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Avastgard
June 5th, 2013, 07:27 AM
I use highlighters on a daily basis and am now considering buying a Preppy highlighter to be inked up by some highlighter ink. My first thought was to get Noodler's Year of the Golden Pig, but after reading the feedback at GouletPens.com, I got really worried. Several people claimed that the ink acquired a strange consistency after some time and some of them had their pens ruined. The only positive feedback seemed to come from people that had the ink for a short period of time.

Has anyone else had this problem? What highlighter inks would you recomend? Yellow is the color that suits me best, but I'm willing to try different ones, as long as it's not too dark. Also, I would need a ink that is somewhat guaranteed not to goop up for at least a year, since I'll keep using highlighters for a long time.

PSmith
June 5th, 2013, 11:31 AM
I bought a sample of Year of the Golden Pig from Goulet Pens.
After a few weeks, and fortunately before I had a chance to use it, it turned into something resembling a chunk of yellow rubber.

Alternatives I'm considering:
- Platinum highlighter refills. Bought a few from Jetpens but haven't tried them yet.
- Pelikan M205 Duo highlighter ink.

AndyT
June 5th, 2013, 11:49 AM
Diamine Sunshine Yellow shouldn't cause any problems, and it's definitely vivid stuff.

Honey Mustard
June 5th, 2013, 12:37 PM
I use J. Herbin inks to highlight. Bouquet d'Antan, Bouton D'Or, Gris Nuage, Bleu Azur, and Diablo Menthe all work well for my purposes. I've been wanting to try Orange Indien and Violette Pensee as well, as they seem like the would work.

ardgedee
June 5th, 2013, 02:05 PM
I got a bottle of Noodler's Catfish Yellow (Edit: Firefly) and will be trying it out for the first time later tonight (Edit: This weekend, maybe). The reviews on Goulet looked good; the only complaint there is it doesn't dry quickly.

In general, though, I'm disinclined to keep any ink in a pen for more than a couple weeks without flushing it out and refilling. The best-behaved inks will still dry or goop in the pen if left idle for a long time.

pencils+pens
June 5th, 2013, 02:44 PM
I am currently using Noodler's Hellfire, a pink highlighting ink, for notes and letters to my wife. I have had it two or three months. It has the same consistency now as when I purchased the sample. Since it is a sample, the original bottle has probably been open a lot longer. The ink has also not done any damage to my Noodler's Pink Panther Nib Creaper, the only pen I use to write my notes to my wife.

Avastgard
June 5th, 2013, 03:04 PM
I bought a sample of Year of the Golden Pig from Goulet Pens.
After a few weeks, and fortunately before I had a chance to use it, it turned into something resembling a chunk of yellow rubber.

Alternatives I'm considering:
- Platinum highlighter refills. Bought a few from Jetpens but haven't tried them yet.
- Pelikan M205 Duo highlighter ink.

Have you tried diluting the ink?

Waski_the_Squirrel
June 5th, 2013, 03:42 PM
I have had Year of the Golden Pig for a few months with no problem. My understanding of the problem is when it sits in the pen for 2 months unused, it becomes rubbery around the feed. (I've only seen photos in a Platinum Preppy.) I've never read about it in the bottle.

I also use Noodler's Dragon Catfish Pink. It's a nice bright pink. If you're into the pink highlighter scene, you may enjoy this one.

Though I have no personal experience, Noodler's Firefly is supposed to be a good highlighter without issues. It's like Golden Pig but not bulletproof and without turning into rubber in some pens.

Avastgard
June 5th, 2013, 07:14 PM
Yes, I'm beginning to consider Noodler's Firefly, as I haven't seen anybody complaining about it.

picautomaton
June 6th, 2013, 02:49 AM
I would recommend the Monteverde Orange Highlighter ink for Lamy pens cartridges. A vibrant orange that doesn't loose vibrancy one dry.

Avastgard
June 6th, 2013, 08:25 AM
Does Lamy have highlighter pens? (Sorry for being such a noob).

ardgedee
June 6th, 2013, 08:42 AM
They make highlighter-colored Safari pens. You could fill them with highlighter ink... :)

Avastgard
June 6th, 2013, 09:17 AM
But do they have a metal nib or an actual highlighter tip?

ardgedee
June 6th, 2013, 09:28 AM
They're the same as all the other Safaris aside from barrel color: metal nibs. I imagine a nice broad italic nib for it would do the job, unless you need a really fat marker-type line.

Avastgard
June 6th, 2013, 09:53 AM
Yeah, I prefer the regular fat highlighter tips.

picautomaton
June 7th, 2013, 01:28 AM
Does Lamy have highlighter pens? (Sorry for being such a noob).

Not that I'm aware of however Monteverde make an orange ink that you could highlight with.

CapeClear
June 7th, 2013, 03:55 PM
I refill my Preppy with De Atramentis Mahatma Ghandi, the same highlighter and tip for nearly 14 months. The bottle is nearly empty and I'll be replacing it with Bouton d'Or. My ultimate plan is to buy a pair of Kaweco Ice Sports in Red and uellow and use them as a mark up and highlighting pair. I can't fault the preppy really, it's just a bit flimsy sometimes. When I start my new job I'll have my own office so I won't have to be as vigilant about the pens, even though people at my current job love walking away with my preppy!

ardgedee
June 7th, 2013, 07:10 PM
Currently using the Firefly in a Noodler's Standard demonstrator pen. This definitely needs a broader nib -- the flex nib isn't laying down a sufficiently broad line.

spotted and speckled
June 7th, 2013, 08:41 PM
I've been using Noodler's blue highlighter ink (Lightning) in a vintage parker marker (like a parker 45 but a marker instead) for about 3 years, continuously filled, without problems. I have been using the yellow one (Firefly) in a preppy marker for about 2 years, also continuously filled. Haven't had trouble with either one, no gel-ing or blob-ing. Haven't even rinsed them out. The only thing I do to any of my pens which are inked is store them in the coffee cup with the nib up.

cedargirl
June 8th, 2013, 05:49 PM
I've never used highlighter ink, so I have a couple of newbie questions -

Does anyone use these inks in a brush pen, or do you need a marker tip?
Do they have to be used over a waterproof ink?

CapeClear
June 9th, 2013, 05:22 AM
I've filled a Pilot Petit 3 brush pen with Mahatma Ghandi without problems. The only negative I found with it is that it doesn't really lay down a consistently thick line. I was going to use it eyedropppered as a highlighter but then I bought the Preppy.

In work I use Pelikan 4001 black which is washable as far as I know. If I highlight something a day or two after it was written there usually isn't ink smearing but it does happen occasionally. I don't think I have any waterproof inks to test.

ardgedee
June 9th, 2013, 05:36 AM
Waterproof ink is useful. If you're using a metal fountain pen nib, it's not strictly necessary, because the highlighter ink will make the underlying ink run a little but the nib won't pick it up. If you use a marker nib, the darker ink is at greater risk of being picked up by the fibers as the highlighter ink wets it.