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View Full Version : Nostalgic Russian inks - the USSR inheritance.



Julia161
May 20th, 2015, 07:52 AM
Hello, Friends :)

Today I'd like to share with you some information about ink in nowadays Russia. We only have one brand which survived from the USSR time - "Радуга" which means "Rainbow". This brand produces 2 different types of ink:

1. For fountain pens.
2. For dip nibs.

It's very important not to mess them. Because if you put a wrong liquid inside your fountain pen it has a chance to be blocked forever. Almost nothing can wash away Russian dip nib ink - checked by sad experience of many Russians :)

Dip nibs were widely used in the USSR to create propaganda posters and wall news papers. Each organization, or for ex. school class published such newspapers every week and displayed it on the wall. Dip nib inks are called "Тушь" in Russian [Tush] and fountain pen inks are called "Чернила" [Chernila] - this spelling can help you to make sure what you buy in case you want to get these ink online from a Russian seller.

"Rainbow" inks have very beautiful colors - black, blue, violet, red or green. Black, blue and violet are the easiest to find. And they are cheap.

If you deside to use this brand ink, please, remember, that this ink dries very fast and if you don't plan to use a pen inked with "Rainbow" in the nearest 2 days, better remove the ink from the pen and wash it carefully with slightly warm water. It will help your pen not get blocked, especially in case of a hooded nib. "Rainbow" ink can get very sticky and difficult to wash away after drying. For the same reason it's better not use it in pens with white grip section or grip sections or light colors - they can easily pick the color of ink within seconds.

On the other hand the stability of this ink can be a plus on paper. I attached the pictures to see the difference - which jars are for dip nibs and which jars are for fountain pens.
If you have any questions feel free to ask :) Have a nice evening!

Cob
May 20th, 2015, 10:03 AM
Great stuff Yulia, thanks.

The Lilac looks very nice indeed.

J. Herbin would do well to look at the openings on these bottles I think!

Cob

mitchromley
June 4th, 2015, 09:25 AM
Any recommended ways to buy this in the west?

Cob
June 4th, 2015, 09:40 AM
Just order from Yulia; mine arrived today - I have written about it elsewhere.

Cob