What is the Difference Between the Noodlers Black Inks? - Q&A Slices

[@beck713]

Anyone else here in 2021 and wryly chuckling at 3:07, when Brian coughs and says, "don't, worry, that was just a normal cough!"?

[@justmeeagainn]

Yup. Right here.

[@MarkGrago]

Nathan Tardif is a GENIUS, hands-down! He has done more, I think, to redefine the quality of fountain ink in the last 10 years than any other ink designer has in the last 70 years! However, a close second or equal(depending on preference) would be the folks at Private Reserve; their inks are outstanding as well! Do not impugn me, I'm not infringing on the qualities and varieties of the European or Asian ink manufacturers; however, it cannot be denied that AMERICAN fountain inks are rapidly becoming(or, have already become) a (world)household name in the fountain pen and ink genre! It would be a desirable wish to meet Mr. Tardif and thank him personally for my ultimate writing experience! (Just an opinion.)

[@joecolucci1395]

3:08 "Don't worry that was just a normal cough" aged like fine wine

[@Crimson-Blade]

he knew about covid-19 before it even began

[@MisterCross]

I'm really digging the Slices, and this one is super-useful. So many Noodler's Black inks and this is a great overview, perfect.

[@Gouletpens]

Kenny Cross There are so many black inks so I'm glad you find it helpful :) -Margaret

[@dDesirie]

Great video man! Loving my Noodler’s Black Eel ink. I have nothing but respect to Nathan Tardif, the man behind this unique brand and ALL these amazing inks. What a great time to be in for a fountain pen lover!

[@servantapashia7724]

dDesirie I only have one of his inks and its Dark Matter Love this ink! can be used with out issue in Vintage pens n its also 1940's ink to boot :) my fave ink granted its my only ink besides my "Ox Blood" for my Jinho's :) love the Green Grey under tone of Dark matter not a fan of just ""Black""

[@kingprone7846]

3:00 dark matter has the advantage that is is a vintage ink which is considered to be highly water resistant but when it comes down to it it can be (relatively) easily be removed from clothing.

[@usernameuser5573]

A blue ink comparison would probably be a pain to put together but it would be soooo helpful

[@fluffyfamily2654]

Blackerase is by far the most waterproof I’ve used compared to the rest. Glad they kept producing it!

[@deanbrandon3615]

I love the darkest possible black. Noodler's "X Feather black" looks excellent, very dark, but takes a long time to dry. Noodler's "Heart of Darkness" is also very black but dries slightly faster than X-feather.

[@Mrrizzzzin-vc6np]

3:07 For a second I thought this was a recent video 😂

[@Rayshader]

Noodler's black. Handsdown my favourite black ink.

[@Gouletpens]

Definitely one of the best choices! - Colin

[@kennethmcgeechan604]

Love this round up of the blacks it is very useful. My only problem is you used my pet hate, you spelt laser with a Z.

[@ElChuy69]

Lazer Proof Ink?? XD Well, noodler's have a kind of ink for every situation.

[@thebraxtonater8466]

Underrated comment

[@JosephDickson]

Seriously. I think it's safe to call that ink future proof. 😉

[@amaryllisl8928]

5:54 About that, I recently found out about a dip pen with an actual nib and feed! I got too curious and ordered one, but it's not here yet. From what I read, however, it's an ebonite pen with an ebonite feed and a standard #5 nib. I can't wait to use it with my ink samples :)

[@jessicacollins8049]

F.Y.I. Michigan has sub zero temps in winter some years due to arctic vortexes from Canada. The Polar Black is great for winter here

[@sukmasucisafitri1457]

Seriously! All this many, unique and hard (i think) question i have are mostly answered by goulet! Damn, thanks men!

[@DaliaOm]

I just want to say THANK YOU for all your videos! they are great and really educational-accessible for newbies like me and I really enjoy them. You are so passionate about it that you transmit this and its been great sleeping until 2am watching your videos!! thank you again and I really wish your company do better and better! I will place my order soon!!!

