Seeking a waterproof or water-resistant purple ink. Any recommendations?

[AmandaW]

I have well sealing pens filled with assorted R&K SketchInks and a couple with the Platinum pigmented inks that are only ever topped up. My Platinum Carbon EF Desk Pen has had Platinum Carbon in it since 2017... never cleaned. I think so long as the pen seals* and is used often enough to keep the ink fresh it's not a problem. YMMV.

 

* Reliable pens for me are TWSBI Eco, Jinhao 992, Jinhao 86,  Platinum Carbon Desk Pen, among others.

[RedPie]

Thank you for this! @yazeh

[yazeh]

3 hours ago, RedPie said:

Thank you for this! @yazeh

A pleasure

 

[Surlyprof]

So, I spent some time trying out the samples that I received from Van Ness and I learned a lot.  I’ve never done any writing samples or ink tests here so I apologize if I missed anything.  Please fee free to let me know as I am still learning. 

 

The inks I tried are:  DeAtramentis Document Violet, Octopus Violet Lion, Octopus Aubergine, Diamine Imperial Purple, Noodler’s Polar Purple, Noodler’s Bay State Concord Grape, Noodler’s North African Violet, Noodler’s Tchaikovsky, Noodler’s Kung Te Ching, and J.Herbin Amethyste de L’oural.  All the inks were tried out on Leuchtturm1917 120gsm paper.  I used this to avoid bleed through.  I may try the tests on Rhodia later.  I used a Lamy Aion with a Z56 Broad nib (fire hose) and the TWSBI Grape Mini with an EF nib for the extra fine writing (fun pen!).  On my screen, the colors look pretty true although the paper looks a little warmer in real life.  Not sure how that happened.  Here are the tests:

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Takeaways:

As much as I loved my DeAtramentis Document Violet going into this, the vibrance and warmth of Diamine Imperial Purple, Noodler’s Concord Grape and Noodler’s North African Violet made its more blue-based purple look dull in comparison. 

 

I found the Octopus inks to not be as vibrant as some of the other inks.  That said, the Octopus Violet Lion is a nice, warm purple that proved to be pretty waterproof.  The Octopus Aubergine… not so much.

 

The Octopus inks demonstrated more interesting shading/color variation than the other inks, especially the Aubergine.

The J.Herbin has a nice, rich warmer color similar to the KWZ IG Gummiberry @kestrel posted.  I like that but I didn’t like the slow drying and low water resistance.

 

Noodler’s Polar Purple and Tchaikovsky seemed VERY faded.  I did like the Tchaikovsky better than the Polar Purple because it was more water resistant and a little warmer and less faint.  I still wouldn’t pick either over the DeAtramentis I already own.

 

I really like the Noodler’s North African Violet and Bay State Concord Grape.  Between the two, I’d choose the North African Violet because it appears more saturated and water resistant.  It is a really beautiful ink.  Additionally, the Concord Grape feathered a little more.

 

The Diamine Imperial Purple was also nice for similar reasons but it’s out of the running for me.  Too slow to dry, not very water resistant and one of the few I tested where the feathering was the most obvious (J.Herbin and Noodler’s Concord Grape also feathered).

 

I hope this helps anyone interested in exploring purple inks.  As for me, I think I will be ordering a bottle of the Noodler’s North African Violet.  It is a really beautiful, warmish purple with good enough water resistance and it is dye-based, not pigmented.  I started this thread out of fear of what I'd read about pigmented inks being hard on pens so dye-based might be a big plus.  I like the color of Noodler's Bay State Concord Grape a little more but found their North African Violet to be more water resistant, almost as nice in color, and it feathered less.  Interesting note, I just checked it on Jet Pen’s site and the Concord Grape looks much more saturated than the North African Violet.  I personally noticed a slight difference but not nearly a substantial as Jet’s site indicates.  I guess that’s why we buy samples first!

[XYZZY]

@Surlyprof that was a fantastic summary.  Thank you!

[yazeh]

@Surlyprof great samples. Glad you found an ink you like and thanks for sharing your writing samples.   

 

I wanted to add, that Octopus has two lines of inks: Write and Draw (nano pigment inks) and the normal line. If there's an animal in the name the ink is from the former. Like Violet Giraffe etc. Aubergine belongs to the normal line. 

Noodler's Baystate Concord grape, might be a bit problematic ink (belonging to the Baystate family). 

De Atramentis has also a Purple Violet, both in the Artist and Document lines, though I doubt you'd like the colour

 

 

 

 

[Surlyprof]

3 hours ago, XYZZY said:

@Surlyprof that was a fantastic summary.  Thank you!

Thank you.  Creating this thread and having my first experience ordering and testing samples has been a wonderful experience for me.  I’ve learned a lot from everyone’s experience and suggestions.  I really appreciate everyone’s contribution.

[Surlyprof]

2 hours ago, yazeh said:

I wanted to add, that Octopus has two lines of inks: Write and Draw (nano pigment inks) and the normal line. If there's an animal in the name the ink is from the former. Like Violet Giraffe etc. Aubergine belongs to the normal line. 

That’s interesting.  That may explain such a big difference in their water resistance. 

[yazeh]

I forgot to add another ink:

Kala Nostalgia Abstraction Mongolian Sandstorm. It's a pigment ink. 

