What Has Been Your Least Favorite Ink So Far?

[georges zaslavsky]

Waterman Havana brown has a tendancy to turn to avocado green and clog fountain pens too, so to avoid as well.

Edited April 5, 2019 by georges zaslavsky

[sharonspens]

Sailor Storia's Spotlight Yellow. It looked like highlighter ink, but it wasn't. It was so bright that it could only be read in certain lights. Most of my pen pals complained about it in some way or another.

 

Sharon in Indiana

[RudraDev]

Easy. Herbin Vert Reseda. I loved the color but it's very diluted and it doesn't shade, at all.

[Misfit]

I have Vert Reseda and wish I’d bought a sample first. But for me (glad it is the small bottle) it’s Iroshizuku Syo Ro. Great English name “dew on pine needles” but not my favorite shade.

[sidthecat]

Diamine ASA Blue. I don’t know what I was thinking...it’s the color someone uses who’d dot her ‘i’s with happy faces.

[praxim]

Two Robert Oster inks have most disapppointed me. Green Olive is dry and dull. Yellow Sunset does not really appear on the page until dry, which is disconcerting.

[Honeybadgers]

I dunno why all the quink hate. I didn't love black much (i like a black that shades, but it was too purple based) but the blue-black is one of my favorite BB's. it's very vibrant for a blue black.

 

An ink that I loathed for a long time and then finally revisited and really enjoyed was monteverde emerald green. I don't remember what pen I first used it in, but it felt greasy and smeary and unpleasant. I think it just hated that pen, because I now use it all the time. It's one of my "spring" colors that I'm using this semester (along with 3 oysters mustard and 3 oysters purple gray, and noodlers dark matter)

Edited April 6, 2019 by Honeybadgers

[Bo Bo Olson]

Quink blue-black boring, back in the day....it, Sheaffer and cheaper Pelikan inks were all that one could get in the late '50-early '60's. It was well advertised.

 

I don't do black ink....having only Pelikan Brilliant Black...a decade old and still half full..............some day will buy some Aurora Black just to say I have it.

 

I find Pelikan black quite good.....but folks do complain if they use Japanese skinny nibs on poor paper it is gray. ........well what does one expect using poor paper and a super skinny nib?

 

No desire to try Noodler's various Black Hole inks.

Was surprised that certain black inks shade.........

 

I do like MBToffee***, not finding it reddish at all....but with a name of Toffee, it's is not chocolate brown. and Pelikan 4001 Brown ink is much, much redder.

 

***Am sad I'll never own that ink again, in E19 is too much. I bought it when it first came out in the new bottle for E13.

No more MB LE inks either at E25 for a small bottle...hell even for a big bottle....I refuse to be gouged. (Not even thinking about the E60 small bottles of fake ancient ink.)

MB is keeping up with the Jones, the over priced C d'A, and GvFC inks. ...being in the E20-30's.....MB shoe is to MB 'cheap' at E19...............don't know the stateside price, but the dollar is worth 10% less than an Euro.

The only reason I have GvFC Moss Green is I had a birthday gift card to my B&M.

 

Had a bad bottle of Diamine Green Meadow, Luckily others were able to show me (examples)....and hollered a lot... So do check multiple reviews before adding a bad ink to ones ...horrible ink list.

My bottle was even worse than Lamy Green.

Edited April 6, 2019 by Bo Bo Olson

[Honeybadgers]

Quink "shades" in that it's just not very saturated. Makes it a joy to clean, but instead of a nice gray shade with black in the wet spots, it's kinda purple. Bleh.

 

Noodlers dark matter is my favorite black. I don't use black often, but it's the only one I reach for. It's not super bulletproof, so it doesn't have the smearing or super saturated residue that something like Heart of Darkness can have. It's also a true jet black, and a cool story, being a reproduction of a bottle of ink that Nathan was sent by someone, that itself was the very ink used by the army corps of engineers on the manhattan project.

 

I've also been very disappointed with the performance of colorverse inks when compared to their price. They are not very well behaved at all. I love the yellow/black, but it smears a monster, when a nearly identical color is in 3 oysters mustard, which has no bad manners whatsoever.

Edited April 6, 2019 by Honeybadgers

[displacermoose]

I’ve not had any luck loving Colorverse Dark Energy thus far. Every pen/paper combo I’ve tried makes it show as a dull dried blood color that I loathe. Very disappointing since I adore complex WTH colors and was looking forward to the brown/burgundy/green crazy.

[ENewton]

Two Robert Oster inks have most disapppointed me.

 

 

I was most disappointed in Barossa Grape, which looked so nice swabbed but gave me only a pale, liver-colored line in pen after pen.

 

Oster Purple Rock is not as washed out as Barossa Grape, but turns green on many papers, either right away or over time.

 

All my inks except one are purple, and many Oster purples look tempting in swabs, but I'm not motivated to get more samples to find one that is wet enough and purple enough for my taste.

[Dont_Flexme]

I’ve not had any luck loving Colorverse Dark Energy thus far. Every pen/paper combo I’ve tried makes it show as a dull dried blood color that I loathe. Very disappointing since I adore complex WTH colors and was looking forward to the brown/burgundy/green crazy.

