Some comparison UV testing

[caelyx]

Hello - 

 

Not particularly scientific, but sharing some data in case it's useful to anyone else. 

 

I recently bought some Baystate Blue and I'd heard rumors that there might be challenges with UV stability. And I thought I'd test some other inks on my shelf while I was at it, mostly focused on "everyday" inks.  

 

Method:

• There were three non-fountain pen inks included: a Schmidt P900 fine black ball point refill, a Uni-Ball Eye Micro blue rollerball, and a Uni-Ball One black 0.5 gel pen. 
• I used a piece of A5 Rhodia grid paper, divided into two columns. For each ink, I wrote the name of the ink in each column, plus filled in a whole grid square. I then cut the paper down the middle.
• I put one half outside, taped to a East-facing wall of my home -- in a spot that gets direct sunlight for about four hours a day, and indirect sunlight the rest of the time. It was undercover mostly protected from the rain, but might have got some incidental moisture on it. I left it out there for 28 days: 1 Feb through 1 March -- and I'm in the Southern Hemisphere, so this was late summer. 
• The other half was kept inside, away from direct sunlight.
• At the end of the month, I brought the outside piece back inside, and taped the two halves of the document back together, and took this photo. 

 

 

Observations:

• Noodlers' Baystate Blue almost completely disappeared. It was really surprising how much it faded.
• The ballpoint noticeably faded, which was a bit unexpected.
• A few inks feathered a lot and also faded out a bit: Diamine Oxford Blue, Montblanc Lavender Purple, Noodler's Purple Martin, and Noodler's Apache Sunset.
• A few faded noticeably but were still readable: Pilot Iroshizuku Shin-Kai was perhaps the most faded of this group, then Robert Oster Tokyo Blue Denim, Montblanc Midnight Blue, and Noodler's Bad Belted Kingfisher. 

 

Hope that's useful and/or interesting. If anyone has similar data (particularly if you got different results), please feel free to point me toward it

[yazeh]

Excellent work

 

Really appreciated, especially that you included one of the Write & Draw, series, which are supposed to be light fast. I'm surprised/ disappointed to see the Bad Belted Kingfisher, affected by moisture.  I'm assuming your writing was dry when you stuck it to the window. 

 

I can attest the Kung Te-Cheng is eternal. I have a writing stuck to my front door for the past 4 years, it's still the same.  

[inkstainedruth]

Yeah, KTC is pretty much EVERYTHING proof.  I just wish it wasn't so badly behaved in pens (some people have described it as having the consistency of paint, and I'm inclined to agree with them -- I haven't really found a pen that it works well in, which is sad because I love the color AND the permanence.  I tried diluting a fill with a drop of either Photo-Flo or White Lightning (the Vanness equivalent), but that diluted the color; keep wondering if adding a drop of the Noodler's Blue Ghost would do the trick without changing the color (of course, KTC is ALREADY pretty permanent).

@caelyx Thanks for doing the tests.  I had recently added a bottle of Noodler's La Reine Mauve to an order to get to the free shipping threshold, and finding I like the color a lot.  Good to know that that one is pretty permanent.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[caelyx]

On 3/2/2025 at 12:27 AM, yazeh said:

Excellent work

 

Really appreciated, especially that you included one of the Write & Draw, series, which are supposed to be light fast. I'm surprised/ disappointed to see the Bad Belted Kingfisher, affected by moisture.  I'm assuming your writing was dry when you stuck it to the window. 

 

I can attest the Kung Te-Cheng is eternal. I have a writing stuck to my front door for the past 4 years, it's still the same.  

 

Thanks!  

 

The Write & Draw series is new to me. I've been very impressed with how water-resistant (approximately waterproof) it is, and it was quite light fast. Unfortunately, I find that it's seems very dry (almost unusably so) in the fine nibs I've tried it with - so it's not yet become the everyday ink I hoped it would be.

 

Yes, the writing was dry when I put it on the outside of the window. Unfortunately, that result for BBK is consistent with some water resistance testing I've done with it: even after a few hours to dry, if you get it wet then it runs significantly. If you wash it  thoroughly, what's left embedded in the paper remains readable, but part of the ink definitely moves and blurs it. (I re-ran that test after shaking the bottle thoroughly and it was more water resistant the second time, but it still smeared a lot when it was re-wetted.)

 

That KTC test of yours sounds very impressive! Four years with no change is phenomenal!

[caelyx]

On 3/2/2025 at 5:07 AM, inkstainedruth said:

Yeah, KTC is pretty much EVERYTHING proof.  I just wish it wasn't so badly behaved in pens (some people have described it as having the consistency of paint, and I'm inclined to agree with them -- I haven't really found a pen that it works well in, which is sad because I love the color AND the permanence.  I tried diluting a fill with a drop of either Photo-Flo or White Lightning (the Vanness equivalent), but that diluted the color; keep wondering if adding a drop of the Noodler's Blue Ghost would do the trick without changing the color (of course, KTC is ALREADY pretty permanent).

@caelyx Thanks for doing the tests.  I had recently added a bottle of Noodler's La Reine Mauve to an order to get to the free shipping threshold, and finding I like the color a lot.  Good to know that that one is pretty permanent.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

No worries, glad to help! 

 

Yes, the KTC is quite paint-like - and has such a specific, chalky(?) scent. I've only ever used it in a Platinum Preppy that I dedicated to it. 

 

And agreed on La Reine Mauve. I was looking for a permanent purple ink that I liked, and it's been great for that. I've had it continuously in one pen for a long time now - it's my default "writing someone a quick note" ink on my desk. It's been very practical and friendly for that. 

[Doc Dan]

Thanks for this test. I am not too surprised at some of the inks. Sunlight is fierce. Were these exposed to moisture, as well, or did you protect them from moisture in some fashion?

[yazeh]

17 hours ago, caelyx said:

The Write & Draw series is new to me. I've been very impressed with how water-resistant (approximately waterproof) it is, and it was quite light fast. Unfortunately, I find that it's seems very dry (almost unusably so) in the fine nibs I've tried it with - so it's not yet become the everyday ink I hoped it would be.

That's really interesting. I test them regularly in all nibs and I've found them very reliable. The only one which wasn't waterproof was purple giraffe, surprisingly and the White Polar bear wasn't useable in a fountain pen. 

17 hours ago, caelyx said:

 

Yes, the writing was dry when I put it on the outside of the window. Unfortunately, that result for BBK is consistent with some water resistance testing I've done with it: even after a few hours to dry, if you get it wet then it runs significantly. If you wash it  thoroughly, what's left embedded in the paper remains readable, but part of the ink definitely moves and blurs it. (I re-ran that test after shaking the bottle thoroughly and it was more water resistant the second time, but it still smeared a lot when it was re-wetted.)

It seems that Noodler's definition of forgery proof to show, if an ink has been tampered with, then. 

17 hours ago, caelyx said:

That KTC test of yours sounds very impressive! Four years with no change is phenomenal!

Isn't it?