Expiration Dates On Montblanc Ink

[marktwain]

Hello everyone,

 

a few years ago I bought many bottles of the Alfred Hitchcock ink by Montblanc. I use the ink with Montblanc fountain pens. Now I see that all of their ink has expiration dates and I wanted to ask the experts here how useful or necessary this expiration date really is.

 

To be honest, I have a few problems with some of my MB pens and wonder if it is because I'm using ink that has expired already.

Is that possible?

 

Should I buy new ink and get rid off the old (expired) ink?

 

 

[Chrissy]

I use plenty of bottles of ink that have gone past their expiry dates, but you would have to be careful to check that it still smells exactly like it should smell and that it hasn't gone off by growing any mould on the surface or getting any precipitate (sludge) in the bottom of the bottle. That's commonly called SITB (something in the bottle) and those inks would need to be disposed of.

 

I suppose I would be more concerned about filling my Mb piston filling pens with old or vintage inks, but if it smells good and there is no precipitate of any kind in there then it's probably OK to use.

 

The thing about Montblanc inks is that they bring out so many now that there is always going to be another one along soon. People who couldn't get any more Hitchcock after they had used up their first bottle, were probably happy to buy Shakespeare Velvet Red when that came out. Now there is Saint Exupéry purplish red/brown which is rather nice too.

[marktwain]

Hello Chrissy,

 

thanks a lot for your reply. Okay, so there seem to be some concerns. To be honest, I have a whole drawer filled with expired MB ink. So maybe it's best to start over again, get rid off them all and buy new one and just so much that I will really use this time

[Chrissy]

Hello Chrissy,

 

thanks a lot for your reply. Okay, so there seem to be some concerns. To be honest, I have a whole drawer filled with expired MB ink. So maybe it's best to start over again, get rid off them all and buy new one and just so much that I will really use this time

 

I probably have a whole drawer full of expired ink. I wouldn't worry too much about it. Many inks can be used when they are old, but you need to check them carefully.

[Charles Skinner]

I have never seen an expiration date on ANY ink bottle! Where on the bottle are these dates usually shown? C.S.

[Chrissy]

I have never seen an expiration date on ANY ink bottle! Where on the bottle are these dates usually shown? C.S.

 

Montblanc inks always have expiry dates on them. Box and bottom of bottle.

[fabri00]

I use inks from Mont Blanc and other producers bought 30 years ago, with almost no problems.

[welch]

Hello Chrissy,

 

thanks a lot for your reply. Okay, so there seem to be some concerns. To be honest, I have a whole drawer filled with expired MB ink. So maybe it's best to start over again, get rid off them all and buy new one and just so much that I will really use this time

 

Chrissy describes the concern a user should have with every bottle of ink: floating lumps = ink gone bad. Right now, I have a couple of pens filled with Parker Penman Sapphire from the late '90's, and a couple with Parker Quink from about 1950. No problem.

[Ghost Plane]

I’m happily using MB ink decades out of date. Unless you see goop in the bottle, enjoy!

[Chrissy]

Someone will be using all of my inks long after I've shuffled off then.

[lapis]

Someone will be using all of my inks long after I've shuffled off then.

 

Well, I know what you meanna say but that's not gonna happen with me cause I'm taken' em all with me.

[Ghost Plane]

Well, I know what you meanna say but that's not gonna happen with me cause I'm taken' em all with me.

Not if I get to a shovel fast enough! Bwuuu ha ha ha ha ha!

[inkstainedruth]

Not if I get to a shovel fast enough! Bwuuu ha ha ha ha ha!

 

I'll probably end up getting cremated. Although I think I'd like to come back as a ghost to see the piranha feeding frenzy over the (decanted into smaller bottles) stashes of vintage Quink Purple and of Skrip Peacock....

As for MB inks, I have a bottle of Lavender Purple and a bottle of Tolstoy LE. And I expect that by the time I die they might be used up. So the expiration date is a moot point, as far as I'm concerned.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Mew]

Unless you see something which shouldn't be in the ink, like mold, sediments etc. Carry on and ignore the best before dates. MB is the only company I know who does that. Perhaps to encourage people to throw away the ink after 5 years and pointlessly buy a new bottle even though the older ink was perfectly usable.

[ENewton]

Maybe no other company puts an expiration date on the bottle, but in this interview, the ink master at Sailor says ink should not be kept for longer than two years:

 

http://www.okwave.com/en/culturezine/psychological_analyses/1582/1582/en

 

Despite this admonition, I am sure very few of us scrap our Sailor inks after two years and buy new bottles.

[Mew]

^I have 11.8L of ink made by him, and that I probably not going to finish in the next 10 years.

 

Some of them are discontinued, some are very difficult to get unless I spend a lot of money, so not practical or feasible for me at least.

[white_lotus]

For inks made to EU regulations, there may be issues with the longevity of the ink as the allowed biocides are not as potent nor as long lasting as those used in decades past. Part of the reason was because they were so effective. I know there's not that many gallons of ink flowing into the environment these days, but the biocides are generally available in industry, and could be much more prevalent in other industries.

 

Since we do not know what biocides are being used, nor for how long they are bio-effective, ink collections may be more susceptible to degradation over time than inks of the 20th century. But that is really an unknown. And ink makers such as MB and Sailor may choose to broadly quantify the stability of their inks given that they have no control over the storage conditions after the product leaves the production facility.

[Chrissy]

 

I'll probably end up getting cremated. Although I think I'd like to come back as a ghost to see the piranha feeding frenzy over the (decanted into smaller bottles) stashes of vintage Quink Purple and of Skrip Peacock....

As for MB inks, I have a bottle of Lavender Purple and a bottle of Tolstoy LE. And I expect that by the time I die they might be used up. So the expiration date is a moot point, as far as I'm concerned.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

I have Sheaffer Skrip Peacock Blue, and Persian Rose, as well as old Parker Quink Permanent Turquoise, but I have only seen Parker Quink Purple as empty bottles. I must try harder.

[inkstainedruth]

 

I have Sheaffer Skrip Peacock Blue, and Persian Rose, as well as old Parker Quink Permanent Turquoise, but I have only seen Parker Quink Purple as empty bottles. I must try harder.

 

Persian Rose has eluded me. I'm not even sure I've seen a review of it.

As for the Quink Purple (might have been called Quink Violet, actually) I got somewhat lucky several years ago, in that someone was selling a full 8 oz. bottle on eBay. Description called it "museum quality" (I called it "$6.57 an ounce ). The problem was, when it arrived, I discovered that the bottle had a rubber stopper with a small cap on top (the cap protected a couple of holes in the stopper, to which was connected some sort of wick). Clearly the bottle was designed to refill smaller inkwells, but it did not come with the stopper. So the bottle sat for about a year and a half until I was able to order some small amber color Boston round glass bottles (some 2 oz. with regular caps and some 4 oz. with eyedropper caps) to decant both the Quink and the 3/4 full pint bottle of Skrip Peacock into to actually use the ink.

I had my husband help me, especially in opening the Quink bottle, because of the rubber stopper -- I envisioned the bottle slipping and ink (and glass) all over my bathroom....

The color of Quink Violet is somewhat similar to modern Skrip Purple -- a soft, slightly blue leaning purple.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[praxim]

 

Montblanc inks always have expiry dates on them. Box and bottom of bottle.

 

I don't look

 

 

(except at the ink)