Noodler's Black: Ink Review

This ink is more commonly referred to as Noodler's Bulletproof Black, but the official name is simply Noodler's Black. It's a well-performing ink, behaves great on cheap paper, it's cheap, it's very dark, and it's permanent. You really just can't go wrong.

Overview

The ink is very highly saturated, and as a result it does take a little long to dry on an ink resistant paper like the Rhodia I used here. It'll dry much faster on the cheap copy paper you're most likely using at work. There's very honestly little not to like about this ink, except maybe that it does take a bit longer to clean than others out of your pen. But hey, it's a permanent Noodler's ink, and they are all a little more work to clean out of the pen. Taking that aspect into account, it could be much worse.

Water Resistance

You can't even tell I did a drip test, but I did! The water resistance is great, even after just a minute. The ink very quickly becomes water resistant, and it only increases in permanence from there. The ink is cellulose reactive, which means that it permanently bonds to the cellulose in the paper (wood pulp, in this case). It may take a few days, even up to a week for this permanent bond to reach it's full potential (the paper is the variable), but once it does, not even bleach will remove it. Many inks with this kind of permanence are high maintenance and a real pain to clean and use, but this ink is hardly different in use than most other inks. That's why it's so great.

Noodler's Heart of Darkness is the closest to Noodler's Black, the two are often compared. The other inks all have their unique properties, the only ones that are fundamentally different are the Platinum and Sailor inks, because they are pigmented inks, not dye inks. They will be a lot of work to clean and maintain in your pens, much more than Noodler's Black.

Bottom line, this is my favorite black ink. It's actually one of a VERY elite few inks that I have a full bottle in my personal collection. I'm a serial ink sampler (a dealer hooked on his own product, for sure!!), but this is a staple ink that keeps its home in my fine nib LAMY vista 24/7. This ink is so popular for a reason.