I too was disappointed with Dark Energy as well as other Colorverse inks I've purchased- I think I bought more on naming than anything else.

 

I do admit I'm a Quink fan and use blue back daily. It performs well, is easy to clean and I do like the color.

[Paul80]

Another thumbs up for Parker Quink, it's my goto black that is well behaved in all my pens, if it's a little wet in some I use either Pelikan black or MB Mystery Black, for a little colour I use either Pelikan Violet or Brown, my daily journal has cream coloured paper and goes well with the brown, I have a few blues and blue blacks, but not a fan of any of them, probably because we were forced to use blue ink at school, so it brings back bad memories.

 

All my normal everyday pens are filled with black whether they a fountain pens, Rollerball or Ballpens.

 

Paul

[raleighrover]

I was surprised at how much I disliked Pelikan Edelstein Sapphire. It was way too purple on the page. I understand from reviews that some folks see a true blue, if a bit washed out, but my bottle is definitely more purple, or blurple, as they say. Of all the premium inks in my collections the Sapphire is the only real disappointment, and the only one I routinely swap out after a fill, naively hoping it will have improved since last time...

[Arkanabar]

Truth to tell, I can't say for sure which is my least favorite ink of all time, but there are a number that I wouldn't ever seek to acquire again.

J. Herbin Lierre Sauvage. There are lots of beautiful swabs and samples out there, and I suppose if I'd used a broad, super-wet pen, I'd have gotten something like that, but what I got was a nearly flourescent, lightened kelly green. No thank you. I returned it and got something I like a lot better. Maybe if I wasn't too cheap to use anything but Walmart's cheapest GP print and copy paper (that I salvage after it comes out of my 15 year old laser printer), I'd have gotten better results.

Noodler's Bad Black Moccasin. Does alright in my Noodler's eyedropper when diluted 1:1, but my wife let it dry out in her Ivory Darkness Nib Creaper, and I have yet to get it all out. Someday, I'll dig out the ultrasonic cleaner and deal with that. Until then, it only goes into pens that I can completely knock apart and scrub all parts with a toothbrush. If I remember rightly, it also feathered pretty badly.

Noodler's Borealis Black, Levenger Raven Black: Both are super dense and saturated Blackest Blacks EVAR!!!, and both are just unspeakably featherocious. I eventually learned to dilute Borealis Black 4:5 with distilled water. Alas, I didn't have you guys to suggest that trick when I was struggling with Raven Black.

Noodler's Red-Black. A perfectly serviceable ink, once I diluted it (I'd estimate about 5+-1:1 or so). Previously, it had a bad habit of smudging. Before dilution, it was nearly a black-brown. Now, it's a burgundy that I just do not like.

Waterman (Tender) Violet. Very pretty, but it fades in sunlight. I gave the bottle away.

Royal blue/ballpoint blue: Not only are they prone to fading, but I just don't like the color.

Iron gall. Chesterfield Archival Black died in the bottle. I'm sure it's a lot stronger than e.g. R&K or Pelikan IG blue-black, but IG is just not worth the trouble.

Noodler's Widow Maker. When I want a red, I want it for markup, Widow Maker just doesn't have enough pop for that. If I ever use up all my Red-Black, maybe I'll work the Widow Maker I have on hand into something similar.

[keybers]

Diamine Cerise. The converter inside one of my 3776s has been permanently colored pink, but the ink itself, once on paper, is neither water-resistant nor lightfast.

[keybers]

 

... both are just unspeakably featherocious...

 

...Before dilution, it was nearly a black-brown. Now, it's a burgundy that I just do not like.

 

Thanks, I had a hearty laugh at this. Way to deliver a burn

[minddance]

for me, too many:

 

in a 'normal wetness' pen, on Rhodia Paper,

 

Herbin: Vert Pre, Vert Empire, Rose Tendresse, Cafe des Iles, Orange Indien, Bleu Myosotis.

 

Diamine: Meadow, Umber, Autumn Oak, Sepia, Beau Blue, Indigo, Amazing Amethyst, Peach Haze, Sunset, Poppy Red, Monaco Red, Matador, Mediterranean Blue, Florida Blue,

 

Rohrer & Klingner: Alt Goldgrun, Scabiosa, Morinda.

 

Pilot: Blue, Iroshizuku Fuyu Syogun, Yu Yake, Chiku Rin,

 

Levenger: Amethyst (feathers like crazy!)

 

These inks are either way too light and/or produce jagged lines/outlines on Rhodia Paper. On absorbent papers, it is another story. Colour-wise, I am not disappointed.

Edited April 6, 2019 by minddance

[praxim]

All my inks except one are purple, and many Oster purples look tempting in swabs, but I'm not motivated to get more samples to find one that is wet enough and purple enough for my taste.

 

Blues through turquoise and teal seem to be the sweet spot for RO inks (for me) although Claret has stood the test and Fire Engine Red is, red. So, it is just the two I mentioned that have been least favoured.

[Dmact]

My ink is all junk really so imma saaaaay.... All of them. Still waiting on my first bottle of "real ink" to come in the mail but i think i already hate it just cuz now i gotta buy a pen "real pen" worthy of "real ink" XD