bottle of Vampire Red also turned green. So, it wasn't just a one-off. I've used it in some inexpensive, easy-to-clean pens, and have found the whole thing fun. Not that I'll be buying another bottle.

[PhotoJim]

Not all Private Reserve inks are scary. I have a nine-year-old bottle of Dakota Red that i hadn't used in several years. I opened it a few weeks ago. It looked fine. It smelled fine. I put it into a couple of pens. It wrote fine. I have about 1/3 of a bottle left and I plan to use it up unless things change. I'm not using it in super-expensive pens, but that's a red-ink thing, not a Private Reserve thing.

 

This story was very interesting. It sounds like this is an ink to use up fast, if a person is going to get it, and I just can't use a bottle of red ink fast.

[eharriett]

Wow. Thanks. Good to know it isn’t just me.

 

I mentioned it to the new owner of Private Reserve. She said if I still had it (I dumped it) she will replace it. May want to reach out to her.

[Houston]

Wow. Thanks. Good to know it isn’t just me.

 

I mentioned it to the new owner of Private Reserve. She said if I still had it (I dumped it) she will replace it. May want to reach out to her.

 

Thanks. Might be worth it if I lived in the US. Certainly not worth the air shipment. Nice to know they're service-oriented, though. Might drop them a line just to let them know my experience matched yours.

[white_lotus]

This actually isn't as surprising a result as you'd think. The red dye did not change into a green dye, but the ink was a mixture of two dyes, red and green. The latter was used to modify or tone down the the former. The maker didn't consider the impermanence of the red dye, which in this case was totally fugitive. So it faded, leaving a green ink.

 

So unless the biocide has degraded, the ink is probably fine.

[Houston]

This actually isn't as surprising a result as you'd think. The red dye did not change into a green dye, but the ink was a mixture of two dyes, red and green. The latter was used to modify or tone down the the former. The maker didn't consider the impermanence of the red dye, which in this case was totally fugitive. So it faded, leaving a green ink.

 

So unless the biocide has degraded, the ink is probably fine.

 

I loved your use of the word "fugitive" in this context. Just sayin'.

[BaronWulfraed]

 

I loved your use of the word "fugitive" in this context. Just sayin'.

 

Standard term in discussing artist colors. https://www.artistsnetwork.com/art-mediums/watercolor/what-is-fugitive-color-watercolor-painting-tips-from-birgit-oconnor/

[aurore]

Haven't you become a vegetarian meanwhile? This could be a mystical reflection.

[Houston]

 

Standard term in discussing artist colors. https://www.artistsnetwork.com/art-mediums/watercolor/what-is-fugitive-color-watercolor-painting-tips-from-birgit-oconnor/

 

Yes, I suspected that it's use was idiomatic, but that didn't make it any less charming to the uninitiated! Thanks for doin' me an educate.

[wvbeetlebug]

I love my PR inks.

 

+100

[VivaTerlingua]

This is such a fascinating phenomenon, I would think that I had lost my mind had this happened to me.

[Houston]

This is such a fascinating phenomenon, I would think that I had lost my mind had this happened to me.

 

I thought you might enjoy seeing what it looks like.

 

[BaronWulfraed]

Time to rename it Ghoul Green?

[VivaTerlingua]

 

I thought you might enjoy seeing what it looks like.

 

 

I kinda like it!

[inkstainedruth]

 

Standard term in discussing artist colors. https://www.artistsnetwork.com/art-mediums/watercolor/what-is-fugitive-color-watercolor-painting-tips-from-birgit-oconnor/

 

Yup. Only I would have expected it to been the green dye component which was fugitive, given the difficulty in getting a stable green dye until modern times: a number of years ago I was at Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts, and they were doing a demo in dyeing fabric -- they used a yellow dye (weld, IIRC) and then overdyed it with indigo. And my husband's mother has an antique quilt that was passed down in her family (she called the pattern "Stewart Rose" but I haven't found any quilting books that list that design by name). The red sections are in pretty good shape, but a lot of the green fabric has disintegrated over the years (although you do have to be careful with red dyes not being water-fast on fabrics.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

ETA: Interesting to see the scan, Houston. The "Ghoul Green" looks a bit like Platinum Classic Forest Black (which is an IG ink...).

Edited March 11, 2019 by inkstainedruth

[Terry Brack]

This is just a wild speculation but it is possible that mold or bacteria got to your ink and produced carbon dioxide, a metabolic product. Carbon dioxide dissolves somewhat in water and lowers the pH making the ink more acidic. This could cause a color change in the dyes, some of which are acid-base indicators and change color from red to green, for example. In any case you are smart not to use that bottle anymore.

[Sailor Kenshin]

Vulcan Vampire.

[eharriett]

Now you make me regret tossing my bottle of it.

[kestrel]

This is just a wild speculation but it is possible that mold or bacteria got to your ink and produced carbon dioxide, a metabolic product. Carbon dioxide dissolves somewhat in water and lowers the pH making the ink more acidic. This could cause a color change in the dyes, some of which are acid-base indicators and change color from red to green, for example. In any case you are smart not to use that bottle anymore.

A simple test would be to add a mild base to a small sample of the now green and formerly red ink to see if it changes back to red.

Imagine, an ink whose color could be changed by simple chemical modification. Blow bubbles in it or add a touch of dilute acid to it to make it one color, add a little sodium bicarbonate to make it change to a different color. Nathan, here's a challenge for you.

[uceroy]

I have no clue what happened to the ink, but it sure is fascinating!

I know from packaging, that red ink fades faster than green in sunlight. (Just my experience with trash outside, labels on tins etc)

Maybe do some pH tests if possible 🙂 It looks like a gorgeous murky green now 😊