I want to make things clear. I do not currently use a dump bottle, but it would be interesting to know if this is a common practice among fountain pen users. A dump bottle is a bottle, can be an old empty ink bottle, where little amounts of ink discard ends up. It would be a mix of different inks that is not wanted any longer. If you are using a dump bottle, do you use it from time to time or do you just dump it once it is full? This is just curiosity question. I have always run my pens dry and then clean them so I usually don't end up with any waste ink.
Do you use an ink dump bottle?
- Thread starter blethenstrom
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AimlessWanderer
Remember to forget me!
Not here. Any ink that doesn't hit the page (or fingertips, or clothing 
) goes down the plughole.
) goes down the plughole.
Yes. From a 2015 post of mine ...
I have a bottle that I drain pens into, ink affectionately called "Blue Dump" that's a mixture of about 40 inks, new and vintage. Kinda cool stuff that I use in old Esterbrooks and Sheaffer lever fillers. It's over 25ml now and a funky dark blue (I only dump blue and blue-black).
I never put ink back into the new full bottles for fear of getting the dreaded SITB or mold or introducing some other contaminate. I've never had molded ink but have heard of it and saw some grim pics of it. Ink is pretty cheap, I'd toss a few drops before returning it to its rightful bottle.
www.badgerandblade.com
The Blue Dump is still alive and well.
I have a bottle that I drain pens into, ink affectionately called "Blue Dump" that's a mixture of about 40 inks, new and vintage. Kinda cool stuff that I use in old Esterbrooks and Sheaffer lever fillers. It's over 25ml now and a funky dark blue (I only dump blue and blue-black).
I never put ink back into the new full bottles for fear of getting the dreaded SITB or mold or introducing some other contaminate. I've never had molded ink but have heard of it and saw some grim pics of it. Ink is pretty cheap, I'd toss a few drops before returning it to its rightful bottle.
Fountain Pen Ink?
Can the ink be reused? In other words when e.g. changing colors. Dispense the older ink into its rightful ink bottle, purge your pen and draw the new ink in its place. I assume this is correct? I am totally new to this and forgive me if this sounds like a common sense question.
www.badgerandblade.com
The Blue Dump is still alive and well.
As a fellow hobbyist, I thought you were not supposed to mix inks, specially from different brands. That’s why it’s common practice to completely wash and clean your pen before changing inks or storing them
- Thread starter
- #5
Have you ever tried the dump bottle ink in a pen? Of course I would not use an expensive pen for thatYes. From a 2015 post of mine ...
I have a bottle that I drain pens into, ink affectionately called "Blue Dump" that's a mixture of about 40 inks, new and vintage. Kinda cool stuff that I use in old Esterbrooks and Sheaffer lever fillers. It's over 25ml now and a funky dark blue (I only dump blue and blue-black).
I never put ink back into the new full bottles for fear of getting the dreaded SITB or mold or introducing some other contaminate. I've never had molded ink but have heard of it and saw some grim pics of it. Ink is pretty cheap, I'd toss a few drops before returning it to its rightful bottle.
Fountain Pen Ink?
Can the ink be reused? In other words when e.g. changing colors. Dispense the older ink into its rightful ink bottle, purge your pen and draw the new ink in its place. I assume this is correct? I am totally new to this and forgive me if this sounds like a common sense question.
The Blue Dump is still alive and well.
- Thread starter
- #6
Yes you may get some inks not liking each other but I do not belive that it is as common as some make it out to be. Most likely you get particles at the bottom of they don't like each other.
Of course, like I wrote in the original post, I use it in my older lever fillers like Sheaffers and Esterbrooks that are easier to clean. It's a nice dark shade of blue, I posted a photo once but can't seem to locate it now.
I think of it similar to a mid-century public inkwell like they used to have at a post office or bank, filled by the business but probably had a lot of other small amounts of ink mixed in when people went for a fill.
Here's another excerpt from a 2020 post.
Going against the grain here, I do save ink occasionally from a fill, I've got a bottle I return ink to if I have a little left when cleaning a pen or changing inks, affectionately called "the Blue Dump" as I use mostly blue and blue-black. I've been tossing small amounts of various inks in there for over fifteen years -- surprisingly no trouble in there, probably due to all the phenol and other currently illegal biocides used in my vintage inks.
This 2 oz. bottle is currently over half full ... It probably is a mixture of about 40 different brands of ink made from the 1940s to present -- 2 drops here, 20 drops there. Beautiful shade of dark blue ink which I would never put in any precious vintage piston filler, Vacumatic, or other ink window pen. I do use it in old Esterbrooks, Sheaffers, and Eversharp sac pens. Fun stuff.
Yeah, I put bottle and sample remnants in it, along with the ink I take out of the cartridges that come with the pens. My ink dump bottle is a 50 ml Iroshizuku that I bought empty from Goulet. I do use the ink from it in my pens.
I’ve never heard of such a thing. I only use one type of ink exclusively. I often top up piston fillers before they run dry. When I do this, I dump the remaining ink into the original ink bottle and redraw a full pens worth. I know you are not meant to do this but it has always worked fine. It’s good ink. I was just writing with it a moment ago.
When the bottle is nearly empty and it’s hard to fill the pen, the remaining ink gets dumped into the next bottle and the circle of life continues. A 45ml bottle usually lasts me a year or two so the ink stays pretty fresh.
When the bottle is nearly empty and it’s hard to fill the pen, the remaining ink gets dumped into the next bottle and the circle of life continues. A 45ml bottle usually lasts me a year or two so the ink stays pretty fresh.
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- #10
That is pretty cool. Myself i am just a few years into my fountain pen journeys and I use up my ink before I refill it. I rarely have any ink that could go in a bottle like this but i find it exciting. You really never know what shade of ink you will get.
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- #11
I do have an empty ink bottle maybe I should start one.
...and down the drain it goes. Why would one collect ink of different color and make?? If I change ink, or put a pen away, I always get the ink completely out and into the sink while water is running.
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- #13
That is what happen most of the time for me. However, for the same reason we seek out a low cost, well performing DE blade or trying to stretch out a blade's usable number of shave or finding a good performing soap for less, I just may put the little bits of leftover ink in a bottle and see what happens. It may become a nasty mess and I pour it out and I have lost nothing or it may just be a neat ink mixture that I can use. We are all just curious and adventurous and, trying out things are just fun and interesting. We might even learn something.
You can always use the dump ink in a dip pen or a good old fashioned quill feather pen. In the “olden days” they only used dip quill pens for writing and most of that writing was extremely pretty.
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- #15
Absolutely! or you can be adventurous and use it in a $5-$6 Platinum preppy or something like that. No I would not put it in an expensive pen, but just something to have fun with.
AimlessWanderer
Remember to forget me!
I have occasionally topped up a part used cartridges with a different colour (using a syringe), if I wasn't entirely happy with the original fill. Once an ink leaves one of my pens though, it's not going back.
The only exception is if a pen feed needs a clean, and isn't performing well mid-load. I had that with one of mine recently. I used a syringe to transfer ink from one pen to another, so I could strip and clean that first pen.
Unwanted, leftover, etc. ink goes down the drain.
I just use up what I have, one colour at a time. I'll syphon up the remnants with a syringe, and inject them into a pen or cartridge or converter. Then run the pen dry with writing.
No waste, no dump bottle.
But those who want to ... go for it!
No waste, no dump bottle.
But those who want to ... go for it!
Interesting idea, but I would worry about confusing it with my infinity bottle.
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- #20
Infinity bottle?
