In the few tests I've seen many common fountain pen inks faded in daylight, some even faded when they were kept in a darker environment. In one test I saw pictures from, some inks were totally gone after < 6 months of daylight. I guess most who write journals and such will be ok if not exposed in light to much (when in a notebook), but if I my next drawing is a success and I sell it, I don't want it to fade if I hang it on a wall.
When I discovered this, I bought an iron gall ink that I read was permanent and that I've seen at least one retailer list as "fade resistant". Turns out it is not. "permanent" in this case means waterproof (which is the only thing the manufacturer states) and the retailer had probably made the same assumption as I had. So permanent or water resistant does not equal fade resistant. The ink I have is Diamine Registrars, but from what I guess this is the same with all iron gall inks (?). Also, most of the iron galls keep a hint of the color (blue for example).
In my search for fade resistant black ink, the alternatives that have been suggest to me so far is...
- Noodlers Blacks (I've been looking at Heart of darkness)
- Platinum Carbon Black
- Pelikan Fount India (my current ink)
- Sailor Nano Black (with the name Kiwa-guro)
- DeAtramentis Document black
Anyone have thoughts on these or any other suggestions?
I just recieved a bottle of the Pelikan Fount India the other day, which I have just started using. It is a "kinder" version of India ink though, so I will need to clean the pens good. When I get paid next time I plan to buy one of the others, possibly from some other country here in europe. I've only been looking for black ink so I don't know about other colors.
By the way, since I don't plan to hang my notes on a wall I don't mind writing with other inks I love taking notes with Diamine Registrars and other colors.
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