Any recommendations on a good, inexpensive, fungus-resistant green or brown?

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Given my experiences detailed in another thread, and that my preferences are for economical, unpretentious, anti-snob-appeal inks like Sheaffer Skrip and Pelikan 4001, preferably in stable bottles that are designed to minimize waste, and to be hard to tip over,

 

Can somebody recommend a good green, and a good brown (i.e., a brown that's unlikely to be mistaken for red or black), that don't cost an arm and a leg, and resist fungus well?

 

I will note that I spent a few minutes after church window-shopping the FP inks at Art Supply Warehouse today. They have a very few bottles of Sheaffer left (but the new Sheaffer green doesn't look anything like the old Sheaffer green, and there wasn't any brown), and they don't have either color in Pelikan; they seem to have a fair amount of Conklin in throwback packaging.

[Bo Bo Olson]

I don't ever think of fungus resistant inks...having only one that glopped, but didn't look like fungus...Got @ 100 inks.

For shading inks, one has to use good to better papers...not your common 80g copy paper.

 

Rohorer & Klingner...is not a tip proof bottle, but Verdura (€10) is a lively green-green shading ink, a nose better than the way too expensive to think about MB Irish Green and the discontinued 4001 Brilliant Green. All three are shading inks. I have 5 R&K inks

 

Dimine Ultra Green I just got, is again not in a tip proof bottle, somewhere in the neighborhood of €5-6 a bottle, could be less. Shades, was impressed.

 

Empty Pelikan and Waterman ink bottles can be had on Ebay, or look for empty MB ink shoes there too.

I can see digging out my non-tip Pelikan empty bottles for the Dimaine...some of the Diamine bottles....not all, are real tippy. Diamine Silver Fox comes in a tip proof triangle bottle.

 

The R&K bottle seems solid enough, hard to tip but not impossible. I highly recommend R&K's Verdura if you want a lively green-green ink that shades. Pour it into a Pelikan or Waterman ink bottle.

 

Brown, Herbin: Cafe des Iles a brownish ink...shades. 

A more of a tan ink, one of my favorites, Lie de The.....shades .........defiantly non tip bottles.

[lamarax]

Although I personally don't like writing with green color, I'd suggest Aurora Green (as in it's the closest to Sheaffer Skrip of old) and Graf von Faber-Castell Moss Green as one which can pass safely as an acceptable, everyday ink.

[Bo Bo Olson]

6 minutes ago, lamarax said:

Faber-Castell Moss Green.............@€30 or 35, can't remember exactly it's been some 6-7 years.

IMO $$$$$$ for a Diamine Sherwood Green (€5) or any other dark green.

I do have it, but there is no great wish to use it again. Non-shading ink. Being that dark, of course it won't shade.

[InesF]

On 2/2/2025 at 9:59 PM, hbquikcomjamesl said:

Can somebody recommend a good green, and a good brown (i.e., a brown that's unlikely to be mistaken for red or black), that don't cost an arm and a leg, and resist fungus well?

I can understand quite well what you mean. Sorry to read that you hade a bad experience with an ink.

 

I use fountain pens and inks since ca. 55 years on a daily base and had, so far, not a single ink spoiled by microbes, be it mould or bacteria. But, OK, most of the meanwhile 50+ completely consumed and 100 more bottles partly emptied, were/are from European manufacturers. From this point of view, I would call all of the long time established fountain pen inks mould resistent.

 

Among all colours, I use the greens often and the browns rarely. My recommendation is therefore a bit one-sided (cheep & medium price):

Pelikan 4001 Dark Green; Pelikan Edelstein Olivine; Lamy Green; Lamy Crystal Peridot; Montblanc Irish Green; Kaweco Green; Waterman Harmonious Green; and maybe Rohrer & Klingner Pine Green (if you can get it).

Pelikan 4001 Brown; Pelikan Edelstein Smoky Quartz; Waterman Absolute Brown (if you can still get it); Rohrer & Klingner Sepia (quite dark!).

 

I hope this helps.

If you had already your one encounter with mould, your ink experience should be mould free for the rest of your life - statistically.  

Good luck! 👍

[Penguincollector]

  I like Herbin, there’s a ton of variety within both green and brown, and is a safe ink for vintage pens. I love these greens: Vert Empire, Lierre Sauvage, Vert Métropolitain, and Vert Reseda. There’s even a very bright Vert Pré. For brown, my favorite is Lie de Thé. The other browns and ambers are really nice, like Cacao de Brésil, Café des Iles, and Ambre de Birmanie.  They average around $13-15. Artists and Craftsman Supplies carries them, they have a location in Los Angeles.

[Chimera01]

How about Monteverde's California Teal? It's such a fabulous colour. And the mould issues appear to have been resolved.

 

This from The Well Appointed Desk:

 

"A couple years ago, Monteverde had a brief issue with a couple colors of ink having mold or scumming issue but those have been resolved. Unfortunately, it has given a lot of folks pause before purchasing. I spoke with a representative from the company earlier this year and he assured me the problems have been resolved and any bottles with issues were replaced with no questions — even when people insisted they had issues with bottles that were not actually from the affected batches. That said, there’s no reason to hesitate in purchasing ink from Monteverde."

[inkstainedruth]

J Herbin Vert Empire is a very nice green.  As is Diamine Emerald.  Don't know if either is water-resistant or not, but also don't know if that's a requirement.  Pelikan Edelstein Olivine is very nice too, if you want a very dark green.  I like Noodler's Akhmatova but I know people's opinions about the brand vary (and sadly, so do the batches...).

As for browns?  Well, I really liked Waterman Absolute Brown, but it's been discontinued....  And it depends on whether you want a brown that leans more yellow or more red....  For more in the middle of the spectrum, I like Edelstein Smoky Quartz and Pilot Iroshizuku Yama-guri (but not sure if that's one of the inks Pilot discontinued) -- those two are very similar in color, BTW, but Yama-guri is a lot wetter (I had initially tried it in my first Pelikan, the 1990s era Brown Tortoise Shell, and it was way too wet an ink; Smoky Quartz behaves way better in that pen; as did Noodler's Walnut (which is a VERY dry ink).  I also like Diamine Macassar for a VERY dark brown....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth