fading/lightfastness-test

[Nellie]

Seeing as I seem to be more obsessed with fading and the question how inks hold up over time than most other members here, I carried out my own test and put several of my inks in a sunny window for two months (in winter & early spring, so there hasn't exactely been an extreme amount of sun). Here's the result.

First the 'before', then the 'after' scan:

 

As you can see, Noodler's blue has held up very well, although it did lose some of its vibrancy and green tones so that it looks a bit more like a regular blue now. This blue actually became darker rather than lighter (as you would expect).

P.R.'s Lake Placid has lost all of its blue elements so that it looks purple now (it is still perfectly legible, though), and

the one third of Pelikan red has completely disappeared from my mix, so that only Noodler's Cayenne remains. The latter also seems to have lost some of its red dyes.

My two blue & blue-black mixes have held up quite okay and are still absolutely legible, which is interesting because both Quink 'permanent' blue and Sheaffer Scrip blue-black fade fairly quickly on their own. I should mention that the blue-black mix looks much more like a real blue-black with black and greenish tones than what is shown in the scans (both the 'before' and the 'after' scan do not adequately show the colour I saw/see on paper).

Noodler's Hunter Green ('Eternal'/'bulletproof'), Gruene Cactus (regular) and Fox Red ('Eternal'/'bulletproof') have also held up very well. The bulletproof colours look a bit duller and less vibrant now and both greens have lost some of their yellow hues. Nonetheless all three inks remain perfectly readable.

[Apart from Pelikan red, which didn't leave a trace behind (s.a.)] Diamine Maroon and J. Herbin's Poussière de Lune are the only 'losers' in this test: they have faded almost completely. I can still make out what I wrote in the original note, though, if I make an effort. I find this surprising as on their website J. Herbin claim that their inks are very lightfast.

I added Schneider turquoise, the Pilot Cherry Pink that comes with the Petit pen and the Platinum green that comes with the Preppy pen to the inks in the window some days later. As you can see, they have all faded considerably, so that you can hardly see them at all in the scan. While what I wrote in Platinum green and Schneider turquoise is still legible with some effort, the Cherry Red is not readable in the original note anymore, either.

 

I posted this in the reviews section, because lightfastness is a factor which is often left out in ink reviews (understandably enough, as you can only tell with time) and I hope that others will add their own tests of different inks to this thread and that it will be helpful to members who decide which inks to buy. Maybe the thread could even be pinned once it has more tests of a variety of brands?

[macthemaths]

Thanks for this. I've moved it to the "Tests" sub-forum, which is a more appropriate place for it.

 

Thanks again,

 

Chris

[Nellie]

I have now done a more extensive test of all of my inks. This time the inks have been exposed to more UV-light as they've been in the window for two summer months. However, my comments from the first post still apply to the new test, too. The only thing that was a surprise to me is how well Lamy Black and Herbin's Rouge Opera held up.

Here are the scans:

 

Btw., has anyone done a fade test of Visconti Blue and Diamine Kelly Green by now? They're two inks I'm really interested in.

[Melnicki]

interesting.. you have no purples, no oranges, no browns!

 

i've been slowly assembling a list to try this with, but i don't have the time to dip everything, and i want the samples to be pure for each color, which is a rarity in my pens!!!

 

I like how Spearmint looks afterwards!

[Goodwhiskers]

Thanks! A great test!

[Ondina]

This is a fantastic, truly useful test. The rest of us should be very thankful you take the time, effort -and money- to upload such great comparison job. Thank you.

[Goodwhiskers]

Lamy Black just went up a few notches in my estimation!

[JohnS-MI]

You aren't the only one obsessed with fading. But you have more inks than me and much better handwriting.

 

My test ran 73 days, only because I forgot them. Results are in this thread where they have largely escaped notice.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...st&p=637859

[Nellie]

Wow, that's interesting, John. I didn't know that PR Supershow also faded to a purplish colour. And Midnight Blues - originally it's such a dark colour and it just left a faint trace after your test.

Maybe you could put the picture in this thread, too?

Thanks, everyone, for your kind words!! Actually fading tests aren't a lot of work, so I don't mind doing them at all .

[Nellie]

Here's another 2-months-in-my-window fade test, this time of my new acquisition Caran d'Ache Sunset. I've included Diaine Maroon for comparison, and you can also see black ink from one of the cartridges Tryphon sell (VERY lightfast & highly recommended).

 

 

[ethernautrix]

Thank you for your fade testing, Nellie! That's very useful.

 

The Tryphon cartridges -- is that the manufacturer's name (Tryphon)?

[Annie]

  ethernautrix said:

Thank you for your fade testing, Nellie! That's very useful.

 

The Tryphon cartridges -- is that the manufacturer's name (Tryphon)?

Giovanni Abrate's website: Tryphon . The cartridges come is basic colors, and are 10 for $2.00.

 

PS - I have not tried these cartridges. Giovanni has been around the pen world for a long time, and I am familiar with some of his other pen products.

Edited February 15, 2009 by Annie

[Nellie]

I'm going to post a new test of different inks:

The first sample sheet was in my window for seven months, the second for six months and the third for five months (not necessarily exposed to sunlight all the time, though, as there wasn't too much around of that in winter ) Levenger's Cobalt Blue and Black have done extremely well - they are as lightfast as Noodler's regular inks - whereas their red ink (Cardinal) and the red part of their Amethyst have almost completely disappeared. Platinum Carbon Black (from a brush pen) is a clear winner and I'm surprised at how well the red Skrip (Sheaffer's new Slovanian ink) has held up. Old Skrip Green, Pelikan Blue and Rohrer & Klingner Verdura are the least lightfast - while most of the writing that looks very pale in the scan is still legible on the paper, the words written with these three inks have gone without a trace.

Thanks to Sailor Kenshin and Jared for some of the inks tested here!!

Scan to follow later today.

 

[Nellie 2]

And here it is:

Levenger Raven Black, Cobald Blue, Cardinal Red, Amethyst & Sheaffer Red (Slovenian)(Noodler's Black, Private Reserve Lake Placid Blue and the Herbin inks have been fade tested before),

Rohrer & Klingner Fernambuk, Morinda and Verdura,

Platinum Carbon Black, Pilot Black, Pelikan Blue, Sailor Black, Sheaffer Skrip Green (Old) and Rohrer & Klingner Scabiosa (I let that ink dry and darken for about a day before I put the note into my window).

I hope this is useful for you.

Nellie

[Lloyd]

Thanks!

[saintsimon]

  Nellie 2 said:

...

I hope this is useful for you.

Nellie

 

Yes it is, thanks a lot, Nellie/Nellie 2.

 

BTW, instead of using up your valuable attachment space, why not storing your pictures at dedicated free sites like imageshack.us, from where you simply copy a url to embed an image link into your posts.

[mstone]

  Nellie 2 said:

And here it is:

Levenger Raven Black, Cobald Blue, Cardinal Red, Amethyst & Sheaffer Red (Slovenian)(Noodler's Black, Private Reserve Lake Placid Blue and the Herbin inks have been fade tested before),

Rohrer & Klingner Fernambuk, Morinda and Verdura,

Platinum Carbon Black, Pilot Black, Pelikan Blue, Sailor Black, Sheaffer Skrip Green (Old) and Rohrer & Klingner Scabiosa

I'm surprised the scabiosa didn't do better. Maybe there's not much iron gall in the mix?

[Nellie]

  On 8/9/2009 at 10:28 PM, mstone said:

I'm surprised the scabiosa didn't do better. Maybe there's not much iron gall in the mix?

Actually it did a bit better in a new test of mine, but I still wouldn't call it lightfast.

 

In the interest of 'searchability' I made a list of all inks tested and referred to in this threat with my assessment of their lightfastness. You can find almost all of these inks in one of the scans in this threat. I'll add my latest scan as soon as attachments of images will be possible again.

 

Caran d'Ache: Sunset +/-

 

Diamine: Emerald - (scan will follow), Maroon -

 

DeAtramentis: Aubergine - (scan will follow)

 

J. Herbin: Poussière de Lune -, Rouge Opera +/-

 

Levenger: Amethyst +/-, Cardinal Red -, Cobalt Blue +, Raven Black +

 

Lamy: Black +

 

Montblanc: Bordeaux +/-

 

Noodler's:

Aquamarine (Swisher) +, Army Green + (scan will follow), Black +, Blue +, Cayenne +/- (? only tested in mix), Eternal Fox Red +, Eternal Hunter Green +, Eternal Luxury Blue +, Forest Green +/- (scan will follow), Green + (s.a.), Green Marine + (s.a.), Gruene Cactus +/-, Heart of Darkness + (s.a.), Starry Night (FPN) + (s.a.)

 

Parker Quink: 'Permanent' Blue -- (this ink fades significantly even without light)

 

Pelikan: Blue -, Blue Black -, Red - (no scan)

 

Pilot: Black -, Blue - (no scan), Pilot Petit: Cherry Pink - (no scan), Dark Green -

 

Platinum: Carbon Black +

 

Private Reserve:

Lake Placid Blue -, American Blue - (maybe +/- if you don't mind it that the colour changes), Sherwood Green - (s.a) (scan will follow), Spearmint - (s.a.)

 

Rohrer & Klingner:

Morinda -, Pernambuco/Fernambuk +/-, Scabiosa -, Sepia + (scan will follow), Verdura -

 

Sailor: Black +/-

 

Schneider: Turquoise -

 

Sheaffer Skrip: Blue Black -, Black +/-, Green -, Red +/-

 

Tryphon cartridge: Black +

[macthemaths]

Thanks - indexed.

[Nellie 2]

.

Edited December 11, 2009 by Nellie 2