Iron gall ink, and why it darkens
Our iron gall ink writes pale grey and dries to a deep blue-black. People write to ask whether the bottle is faulty. It is not; it is doing what iron gall has done since the ninth century.
What happens on the page
The ink is a solution of iron salts and tannin. Wet, the iron is in a form that is nearly colourless. As the line dries and meets air, the iron oxidises and binds to the paper fibres. The colour arrives over the first hour and settles over a day.
Keeping a pen happy
Iron gall is mildly acidic. Write with it weekly and it is fine in any steel-nibbed pen. Leave it in a pen for a month and you will need to flush the feed. We rinse ours every Sunday and have never lost a nib.
If you want a colour that lands finished, choose north blue or moss. If you want a line that looks written rather than printed, this is the one.
More from the bench.
Six dollars a month. Ten percent off everything, first pick of every drop.
And the studio journal by post, four times a year. Leave from your account whenever you like; nobody asks why.