[@Gouletpens]

Thanks! That's really great to hear and means a lot. What pens/inks do you have your eyes on? Thanks for the support. - Colin

[@Gouletpens]

That's definitely a lot of wants. Not sure if I can tick off all of those boxes, but the Platinum Preppy EF is a great option. You can eyedropper convert it for a huge ink capacity, the nib is super fine and it's under $5, can't beat that! I'd say that's the best bet for highest ink capacity, especially at that cost. As far as swappable EF nibs, I find the TWSBI EF nibs to be pretty fine, but you have to buy the whole nib unit (www.gouletpens.com/twsbi-replacement-nibs/c/246). - Colin

[@UARAF16]

Keep the sliced coming! The full Q&A's are a little too long for me to watch but these are great!

[@Gouletpens]

UARAF16 Glad you like them :) More to come! -Margaret

[@NGMonocrom]

Nice! Going to have to get some Eel soon.

[@ZadenZane]

I got through a lot of fountain pen ink when I was at school. Quink was by far the number one seller and the easiest ink to get. If you went into a shop and asked for fountain pen ink, Quink was very often all they had. But it was very washy, not dark enough and not permanent enough. If you spilt tea over your writing, more than half of it would wash off and the text would be very hard to read. The only really black inks available then (I'm talking about the late 80s/early 90s) were drawing inks but of course you couldn't put them in fountain pens. The black ink I use now is Heart of Darkness. I looked at a few comparisons online and it seemed to be darkest. I got a free fine-nibbed eyedropper pen with the bottle which writes amazingly well. I just wish all this stuff had been available years ago. I'd have been in my element!🤪

[@hyleenpognaire8134]

Yeah, Parker quink is really affordable, but the blue ink is really not satisfying, it fades it's richness in few days, and so delicate with water.

[@ZadenZane]

@@hyleenpognaire8134 they put out a product called Penman ink in the 1990s with the colours named after gemstones. Sapphire blue was a true blue as I remember, not washy weak or greyish and it didn't do that thing I know a lot of people love where some letters or parts of words are really dark, others really washy. More even. All this was in Britain btw, I can't speak for anywhere else. If you wanted a good range of inks back in the day, about 20 or more years ago, you had to go to a department store and take potluck with the exotic brands... Montblanc, Waterman, Sheaffer, etc. Or an art supplies shop. I remember back then they had an "eternal" black called Higgins Eternal. It wasn't that dark but it definitely lived up to its name, waterproof etc.

[@maryannjordan317]

Thanks so much for the in depth video! I too am a pen and wash watercolor artist who would like a black fountain pen ink that performs like Noodler's Polar Brown. I did extensive testing on a number of watercolor, bristol and mixed media papers and Heart of Darkness just bled like crazy on all the better papers for watercolor. It worked best on cheap Bristol paper which sucks up watercolor like a sponge. Makes sense that if the watercolor doesn't move on a paper, neither does Heart of Darkness. Help!!!! My fellow pen and wash artists and I would really like a black that we can use in our fountain pens with certainty. Thanks again so much!!!!!

[@maureenmaetorrizo1752]

I am curious to know this as well Mary Ann. Did you ever get the answer to this or have you tried other blacks? So far I've tried Heart of Darkness and Borealis Black-- both bled like crazy with watercolors. The best I've tried is Noodler's Black and so far I haven't had any bleeding with that yet.

[@kreativeReise]

So informative with all the stories about the inks. I want a story for every ink now - include them in the article descriptions of the inks zu please. 🤣

[@knightsgallop]

Noodlers is my go to ink.

[@ASecretToEveryone]

Got a Dark Matter out of a random sample. Checked it out and noticed it was the least stellar properties-wise. Nice to know it at least has a cool backstory :P

[@Gouletpens]

Interesting, I hadn't heard much about that particular ink (especially in comparison to the other Noodler's Black inks). Definitely a cool backstory! - Colin

[@colea310]

What about Noodler's Zhivago? I think it's closer to black than El Lawrence.

[@FungusMossGnosis]

+Cole Anderson Zhivago and Bad Black Moccasin I've found to be very good after diluting, which brings out the dark green/gray qualities nicely. Because so many of the Noodler's line are super-saturated, it truly is the best deal in the West for ink.

