We have a treat for you today. We’ve had several requests for red ink reviews, and a red ink comparison, so we’re coming through for the red ink fans with a red ink comparison & giveaway! Requests for red ink reviews and comparisons ranged from specific ink requests (hello Diamine Oxblood and Robert Oster Sedona Red) to requests for more “muted” red inks to requests for less “obnoxiously red” red inks. We did our best to feature one or two for each of you. And the winner of this week’s ink giveaway, gets to pick their favorite of the red inks featured in today’s ink comparison, so that’s another good reason to check out today’s ink comparison. You’ll need to see which one you’d like to request if you’re lucky enough to bring home the win!

Hoping to enter to win the giveaway and feeling antsy? Just scroll all the way to the bottom of the ink comparison, and you’ll find a link to enter to win. Good luck!

Red Fountain Pen Inks: Searching for the Perfect Red?

Today’s ink review features 6 different red fountain pen inks:

• Robert Oster Sedona Red ink (Pen Chalet Exclusive)
• Diamine Oxblood ink
• Lamy Red ink
• Pineider Rosso Red ink
• Taccia Aka Red ink
• 3 Oysters i.Color.U Dancheong ink

Other Products and Supplies We Used During Today’s Ink Comparison:

For today’s ink comparison, we used a J. Herbin Spiral Glass Dip Pen in Sand along with a Clairefontaine Triomphe notebook and a Col-o-ring Ink Testing Book. We also kept a Dee Charles Pen Wipe nearby to cover our bases. Other supplies included: cotton swabs, water, and ink syringes.

The Best of the Best Inks from Today’s Red Ink Comparison:

The “best” fountain pen ink choices always depend on a bunch of different factors:

• the pen you’re using
• the project you’re going to work on
• your personal writing style
• your own personal preferences

To help you figure out the best red inks for you…we ran a few simple tests including a dry test, a water test, and a 1-dip test. For the dry test, we wrote out Dry Test…Dry Test…, waited 10 seconds, and then ran a dry cotton swab over the writing. You can see the results in the video. For the water test, we wrote out Water Test…Water Test…, waited 10 minutes, and then ran a wet cotton swab over the writing. You can see these results in the video as well. We followed that with continuous lines of figure 8’s to test how far the ink would write without re-dipping our dip pen. Hopefully this information will help you determine your own personal “best” red ink of the group.

Which Red Ink Dried the Fastest?

The fastest drying inks out of today’s fountain pen inks were Pineider Rosso Red ink and Lamy Red ink.

Here are the results of the dry time test in order from fastest dry time to slowest:

• Lamy Red (approx. 45 seconds to 1 minute)
• Pineider Rosso Red (approx. 2 seconds)
• Diamine Oxblood (approx. 2-3 seconds)
• Robert Oster Sedona Red, Pen Chalet Exclusive (approx. 4-5 seconds)
• 3 Oysters i.Color.U Dancheong (approx. 5 seconds)
• Taccia Aka Red (approx. 6-7 seconds)

Which Red Ink Had the Most Shading & Sheen?

For your info (so we’re all on the same page): When we refer to sheen, we’re talking about a visible metallic-like overlay that shows up after some inks dry. When we talk about shading, we’re referring to variations of the ink’s base color (lighter or darker colors that are visible after the ink dries).

When considering the 6 red inks in today’s red ink comparison, we didn’t have any red inks that had a heavy enough sheen to show up in normal writing, but when applied in a particularly heavy saturation level (like in the ink splashes), we had 4 red inks that showed potential sheening traits. And they seemed to fall into 2 distinct categories or “looks:”

1. Muted red ink or pinky ink with significant gold toned sheening (Taccia Aka Red ink and Lamy Red ink).
2. Deep, deep red-burgundy ink displaying even darker green/grey/black sheen (Diamine Oxblood ink and Robert Oster Sedona Red ink).

The top shading performer in today’s red ink comparison was Pineider Rosso Red ink, which showed a surprising variety of shades from deep red to bright red to pinky red and a few in between. 3 Oysters i.Color.U Dancheong also showed possible shading traits however, while Pineider’s Red ink showed a wide array of reds, the 3 Oysters Dancheong ink veers from red to burgundy to almost black.

Which Red Ink Was the Most Water Resistant in the Red Ink Comparison?

The MOST water resistant red ink in today’s red ink comparison appeared to be Taccia Aka Red ink (followed closely by Lamy Red ink).

We chose today’s Most Water Resistant red ink award winner based on which ink had the most legible writing with the least amount of distortion after the water test (described above).

Today’s inks in order of most water resistant to least water resistant:

• Taccia Aka Red ink
• Lamy Red ink
• 3 Oysters i.Color.u Dancheong ink
• Pineider Rosso Red ink
• Diamine Oxblood ink
• Robert Oster Sedona Red ink

Which Red Fountain Pen Ink Comes at the Best Price? *

Today’s inks come at a range of prices, and ink bottle sizes.

Today’s inks listed from lowest to highest price (bottled):

• Diamine Oxblood ink (30 ml ink bottle or 80 ml bottle, and also available as an 18 pack of fountain pen ink cartridges)
• Lamy Red ink (50 ml bottle, but also available 5 pack of fountain pen ink cartridges)
• Taccia Aka Red ink (40 ml ink bottle)
• Robert Oster Sedona Red ink (50 ml ink bottle)
• 3 Oysters i.Color.U Dancheong (38 ml ink bottle)
• Pineider Rosso Red (75 ml ink bottle)

Today’s inks listed according to best value (with the BEST value red ink listed first):

• Lamy Red ink
• Diamine Oxblood ink
• Pineider Rosso Red ink
• Taccia Aka Red ink
• Robert Oster Sedona Red ink
• 3 Oysters i.Color.U Dancheong

*Actual prices are not listed in the ink comparisons since they may vary depending on sale pricing, manufacturer price changes, etc. But you can always find the current discounted pricing on your favorite inks at PenChalet.com.

The Red Ink Comparison and the 1-Dip Test:

We also included a 1-Dip Test where we dipped the pen ink ink and then wrote continuously on the page to see how far the ink would go with consistent coverage, etc. All 6 inks performed exceedingly well. So well, in fact, that we didnt

Check back often for full ink reviews (weekly along with an ink giveaway) and our new ink comparisons! And, as always, find your favorite pens and inks at PenChalet.com.

Enter to Win a Red Fountain Pen Ink:

Enter to win one of the bottles of red fountain pen ink that Pen Chalet used in this week’s ink comparison (winner will choose a color featured in today’s review):

a Rafflecopter giveaway