Fountain pen enthusiasts love the smooth, expressive writing experience that comes with using bottled ink, but sometimes, waiting for ink to dry can be a challenge—especially for left-handed writers, note-takers on the go, or anyone who wants to avoid accidental smudging. If you’re looking for reliable, fast-drying fountain pen ink, you’re in the right place!
Ink Comparison: Fast Drying Inks
In this special ink comparison, we’re putting several popular fast-drying inks to the test to see how they stack up against each other. We’ll evaluate dry times, ink performance, and any unique characteristics that set them apart. Whether you need an ink for quick journaling, office use, or fast-paced writing sessions, this guide is a good place to start. Let’s dive in and see which ink dries the fastest so you can discover your perfect, smudge-free solution!
The Lineup: 5 Fast Drying Inks We’ll Test Today
Are you ready to meet our fast-drying contenders? For this ink comparison, we’ve selected five highly-rated fast-drying fountain pen inks from different brands. Each of these inks is known for its quick-dry properties, making them ideal choices for writers who need efficiency without sacrificing performance. Here’s a quick introduction to the inks we’ll be testing:
- Wearingeul Night Colored in Grape ink (standard version)
- Monteverde Color Changing Purple to Yellow ink
- Taccia Ukiyo-e Hokusai Fakakihanada ink
- Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Red ink
- Lamy Green ink
Fast Drying Ink Comparison: The Dry Times
Our team of fast trying fountain pen inks performed pretty well during our Dry Time Test, with the “slowest” dry time coming in around 6-7 seconds. Let’s take a closer look!
But How Do They Respond to Water?
- Wearingeul Night Colored in Grape ink (standard version): HIGHLY Water Resistant (at a glance you might even call this ink waterproof)
- Monteverde Color Changing Purple to Yellow ink: MODERATE Water Resistance. The base ink is quite resistant, but adding the Color Changing solution changes the ink’s resistance level; it significantly reduces the ink’s water resistance, and the ink starts to appear muddy from water exposure.
- Taccia Ukiyo-e Housai Fakakihanada ink: MODERATE Water Resistance
- Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Red ink: NOT Water Resistant (in fact, this red ink will practically wash away when exposed to water)
- Lamy Green ink: LOW Water Resistance
Other Things to Consider When Searching for a Fast Drying Fountain Pen Ink:
When you’re on the hunt for a fast drying fountain pen ink, there are a few other things you want to keep in mind so your quest can eventually be successful.
Paper Choice: The paper quality makes a difference. Some inks might feather or bleed on thin or low-quality paper, but perform beautifully on higher quality paper.
Nib Sizes: When you write with a smaller nib size/width, the ink will generally dry faster than when you write with a broader nib (simply because bigger nibs are putting down more ink).
Writing Style: If you write fast, you might need an EXTRA fast drying ink.
Color Preference: Blue and Black inks tend to dry faster (generally speaking) than their more colorful counterparts. So you might have to hunt a bit harder for a specific COLOR that dries quickly.
Other Fast Drying Inks You May Want to Check Out:
Here are a number of other fountain pen inks with a reputation for being fast drying that you may want to check out if you’re on the hunt for an ink that dries quickly.
The Fastest of the Fast:
- Pilot Blue-Black ink is a reliable, permanent blue-black with a fast dry time that works well on most papers.
- Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Black is a workhorse that dries fast and has minimal bleeding.
Other Inks That Are Typically Considered FAST Drying Inks:
- Monteverde Green to Pink ink
- Taccia Hokusai-Koiai ink
- Monteverde Deep Blue to Pink ink
- Conklin Vintage Purple ink
- Pilot Iroshizuku Kiri-same ink (a quick drying gray ink)
- Diamine Twilight ink (a teal-black ink)
- Van Dieman’s Oakwood Brown ink
- Van Dieman’s Bay of Fires ink
- Pilot Iroshizuku Fuyu-gaki (an orange ink)
- Diamine Tropical Green ink
- Taccia Fakaka-hanada ink
- Monteverde Blue to Yellow ink
- Kaweco Summer Purple ink
- Colorverse #69 Opportunity ink
- Lamy Ruby ink
- Lamy Beryl ink
- Diamine Pink Glitz ink
- Monteverde Garnet ink
- Pilot Iroshizuku Kosomosu ink
- Diamine Safari ink (dark green ink)
- Colorverse #34 Tango ink
- Conklin Antique Turquoise ink
- Caran d’Ache Delicate Green ink (vivid bright green ink)
Today’s Fast Drying Ink Comparison Was Requested By a Reader:
Today’s Fast Drying ink comparison was a recent request (from A-L) submitted as a comment on a previously posted ink review, the Ferris Wheel Press Age of Aurum fountain pen ink review. The request was for fast-drying inks that were water resistant – fingers crossed this was as super helpful as you hoped.
Shop your fast drying fountain pen inks at PenChalet.com.
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I didn’t think color was that much of a factor – interesting to know! I guess I would’ve thought darker colors might’ve been more likely to dry out faster, since they might absorb more light.
I’d love to hear more about the Alchemy inks, that’s a brand that popped up for me that I’ve been curious about. Especially the Raven Blue!
It is tricky – but the more vivid colors definitely take longer to dry. The colors that are lighter on the page are more likely to show a quicker dry time though. And I’ll make a note that we have a request for an Endless Alchemy Raven Blue ink review!
great info thanks
You’re welcome – glad it was helpful!