Return of Private Reserve — safe to use?

I see that Private Reserve is under new ownership and have come out with a whole line of colors to celebrate their return.

I had also heard, in the past, that Private Reserve, like many Noodler inks, were not all that safe to use in some fountain pens because of the formulary. Particularly vintage and older pens. I personally don’t use either, although I did have a soft spot in my heart for the old Private Reserve Arabian Rose ;)

The new company says it’s using the same formulas — which leads me to the question of whether these inks are indeed safe to use in all pens or whether the old proviso of “buyer beware” still applies.

Any thoughts?

Their old formula was a disaster so why retain it? There was a steady stream of reports about mold in PR inks. That and my dislike of saturated inks kept me far away.

Now if they were using the formula for Ft Madison-made Skrip or genuine IG MB BB it would be a different story.

The formulas for the ink colors (i.e. which dyes, how much of each, other additives for lubrication, etc.) are separate from the antimicrobial preservative in an ink. You can manufacture the same ink color but use a more effective preservative. The prevention of mold also has a lot to do with where and how an ink was manufactured. If you had old equipment, a dirty environment full of mold spores, or employees who didn't take care to keep things sanitary, then an ink could go bad no matter how good your preservative is. My guess is that the old PR was produced on the cheap, and resulted in mold issues. Yafa is saying that they're using a much higher-quality production facility now. I'm hoping they got some expert advice, too, on which preservatives to use.

You can buy a bottle, do one fill with a cheap pen to make sure you like it, then set it aside for 1-2 months to see if anything crawls out of the bottle.

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Lloyd

You can buy a bottle, do one fill with a cheap pen to make sure you like it, then set it aside for 1-2 months to see if anything crawls out of the bottle.

---

Now that’s an interesting idea! Thanks!

When Private Reserve ink began there weren't as many ink brands as there are now. Now there are so many ink brands that you don't need to use any that suggest the slightest risk to our pens . If you're at all concerned don't buy it and just use something else instead.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by guyy

Their old formula was a disaster so why retain it? There was a steady stream of reports about mold in PR inks. That and my dislike of saturated inks kept me far away.

Now if they were using the formula for Ft Madison-made Skrip or genuine IG MB BB it would be a different story.

---

See Richard B. on saturated inks in "Good, Bad and Ugly". Red seems to be especially bad, but Richard and Ron Z. found that too many pens had been fouled with Noodlers and Private Reserve. I will use PR Lake Placid Blue, American Blue, DC Electric Blue, and DC Supershow Blue in my Parker 51s. I keep them out of my other older pens. I don't use Noodlers.

The PR-mold reports go back ten years or so, and, best I know, the problem was fixed.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by welch

...The PR-mold reports go back ten years or so, and, best I know, the problem was fixed.

---

Search "SITB" in this subforum.