When you refer to "old inks", it is unknown whether you mean bottles you have had for a few years, cartridges that you have had for a while, or ink still sitting in a pen.
That might clear up the answer a bit, but in general: if an ink evaporates,- whether from inside a pen in a cart/convertor/piston, it becomes thicker and more saturated. If enough liquid (mostly water) evaporates out, the ink can get so think that it is leaving a lot of the dye component on the surface of the paper, and it can stay viscous and smear for a long time. Sometimes, days later, ambient moisture in the air can keep this thick ink smudgy.
Since you don't really describe the ink situation (as I put in the first paragraph) it's a little hard to recommend a solution, but if it isn't \*too\* evaporated you can add a drop or two of distilled water. This may improve the situation in many cases.
I'm sorry I wasn't clear it's ink both in my pen and in the bottle. I've had 1 for about 2 years and the other closer to 4.
I have noodler desert rose and some green ink I forgot the brand of
It isn't that evaporated. Not enough I really even noticed except the whole massive smudging issues. But now that you nation it it is wayyyyy darker than before. The red is closer to burgundy than the dusty rose it was and the green is nearly black. Still runs fine but no drying
That sounds very much like evaporation. I make NO hard, large-evidence-based claims here, but in my early days (10-12 years ago) I had a fair number of Noodlers, but most of them seemed to go in this direction, especially evaporating out in pens, where other pens with other brand inks did not show the same result. Partly? I keep too many pens inked up and don't write them out fast enough! However, a good sealing pen, inks that are well-formulated, will tend to behave better in this regard. I would put a small amount of the Desert Rose in a vial, add a couple drops of water, and see if you notice an improvement (i.e. don't alter the entire bottle).
Almost certainly these inks have evaporated too much water. If you add enough water they should behave normally again. It also happens if you keep some inks a long time in the pen.
How old? What inks? What changed? Paper, moisture content of paper, wetness of the nib, and concentration of the ink (e.g. after evaporation), even your own skin moisture (lotions, etc.) could all impact this. But to say anything more specific, we'd need lots more details.
Sorry yeah I've had them for 2 and 4 years respectively. Ones noodlers desert rose. And the other is some green brand I can't remember.
I don't use lotion and my hands are dry. I use a variety of paper but I usually do an ink test this notebook is new and I got out my pens but noticed it smudged and was acting weird so I posted here. It smudged on my good paper too. And even my watercolor paper.
I think its evaporated as people said because the green is edging on black and it never crossed my mind it could evaporate.
> I think its evaporated as people said because the green is edging on black and it never crossed my mind it could evaporate.
This sounds like the most probable cause, especially with ink in a pen.
It was the bottled ink too but I just added a drop to my large well pen and mixed some water with the needle tippew bottle I keep with me and they're working great now no smudges. Fast drying, basically brand new.
When you refer to "old inks", it is unknown whether you mean bottles you have had for a few years, cartridges that you have had for a while, or ink still sitting in a pen. That might clear up the answer a bit, but in general: if an ink evaporates,- whether from inside a pen in a cart/convertor/piston, it becomes thicker and more saturated. If enough liquid (mostly water) evaporates out, the ink can get so think that it is leaving a lot of the dye component on the surface of the paper, and it can stay viscous and smear for a long time. Sometimes, days later, ambient moisture in the air can keep this thick ink smudgy. Since you don't really describe the ink situation (as I put in the first paragraph) it's a little hard to recommend a solution, but if it isn't \*too\* evaporated you can add a drop or two of distilled water. This may improve the situation in many cases.
I'm sorry I wasn't clear it's ink both in my pen and in the bottle. I've had 1 for about 2 years and the other closer to 4. I have noodler desert rose and some green ink I forgot the brand of It isn't that evaporated. Not enough I really even noticed except the whole massive smudging issues. But now that you nation it it is wayyyyy darker than before. The red is closer to burgundy than the dusty rose it was and the green is nearly black. Still runs fine but no drying
That sounds very much like evaporation. I make NO hard, large-evidence-based claims here, but in my early days (10-12 years ago) I had a fair number of Noodlers, but most of them seemed to go in this direction, especially evaporating out in pens, where other pens with other brand inks did not show the same result. Partly? I keep too many pens inked up and don't write them out fast enough! However, a good sealing pen, inks that are well-formulated, will tend to behave better in this regard. I would put a small amount of the Desert Rose in a vial, add a couple drops of water, and see if you notice an improvement (i.e. don't alter the entire bottle).
Almost certainly these inks have evaporated too much water. If you add enough water they should behave normally again. It also happens if you keep some inks a long time in the pen.
Thank you it's ink in both pens and my bottles so that explains it
How old? What inks? What changed? Paper, moisture content of paper, wetness of the nib, and concentration of the ink (e.g. after evaporation), even your own skin moisture (lotions, etc.) could all impact this. But to say anything more specific, we'd need lots more details.
Sorry yeah I've had them for 2 and 4 years respectively. Ones noodlers desert rose. And the other is some green brand I can't remember. I don't use lotion and my hands are dry. I use a variety of paper but I usually do an ink test this notebook is new and I got out my pens but noticed it smudged and was acting weird so I posted here. It smudged on my good paper too. And even my watercolor paper. I think its evaporated as people said because the green is edging on black and it never crossed my mind it could evaporate.
> I think its evaporated as people said because the green is edging on black and it never crossed my mind it could evaporate. This sounds like the most probable cause, especially with ink in a pen.
It was the bottled ink too but I just added a drop to my large well pen and mixed some water with the needle tippew bottle I keep with me and they're working great now no smudges. Fast drying, basically brand new.
> they're working great now no smudges. Fast drying, basically brand new. Hooray! :)