You can check a couple of reviews here:

https://fountainpenpharmacist.com/blog/ink-review-351-kala-nostalgia-abstraction-mongolian-sandstorm

https://www.wellappointeddesk.com/2019/12/12-days-of-inkmas-day-8-kala-nostalgia-abstraction-mongolian-sandstorm/

[Surlyprof]

6 hours ago, yazeh said:

I forgot to add another ink:

Kala Nostalgia Abstraction Mongolian Sandstorm. It's a pigment ink. 

You can check a couple of reviews here:

https://fountainpenpharmacist.com/blog/ink-review-351-kala-nostalgia-abstraction-mongolian-sandstorm

https://www.wellappointeddesk.com/2019/12/12-days-of-inkmas-day-8-kala-nostalgia-abstraction-mongolian-sandstorm/

Thanks for the links.  That is a beautiful color but my initial impression matched that of the reviewers.  It looks a little less vibrant than I was hoping for.  I’m probably going to purchase a bottle of Noodler’s North African Violet once a retailer has that and the other items I need in stock (Van Ness is out).  I haven’t had the greatest luck with Noodler’s inks in the past but the sample of North African Violet I received has been working really well.  Smooth writing, vibrant, low feathering and waterproof (very little smudging).  If that doesn’t work out, I may consider one of the darker, more red-based like the KWZ IG Gummiberry @kestrel suggested.  That color seemed a little more serious than I’m going for as I transition into  retirement, but it’s very rich and beautiful.  

 

It’s been amazing discovering such a wide variety of purple inks.  I’ll have to pay much more attention to the ink tables at the next SF pen show this summer!

[carlos.q]

2 hours ago, Surlyprof said:

 I’m probably going to purchase a bottle of Noodler’s North African Violet once a retailer has that and the other items I need in stock (Van Ness is out)

JetPens has 4 bottles and Amazon has one left.

[yazeh]

16 hours ago, Surlyprof said:

Thanks for the links.  That is a beautiful color but my initial impression matched that of the reviewers.  It looks a little less vibrant than I was hoping for.  I’m probably going to purchase a bottle of Noodler’s North African Violet once a retailer has that and the other items I need in stock (Van Ness is out).  I haven’t had the greatest luck with Noodler’s inks in the past but the sample of North African Violet I received has been working really well.  Smooth writing, vibrant, low feathering and waterproof (very little smudging).  If that doesn’t work out, I may consider one of the darker, more red-based like the KWZ IG Gummiberry @kestrel suggested.  That color seemed a little more serious than I’m going for as I transition into  retirement, but it’s very rich and beautiful.  

 

It’s been amazing discovering such a wide variety of purple inks.  I’ll have to pay much more attention to the ink tables at the next SF pen show this summer!

Happy hunting

[Surlyprof]

14 hours ago, carlos.q said:

JetPens has 4 bottles and Amazon has one left.

Thanks @carlos.q!

[Brandywine]

On 1/8/2024 at 2:13 PM, Geert Jan said:

What about the Octopus Write and Draw inks? The makers claim these are "document-proof ink according to DIN ISO 12757-2 and DIN ISO 14145-2 and is produced exclusively with vegan ingredients."

Plenty of colours to pick...

https://www.octopus-office.de/shop/en/creative-inks/write-draw-ink/?p=2

 

Octopus have enlarged their portfolio  immensely since I last looked there.

The Write and Draw inks have drawn my attention as well,
but the makers not only claim that they are document proof and can be used in fountain pens, but
they also warn strictly that these inks should not dry out in the pens as then it  can only be removed mechanically.

They even suggest cleaning the pen after each use (which should not be necessary with a pen that is used every day).

 

They do offer a special solvent that can solve the chemicals in these inks,
but that is only possible as long as the ink has not dried; they explicitly warn that this solvent can NOT clean the dried ink out of a pen.

 

They also offer a cleaning fluid that is supposed to clean ink stains from surfaces
and a "colourless ink" that can be used to lighten dark inks
and little plastic bottles with a metal stem to easily fill up cartridges without handling with a syringe.

And they offer their standard (not waterproof and not lightfast) inks in 250ml bottles as well.

I will certainly have a closer look at their shop .....

 

[Surlyprof]

21 minutes ago, Brandywine said:

 

Octopus have enlarged their portfolio  immensely since I last looked there.

The Write and Draw inks have drawn my attention as well,
but the makers not only claim that they are document proof and can be used in fountain pens, but
they also warn strictly that these inks should not dry out in the pens as then it  can only be removed mechanically.

They even suggest cleaning the pen after each use (which should not be necessary with a pen that is used every day).

 

They do offer a special solvent that can solve the chemicals in these inks,
but that is only possible as long as the ink has not dried; they explicitly warn that this solvent can NOT clean the dried ink out of a pen.

 

They also offer a cleaning fluid that is supposed to clean ink stains from surfaces
and a "colourless ink" that can be used to lighten dark inks
and little plastic bottles with a metal stem to easily fill up cartridges without handling with a syringe.

And they offer their standard (not waterproof and not lightfast) inks in 250ml bottles as well.

I will certainly have a closer look at their shop .....

 

I could have used that cleaning solution yesterday.  I had bought a bottle of Noodler’s North African Violet when Vanness restocked.  Not only is it a beautiful, smooth flowing ink; it’s even more waterproof than I expected.  I got a drop of it on our quartz countertops and it took me a hour to get it all up.  Ultimately had to use undiluted ammonia after scrubbing it with Dawn on a scouring pad.  I now have no concerns about losing anything I write with this ink.  And… I’m going to be a lot more careful where I fill my pen with it!