Old Ink Questions

[Marksmomagain]

Good morning all

I hope someone can help... I was given about 45 bottles of ink. The brands are Ph Martin Iridescent Calligraphy, Ph Martin Bombay India (both colored and black), Daler Rowney Aquafine Watercolor, Ph Martin Hydrus Watercolor, Higgins Drawing, Amsterdam Acrylic, Liquitex Professional Ink and Liquitex Acrylic Ink. They've been stored, unused, in small totes in the bottom of a closet for about nine or ten years. The room gets hot in summer w/no air movement and no ac. They have all been opened and then closed up tight. They're not even dirty.

Since they've not been agitated in so long, I've been doing that while I watch TV in the evening...shaking and stirring where needed. Each one of these bottles so far has a tiny little ball bearing inside that I'm assuming the previous owner put in there, as I know they don't come that way (although that is an idea, no?). Three have a very small discoration on the bottom of the bottle where the ball bearing lay. These are also the only bottles that have a slight skunky smell to them... I have read that is a sign of mold, although there is no visual evidence.

I normally only use black India ink, and not very often, so these are new to me. The colors are absolutely beautiful... Now visual mold I will not even open the bottle if I see it. But, the slight skunky smell, would that be okay if I were to use some of that color? Does that off-gas? I could leave the piece out in the sun for a bit? Additives?

Thanks in advance

Edit: the three inks in question are all Ph Martin Iridescent Calligraphy inks. Colors 4R Iridescent Orchid, 8R Iridescent Violet and 19R Rose Lame.

 

[Enyaw]

This Is What Ai has to say ...

 

[Balaji]

This has not happened to me (yet) and I hope it stays that way. Incidentally I clicked on the link posted by Enyaw and learnt quite a bit that I was totally unaware of. (Thank you Wayne.)

 

[Marksmomagain]

Thank you Wayne... my I never even thought of ink molding. The reading has been quite eye-opening (especially the Reddit, too).

 

[txomsy]

I have some inks that are over 55 years old and still going strong. Ink does not have a "best before" date, it may last like forever. The issue is that once you open the bottle, it may be contaminated. That is why inks typically also include a biocide in their composition. So you may open and close the bottle many times and not worry. The biocide may expire or evaporate, though, but that requires time and exposition to air: if you keep the bottle closed, the risk is minimal. If you keep the bottle opened it doesn't mean it will contaminate, it may, but it depends on the environmental conditions. Unless the environment is humid, with mold in the air and the bottle is open long times, most likely nothing will happen.

Mold, you typically notice it as an oily layer on top (or maybe growth), smell may or may not be related, it could be arising because of the ink composition (some inks have been known to smell badly), the biocide or, yes, maybe mold.

I think I only disposed of a bottle in my life, and that was because after ~20 years unused it was so thick that it clogged everything; never knew if it was that it had dried and condensed or something else (it was a thick black ink); but it was so thick it was unusable even with dip nibs. But I have bottles 30, 40 or even 50 years old that I have been using from time to time (i.e. opening and closing) without trouble (other than the cap sticking to the bottle because of the dried ink in the lid).

Now as for using it.

The reason to be frightened is because once mold gets into something it may be very difficult to remove. This is specially worrysome for fountain pens. If you use dip pens, then I would say that, as their nib usefuul life is limited, and they will be disposed of after some use, then, in principle (see below), there is not much reason to worry... as long as you only use that nib with that ink and keep it separate from the rest.

If you use one nib on a mould-bearing ink and then dip it on another, healthy ink, you will cross-contaminate the last one and in the end will finish with all your ink contaminated, a nightmare. But if you are careful to avoid cross-contamination, mold will not have much of a chance to affect your nib before its useful life ends.

On the other hand, spores are always a danger, since they can be airborne and contaminate everything. So, if you absolutely need it, in a hurry, you may use it with a dip pen nib and being careful, but I would rather avoid using mouldy ink as much as possible, since the risk of cross-contamination (through the nib, paper, hands, air...), no matter how low, is not worth the price of a new bottle of ink (unless it was a limited edition ink no longer available and with no viable substitute, which is seldomly the case).

 

[Marksmomagain]

Thank you Txomsy