How long does ink take to dry?

How long does fountain pen ink take to dry?

There is no single number: dry time is a property of the ink and the paper together. On the papers this almanac has timed, a medium-nib line dries in 11 to 40 seconds depending on the sheet; across inks on the standard sheet the spread is 8 to 32 seconds. Hard-sized papers such as Tomoe River hold ink on the surface and dry slowest; absorbent office paper drinks the line in a few seconds.

What is the fastest-drying fountain pen ink?

Of the inks the almanac has timed, Pilot · Iroshizuku Ina-ho dries fastest on the standard sheet: 8 seconds under a medium nib. On an absorbent paper it is faster still; on hard-sized sheets every ink slows down.

Why does the same ink dry faster on some papers?

Because most of what feels like drying is absorption. A heavily surface-sized paper refuses the ink, so the line must evaporate, which is slow and is also where sheen comes from. An absorbent sheet pulls the ink into the fibres in seconds, trading away sheen and saturation for speed.

Which inks work for left-handed writers?

Using fifteen seconds on a medium nib as the practical threshold, 10 of the almanac's timed inks qualify. The quickest: Pilot · Iroshizuku Ina-ho (8 s), Pilot · Iroshizuku Kiri-same (14 s), Rohrer & Klingner Salix (14 s). Pair them with an absorbent paper and the wait disappears; pair them with Tomoe River and even a fast ink will smudge under a passing hand.