How long can sealed ink bottles last?

[bgardner]

I was digging around the basement last night and discovered six bottles of Herbin inks, three of them the same color (blue myosotis). Most were probably from 30 to 40 years ago. I opened a few and dipped them, and they seemed to work fine. One of them smelled oddly like vinegar. Are these not viable? I have lots of ink to use, but it's hard to throw these out. Below is a picture of the era these come from. 

 

 

Your feedback is always welcome.

Brian

 

[Lithium466]

Blue myosotis should be fine, even after all these years.

[lapis]

All of my Herbin inks -- especially these "30-ml standards" -- are still "intact" in bottles which have often been opened and closed for more than 15 years. (Of course, these have always been kept in their boxes and out of any heat and/or any light.)

This does however, at least in my own experience, unfortunately not hold true to bottles of iron gall inks, notably those of Pelikan 4001, Montblanc or Akkerman. These can show fall-outs after 3-4-5 years.

[mulrich]

I have a couple bottles of older ink, probably 20-30 years old, and the inks are great. I'm sure not all inks are the same and a lot depends on how the inks are stored. But if they were stored somewhere with basic climate controls, etc and people weren't sticking weird things in the bottles, the inks should be fine. Generally spoiled ink will let you know, rancid smells, stuff floating in the bottle, etc. 

[SamCapote]

I have bottles that are 40-50+ years old and work great.  I always pipette out a small amount into a small clean bottle or plastic vial and fill from that to avoid contamination. 
 

I have not found any deterioration in my MB old inks like racing green, PPS, etc

[bgardner]

Thanks for the helpful feedback!

 

Brian