What's This Goop In My Ink Bottle?

[amberleadavis]

Not goop, but this is the cap of my Organics Studio Walt Whitman - something very hard to acquire these days, but something I want very much. Anywho, is this mold, or just particulates, or can you tell? The mass of bubbles at the bottom eventually all popped and there was nothing different there from the rest of the cap - same with the darker spot at the top of the photo.

http://www.paradoxcommunity.com/vps/osww.jpg

That is not STIB.

 

I was looking for my old photos to show you, but I can't find them right now. Those are dye particles. Also, ink can gel it's really kind of cool, but not a lot of fun inside the pen. Gelled ink reverts back to liquid with some shaking or warmth. Gelling is NOT a sign of microorganisms.

[Beechwood]

There was a detailed thread on this subject in 2010 with all sorts of theories going on but the very quotatble Binder suggested that goop or slime was due to chemical differences, if I remember correctly, in the ink components and offered the advice that the ink should be thrown away as opposed to given a good shaking.

 

Others put forwards the fungus idea. I know that MB had a problem with Lavendar and invited those who saw a problem in the in the ink to return it for a replacement and to have their pens deep cleaned, which I did and they replaced the barrel FOC.

 

I think that if you are concerned about your ink being anything less than perfect that it is thrown away and certainly dont risk dipping an infected pen between bottles.

[LizEF]

That is not STIB.

 

I was looking for my old photos to show you, but I can't find them right now. Those are dye particles. Also, ink can gel it's really kind of cool, but not a lot of fun inside the pen. Gelled ink reverts back to liquid with some shaking or warmth. Gelling is NOT a sign of microorganisms.

Thank you for putting my mind at ease! I love this ink - it's a near-perfect replacement for MB Jonathan Swift Seaweed Green. It doesn't seem to smell and nothing seems to be growing, and nothing unusual under the microscope - but those spots worried me. Now I think I'll order another bottle - only one shop seems to have any stock.

[ehemem]

 

 

Plants are the worst contaminates of inks...oh and birds. We had two macaws and they were hosts to lots of microorganisms.

Hate to tell you this, but you yourself are host to lots of microorganisms. Not only you, but all of us.

 

Don't think about it too much...

[amberleadavis]

Hate to tell you this, but you yourself are host to lots of microorganisms. Not only you, but all of us.

 

Don't think about it too much...

 

 

I'm not saying that I don't have cooties, I'm just saying that those birdies had INKfecting cooties.

[KreepyKen]

Funny how many times Private Reserve comes up in this thread. The only time I've encountered SITB was with a PR ink, too (see image). Although, I don't think it was mold/fungus, because there was no moldy/fungusy smell to it. Looked like the ink just coagulated. I did have a sample of Toucan Sienna that reeked of mold. The ink seemed fine, looked fine, and I was able to make a swab with a q-tip and a dip pen, but I threw it out after that as I wasn't going to risk putting it in a fountain pen. Here's my SITB glamour shot:

 

Edited December 10, 2017 by KreepyKen

[amberleadavis]

I don't think that's mold, I think it's the surfactant. If we have a microscope we can be sure.

[lectraplayer]

I think we can eliminate surficant. Perhaps we should have used the antimicrobial variety.