

Thirdly, when compared to pigmented inks, iron gall inks are simply easier to maintain. In this regard, the three types of permanent ink are on a relatively level playing field nowadays.

This combination means that a good fountain pen with a good iron gall are going to be perfectly fine, and you won't risk destroying your pen. Secondly, because of the less aggressive formulations, iron gall inks are very friendly to fountain pens nowadays, and modern fountain pen construction materials are more resistant than ever to corrosive inks. For the vast majority of users, even a century of longevity is more than enough. Cellulose reactive inks are still new kids on the block, and while there is no reason to believe that they won't stand up, they certainly don't have the track record of iron galls (both in terms of what happens when they go bad, nor what happens when cared for). Iron gall hasn't demonstrated it's ability to span millennia as well as carbon black ink has, but it's no slouch. Thus, it's really just in the extremes that we need to care. Given that iron gall inks today are much less aggressive than in past ages, and our means of preservation are significantly improved, as well as the quality of archival paper, it's reasonable to be able to expect many centuries of longevity from modern iron gall inks when combined with the appropriate papers and reasonable storage considerations (which needs to be considered for any of the inks, since destruction of the paper is a serious concern regardless of how well the ink stays on the page).

Modern Iron Galls such as Platinum Blue Black have been tested for many decades without showing any significant fading or loss of even the dye-based coloring, much less the iron gall content, with no signs of paper damage. Just because iron gall inks are slightly less permanent along some dimensions, in terms of archival longevity, we have every reason to believe that modern Iron Gall inks will stand the test of time for a very long time. Iron gall inks are much more carefully formulated now than they used to be. That might change in the future, but for now, that's where I'm at.įirstly, let's consider the permanence question. I find that the combination of holistic features of iron gall inks are sufficiently compelling that most of my writing these days is done in iron gall. inks simply don't compete with, and when taken as a whole, iron gall inks are not just a good option, but are consistently reaching the top of the stack for me. Nonetheless, when taken as a whole, the iron gall inks have a number of redeeming qualities that lend themselves to a modern user that the pigmented and C.R. Based on a limited set of criteria, the pigmented and C.R. And, well, in some sense, we might be right in concluding this. This might then suggest that we can do away with the traditional formulations and use this newer technology. Modern iron gall inks might be considered slightly less permanent and slightly more acidic than their pigmented and C.R. They are also often less acidic (such as the Ph neutral Noodler's inks) and thus, avoid the traditional cause of aging in iron gall inks of the traditional kind wherein the acidic reaction of the ink on the pulp-based paper would consume the paper over long periods of time (centuries). Pigmented and bulletproof inks have a tendency to resist UV light to a high degree, and they are highly resistant to chemical or mechanical erasure. When it comes to a test of sheer, raw power of permanence on the page, pigmented and bulletproof inks have a clear advantage over iron gall.