[@barbarajloriordan2697]

I have a few piston-feed pens, including TWXBI Eco and Narwhal’s Original. I fill them with Noodler’s Black (my favorite) and don’t use anything other ink. Should I be using Noodler’s American Black Eel in order to keep the pistons from getting stuck? If I change inks from Noodler’s Black to Noodler’s Black Eel, do I need to disassemble and lube out the pens before changing inks? I hope not because we are talking about six pens!

[@wildbill23c]

Thanks for the information Brian. After a Noodler's rollerball failure, and a replacement being sent out, your team sent me a couple of ink samples. One being a Waterman Inspired Blue, and a Noddler's Zhivago. I was afraid the Zhivago would be too green, but its just the right amount of black/green to still be usable for document purposes. Still like blue though. Black seems so boring HAHA!!!

[@Gouletpens]

William Todd Glad you liked it :) There are so many inks to choose from, even among black inks there are tons of options! -Margaret

[@wildbill23c]

The Goulet Pen Company Its great, it writes very smooth and that's on cheap paper :). The noodler's waterman inspired blue is really nice writing as well. The legal pads I was writing on were pretty thin so both inks are ok but they do bleed through the thin cheap paper, not the ink's fault. I tried it with a journal that has the Arches Text Woven paper and the writing with both inks was extremely smooth absolutely no bleed-through so you can easily use both sides of the paper. Ink samples are great to try new inks.

[@rshanreddy]

What would you call the best black ink for students? I keep my TWSBI 580 inked up with Pilot Iroshizuku Take-Sumi; I'm looking for an ink that flows wet and most of all dries fast. Thanks!

[@jeremyfranks9587]

I'm fairly new to fountain pens, could you explain the terms & differences in ink? You talked about permanent, fraud resistant, eternal, & archival. What do those terms mean? Do they just apply to Noodlers inks or are they universal terms?

[@Gouletpens]

+Jeremy Franks The Noodler’s property chart (cdn-tp1.mozu.com/6639-m1/cms/files/noodlers-ink-properties.pdf?_mzts=635922838920000000) does a good job defining each term, but not all of those attributes are Noodler’s exclusive. We also have a Q&A slice that talks more about bulletproof and eternal inks (kzbin.info/www/bejne/f33YnplumK51qbc) - Colin

[@literaryartist1]

I have a question though. I'm pretty new to fountain pens and inks. I've read that archival grade inks are pigmented. I see that these Noodler's inks aren't. So I guess my question is, do archival grade inks need to be pigmented?

[@TheCommander64]

I see you never got a reply to this. Nooder's achieves permanence due to their water soluble dyes achieving a chemical bond with the surface of cellulose molecules. This happens after the ink dries on the paper and takes a bit of time, minutes to seconds to occur. So, no pigment is required. The ink is not typically permanent on any material that is not cellulose - nylon, polyester, etc. However, since the fibers in cotton and linen are cellulose, like most paper, you are in trouble if you get these inks on your clothes as they are permanently stained.

[@juliam.5810]

@@TheCommander64 Could you tell me if this kind of ink is lightfast, please?

[@TheCommander64]

@@juliam.5810 Julia, yes they are. Here is a link to a list of all Noodler's inks and their properties. Not all are fraud resistant, some are partially resistant (a color may wash out leaving black behind). But, basically all of their archival grace inks are said to be resistant to UV light and expected to last for decades. UV light is the light most responsible for fading. cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2603/2528/files/noodlers-ink-properties.pdf I hope this link works for you. The property you are looking for is called "Eternal" in Noodler's chart. Hope this helps you.

[@juliam.5810]

@@TheCommander64 Thank you very much for the information.

[@angelfoodcake1979]

I'm looking for an archival, waterproof, etc ink that's good for everyday writing in my Lamy Safari EF nib. I'm leaning towards the Heart of Darkness, but I'm also somewhat drawn towards really dark colors that aren't actually black just very deep, like Zhivago or Lexington gray. I have never tried any noodler, so I'm looking for suggestions.

[@Gouletpens]

This chart might help you too! cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2603/2528/files/noodlers-ink-properties.pdf. It compares properties among Noodler's inks. I really like Lexington Gray! -Margaret

[@minx4683]

Dark Matter is my favorite and I'll keep buying it till Nathan stops making it.

[@emiliesaucier9730]

I loved the story about Noodler's bad black mocassin is there any other ink that also has an interesting background?

[@Gouletpens]

Noodler's has a bunch, though not sure if it's all been chronicled (maybe on his YT channel?) First one I thought of was American Aristocracy: blog.gouletpens.com/2016/08/new-noodlers-ink-american-aristocracy - Colin

[@mariaorozco3561]

Hi, I saw in a video that Xfeader is better for cheap paper? I usually don't have fountain pen friendly paper. Which ink do you recommend for cheap paper?

[@vincentnewberry4495]

Hey there Goulet team! I wanted to ask about x-feather. Brian said in this video that it's a little thicker than noodler's black which makes it a more feather-resistant. Does the fact that its thicker mean it doesn't flow out of the pen as easily? I really hate when I pick up my fountain pen and it takes a lifetime of scribbling on some scratch paper to get the ink to start flowing; so naturally I'm a little wary of a "thicker" ink. Also, Brian mentioned that heart of darkness dries quicker than noodler's black and is also feather-resistant on cheap and absorbent paper. Does that mean its pretty much the same as x-feather? Is heart of darkness just a thinner x-feather with the same properties? Let me know when you have a second. Thanks so much. I love your videos. Write on!

[@Gouletpens]

I haven't heard of any flow issues stemming from X-Feather, but it is a very dry ink. You can read our full review here: blog.gouletpens.com/2016/11/noodlers-x-feather-ink-review.html. It also has a very long dry time, so it differs from Heart of Darkness there. Overall, they're pretty similar, but Heart of Darkness is my preferred Noodler's black ink because it's kind of the best of both. - Colin

[@AlphineWolf]

Have you tried Raven Black?

[@Gouletpens]

I have not. Pretty certain it was a Canadian exclusive. But like most Noodler's Black inks, I'm sure it was good! - Colin

[@ichirofakename]

It's many years later, and I can't find the spreadsheet?

[@JonAlycia]

Awesome video!

[@kirsten5723]

Thanks for the great video (videos), but I have to say; Noodlers Black takes f o r e v e r and then some to dry. So for drawing of any kind it is a dangerous choice. Just trying to help. 🙂

[@gunsmokeandghouls]

Dries very quickly for my drawings, no issues at all. Draw on mixed media or bristol normally

[@dinnorw24]

Already try the noodler Heart of darkness using el cheapo lamy with Med nib.. yes is very dark black indeed.. but not flow easy with lamy.. after stop writing like 10 second i must make few scratches before the ink flow good.. and not so kind for fast hand signing.. IMHO..

[@KenoticMuse]

Dang man. Thank you so much for this!

[@mirageinthedesert5448]

Which is lesss likely to bleed through paper Noodlers Black Or Heart Of Darkness On school paper

[@Gouletpens]

X-Feather from Noodler's would be the most ideal for school paper as it behaves the best. But out of the two, I like Noodler's Black a bit more but its really splitting hairs. - Colin

[@mirageinthedesert5448]

The Goulet Pen Company thanks Collin, from what I've gathered they're both pretty much very similar

[@mickeymouse12678]

Hey guys, I bought a sample of HoD (couldn't resist the name!) and I'm finding it feathers a ton on the paper I use. It is VERY wet in my pen, but it actually has a bit of gray to it as opposed to being super black. I'm only interested in using cheap as shit paper, so does anyone have any recommendations between Black, Black Eel, and X feather? I have a piston filling pen and am interested in not having any feathering, but I hear X feather takes too long to dry.

[@Gouletpens]

Each ink has their tradeoffs. If you're looking to avoid feathering, X-Feather is definitely the way to go, but it does take some time to dry and may have ghosting issues. Noodler's Black is the most all-around ink of the bunch and should do well on cheaper paper, but unfortunately paper does play a huge part in the writing experience, so keep that in mind. - Colin

[@Varth_Dader.Twitch]

why are some inks more expensive then other inks?

[@Gouletpens]

Certain inks have unique properties that could make it more expensive. The amount of ink actually in the bottle plus the bottle itself can increase the price of a certain ink. - Colin

[@Varth_Dader.Twitch]

The Goulet Pen Company quick reply! thanks. just ordered a metropolitan along with a midori notebook. cant wait to use them all.

[@rickcroucher]

How often do you have to clean your pens when using Noodler's inks? Do they clog the nib feeds?

[@Gouletpens]

With some of the more permanent/bulletproof Noodler's inks, I'd stay on top of cleaning them out so they don't settle and it becomes a challenge. Every week or 2 should be fine. For other inks without those properties, you can go a bit longer 3-4 weeks. - Colin

[@rickcroucher]

So, being a noobie, is there a kit available to clean our prized possessions? Thank you for your answer.

[@Gouletpens]

Yes, we have a cleaning kit available (www.gouletpens.com/gpc-package-cleaning/p/Package-GP-Cleaning). It should have everything you would need. The GPC Pen Flush is especially useful when cleaning out those permanent inks. - Colin

[@rickcroucher]

I have added that to my wishlist. Thank you for your help.

[@danielx40]

Love that fraud resistant feature. It can replace a law firm. Lol

[@feroxification]

1:51 I died laughing

[@loganbabcock6179]

Will we see one of these for Noodlers blue inks?

[@Gouletpens]

Yeah potentially. Could add it to our Q&A spreadsheet. Brian does go into more details on various Noodler's lines in this slice: kzbin.info/www/bejne/a6bQlK1vjrFqhcU. And the Properties Chart (www.gouletpens.com/noodlers-ink-properties-chart) is always a good resource. But we could have Brian go more in-depth on them as well. - Colin

[@kaziiqbal7257]

3:08 Brian predicts the future

[@adiljiva5800]

Hey guys! which noodlers ink would be a lovely black as well as being fast drying ? Penny for your thoughts ! :)

[@Gouletpens]

+Adil Jiva Hey There! Bernanke Black would be a good one to try! -Margaret

[@masonk.974]

I would agree, I use it in both of my very generous fine nib pens and it dries very quick!

[@splashofcolor2638]

🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤 Thank you very much for the recommendation. I will be purchasing heart of darkness soon.

[@LottieSue]

Um I'm still unsure which black is the best choice. I'm a pen and ink, watercolor wash artist. I need a permanent deep black, that once dry is permanent with the ability to take watercolor washes and is archival. Got any suggestions? I use dip and technical pens.

[@neemancallender9092]

+LindieLee NOT Heart of Darkness It leaves a surface of the ink which smears badly all the time both to touch and to water I have taken it out all my pens I use for sketching

[@LottieSue]

ikes

[@thisisbs808]

I've heard Platinum Carbon Black is the go-to for mixed media artistis. I've used it, and it is definitely a very deep black. just haven't tried it along with watercolors myself. but i've read that a lot of people do.

[@LottieSue]

thank you

[@HazyAbigail]

how did it go with platinum carbon black?

[@JtwasLuck]

Hi there I was wondering which ink is best for exams where your writing really fast and flipping the page to continue writing the paper? You kind of don't want there to be any smudges on the paper and the paper itself isn't really high quality so I'm guessing a highly absorbant ink is best so I was looking at Bernanke Black.

[@Gouletpens]

Yeah, any of the Noodler's line of Bernanke inks would work well. Rohrer and Klingner also have a few quick-drying inks that would do well (Scabiosa comes to mind if purple-grey could work for an exam, or Blau Permanent) - Colin

[@JtwasLuck]

Thanks for the quick reply! I'm definitely gonna try the Take Sumi for fun and Bernanke for exams. I was wondering which pen would you recommend between the Pilot Heritage 91, 92, and 912. Thanks! I'm planning on using a SFM or SF for note-taking mainly. I'm in med school so this is why I didnt' go with the Platinum 3776. The CON70 converter holds plently of ink!

[@Gouletpens]

I'd go with the Heritage 92. I'm a sucker for demonstrator pens. If Pilot and TWSBI combined in a pen, it'd be the Heritage 92, in the best way possible. It's unique in that regard. - Colin

[@JtwasLuck]

Thanks a lot! and for nib recommendation considering I do a lot of notetaking on a daily basis. If I went with the heritage 91, would you recommend the "SF" or the "SFM". I don't claim my handwriting to be beautiful but it is decent enough that I like a little "play" to the pen as I write. Also how is the Heritage 92 with the "FM" nib. I ask about the soft nibs because during the day time I do a whole lot of note-taking but at night, I have to take information on patients where I have to write at much higher angles than what a fountain pen should be normally used at.

