{"id":14755,"date":"2025-01-24T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-24T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/?p=14755"},"modified":"2025-01-24T08:20:07","modified_gmt":"2025-01-24T13:20:07","slug":"good-ink-bottle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/good-ink-bottle\/","title":{"rendered":"What Makes a Good Ink Bottle?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"bsf_rt_marker\"><\/div>\n<p>This post is a response to <a href=\"https:\/\/ukfountainpens.com\/\">UK Fountain Pens&#8217;<\/a> post, <a href=\"https:\/\/ukfountainpens.com\/2025\/01\/18\/what-makes-a-good-ink-bottle\/\">What Makes a Good Ink Bottle?<\/a> Reading  Anthony&#8217;s post got me thinking about what <em>I<\/em> think makes a good ink bottle. After all, I know I&#8217;m a bit odd with how I fill my pens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">From the original<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>While I highly suggest you take a couple of minutes to read Anthony&#8217;s post, as a recap, or if you don&#8217;t have time, he posits there are four main factors to a &#8220;good&#8221; ink bottle:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Stability<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Filling Convenience, including, &#8220;what pens can go past the bottle rim to fill and how easy is it to scoop up every drop in the bottle without resorting to a syringe.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Construction Quality<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Aesthetic Beauty<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>At first read, those seem like good factors for judging how &#8220;good&#8221; an ink bottle is. But, as I thought about it more, I realized that while there is some overlap in our requirements, we don&#8217;t completely agree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">My preferences: overlap<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Let&#8217;s start with where Anthony and I overlap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Stability<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>I 100% agree on stability. If the bottle is prone to falling over, I&#8217;m never going to use it. Likewise, a bottle that <em>feels<\/em> unstable is equally likely to get ignored, or used much less frequently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Filling Convenience<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>I also agree on filling convenience, to a point. Yes, the bottle opening needs to be big enough to accommodate a pen, but I don&#8217;t mind needing to syringe the last bit of ink out of a bottle. I usually syringe fill pens anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>BUT, for the 2 pens I own that cannot be syringe-filled, I want the bottle to be tall enough to fit the nib in it. Obviously, I don&#8217;t expect this from mini bottles, but a standard size bottle should be tall enough to fill a pen properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">My preferences: divergence<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>And here is where our preferences begin to diverge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Construction and aesthetic beauty<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Neither of these factor into my considerations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;ve owned a few hundred ink bottles, and not one of them has had a construction (read: structural integrity) issue, so I don&#8217;t think there&#8217;s a reason to consider it. It seems more likely, in my experience, that a bottle with construction issues is an anomaly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I store all of my ink in a closed cabinet, so I only see them when I&#8217;m inking a pen. Because of that, I don&#8217;t really care about the beauty of the bottle. For me, form is far more important than beauty. If a bottle is particularly pretty, it&#8217;s a cool plus, but doesn&#8217;t make it a &#8220;better&#8221; bottle than one that isn&#8217;t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Footprint<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;ve mentioned this a few times in past posts, but I dislike bottles that have unnecessarily large footprints. Specifically, ink bottles that have a base larger than the main bottle. Prime examples include the Diamine Inkvent bottles and the Colorverse bottles with their &#8220;tails.&#8221; This really only takes up extra space and makes storage harder. While I haven&#8217;t rebottled my Colorverse inks, I <em>have<\/em> rebottled all of my Inkvent inks into standard Diamine bottles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Leak protection<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>This one is specific to the cap and how any given bottle provides some extra leak protection. I&#8217;ve seen paper inserts \u2014 like Pilot Iroshizuku, Taccia, Diamine, etc.\u2014 plastic inserts \u2014 I can&#8217;t remember which brand has these \u2014 and attached plastic stoppers \u2014 like Pennonia and Birmingham Pen Co.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My preference is the plastic stoppers. They don&#8217;t stick to the rim of the bottle, and they are excellent leak protection. I can&#8217;t count how many times a paper insert has gotten stuck to a bottle leaving me trying to pry it off. If a company absolutely <em>must<\/em> use a paper insert, then it would be nice if they used the high-quality inserts like Pelikan for their Edelstein bottles. I don&#8217;t think I&#8217;ve ever had one of those get stuck. I&#8217;ve only come across the plastic inserts once \u2014 I wish I could remember which brand \u2014 and I had all sorts of problems with it because it wasn&#8217;t the right size for the cap, it was a bit too big.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Recap<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As a quick recap, my requirements for a good ink bottle are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Stability: does not tip over and doesn&#8217;t <em>feel<\/em> like it&#8217;s going to tip over<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Filling convenience: an opening big enough to fit a pen, and a bottle tall enough to fit a nib<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Footprint: no bigger than the main size of the bottle<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Leak protection: plastic stoppers, or at the bare minimum, high-quality paper insert that doesn&#8217;t stick<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Good bottles<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>So, with those requirements, what ink bottles do I think are &#8220;good?