[@deftoned2]

I'm looking for a very, very black ink. Does anyone have any recommendations? I have some Noodler's Black, but I'm looking for super dark!

[@JonAlycia]

+deftoned2 I think you might find that there is none better than Noodlers Heart of Darkness.

[@arunabhalahiri4931]

+deftoned2 Aurora black would be the one.......

[@helenwhs]

Wait several years for the Vantablack to become available as fountain pen ink.

[@Chrominian]

+JBC I've actually found Dark Matter to be darker than Heart of Darkness

[@QatarVegan]

Aurora black or Pelikan brilliant black. They are very similar and both extremely black. Two of my favourites.

[@jebimaya8]

I'm leaning towards getting a noodler's bottle of black ink but I'm torn between the black, heart of darkness or the x-feather. What would you say is the best for use on really cheap paper (Like $0.20 a notebook, or dollar yellow pad, or close to newsprint)? A lot has suggested these three and really confused now.

[@amaryllisl8928]

+Jeremiah Anthony Reynaldo Hopefully you've found out by now, but just in case, it really depends on what you want. Heart of Darkness dries faster (not that it'll matter on super cheap paper, everything will dry fast on that). X-Feather will resist feathering, but takes longer to dry. Noodler's Black is probably somewhere in between.

[@jebimaya8]

+Amaryllis Lachapelle Yes, hopefully, I made the right choice... I got a bottle of x-feather a month ago (from the Goulet website, among other stuff), but I'm on the other side of the world so still waiting for the package to test it... Hopefully, I got it right..

[@amaryllisl8928]

Jeremiah Anthony Reynaldo I think you'll be quite happy with it. Those three are pretty much the black Noodler's inks that people tend to use the most, from what I've seen, so I don't think you can really go wrong with any of them :) On cheap paper, ink tends to dry super fast anyway, so I don't think there would be much of a difference in dry time between those inks. My personal favorite is Heart of Darkness (couldn't resist the free pen and the name of the ink), but it does feather quite a bit on super cheap paper. Hopefully X-Feather will do a better job :)

[@jebimaya8]

+Amaryllis Lachapelle yes, that's what I'm banking on. Hopefully, it gets the job done as I'm itching to use my pens for our exam notebooks (which are all essay type, by the way) and lessen hand cramping.. Can't wait to get it! :) thanks!

[@amaryllisl8928]

Jeremiah Anthony Reynaldo I'm sure it will :) I hope you get your package soon! :)

[@wildbill23c]

Noodler's Blackerase Ink would more equal the Vis-A-Vis overhead transparency markers that used to be used a lot in classrooms. They were wet erase markers. Although you could use them on a dry erase board, it would just be counter to the whole dry erase idea...I hate dry erase boards LOL the smell of the markers makes me sick. I still would rather have a chalkboard.

[@SoftBreadSoft]

I put Bernanke Black in an old pen from a bank for the memes

[@thebeardofwisdom1984]

Maybe a newbe question but what do you mean forgery and fraud resistance?

[@yifuj]

+Michael Rollins Forgers have long used tools like UV light, chemical solvents such as acetone, oxidising agents such as bleach to remove ink from paper. The Noodlers bulletproof inks are completely immune from those.

[@santiandres5177]

But what is the blackest :D

[@peterpuleo2904]

Pure bleach had not the slightest effect on my Heart of Darkness.

[@neknim]

"Just a normal cough" lol had to pause to check the upload date

[@BC21beats]

Bad green gator chews through everything besides rhodia or tomoe river paper and stains pens

[@DaydreamsOfArne]

The heart of darkness looks interesting

[@Gouletpens]

Arne Renczar D. Zurita It is. And really great on absorbent paper! -Margaret

[@gunsmokeandghouls]

Shouldn't you be "pausing" all these noodler's videos, Goulet?