&#8221; Top of my list are Pennonia and Birmingham Pen Co. bottles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the opposite end of the spectrum, Diamine Inkvent and Troublemaker have some of the worst bottles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>Did you read Anthony&#8217;s post? Do you agree with his requirements, mine, or do you have completely different ones? Let me know in the comments! I&#8217;d love to hear from you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thanks for reading to the end, I hope you enjoyed my post. Make sure to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.us16.list-manage.com\/subscribe?u=d9c28d9c11226013eb8c0544e&amp;id=fb56c60d55\">subscribe to my blog<\/a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/randomly_._rachel\/\">follow me on Instagram<\/a>&nbsp;so you don\u2019t miss any posts. I generally post at least once a week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Reading UK Fountain Pens&#8217; post, &#8220;What Makes a Good Ink Bottle?&#8221; got me thinking about what factors I feel are important. Find out what makes a good bottle for me.<\/p>\n<div class=\"more-link-wrapper\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/good-ink-bottle\/\">Keep Reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">What Makes a Good Ink Bottle?<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14767,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[407],"tags":[315],"class_list":["post-14755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ink","tag-how-i-do-things","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/inkBottle_featured.jpg?fit=288%2C288&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8Z77k-3PZ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11122,"url":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/stationery-marvels-tag\/","url_meta":{"origin":14755,"position":0},"title":"Stationery Marvels Tag","author":"Rachel","date":"October 24, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"You know I love adapting tags from the YouTube makeup world, and since this one was so positive, I had to give it a go.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Fountain Pens&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Fountain Pens","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/category\/stationery\/fountain-pens\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/stationeryMarvles-featured.jpg?fit=288%2C288&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1886,"url":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/fp201-4\/","url_meta":{"origin":14755,"position":1},"title":"Fountain Pen 201: Inventories","author":"Rachel","date":"August 17, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Welcome back to Fountain Pen 201, and happy Fountain Pen Friday! This week, I'll be covering the benefits of keeping an inventory of your pen and ink collection.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Fountain Pens&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Fountain Pens","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/category\/stationery\/fountain-pens\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Currently Inked Pages","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/currentlyInked-300x209.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12604,"url":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/17-ink-questions\/","url_meta":{"origin":14755,"position":2},"title":"17 Ink Questions","author":"Rachel","date":"February 23, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Check out my answers to the fun 17 Ink Questions tag from OliveOctopus.ink.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Ink&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Ink","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/category\/stationery\/ink\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"all of my baskets of ink samples stacked in two columns of 4 baskets","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/20231125_170247.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/20231125_170247.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/20231125_170247.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/20231125_170247.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/20231125_170247.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10072,"url":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/tips-learning-new-pens\/","url_meta":{"origin":14755,"position":3},"title":"Sharing Tips: Learning New Pens","author":"Rachel","date":"April 12, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I came across this tip as a comment posted by Iron Mic on Liane Likes' video Part 1: My Fountain Pen Journey, Conversation with seemownay.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Fountain Pens&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Fountain Pens","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/category\/stationery\/fountain-pens\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/tips1-featured.jpg?fit=288%2C288&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1480,"url":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/fp101-5\/","url_meta":{"origin":14755,"position":4},"title":"Fountain Pen 101: Ink","author":"Rachel","date":"June 8, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Welcome back to Fountain Pen 101!\u00a0Today I present an overview of ink, including brands and commonly discussed properties.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Ink&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Ink","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/category\/stationery\/ink\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Shimmer Ink","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Shimmer-300x167.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11008,"url":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/fp-tag-5000\/","url_meta":{"origin":14755,"position":5},"title":"Fountain Pen Tag 5000","author":"Rachel","date":"September 8, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Another \"fountain pen tag\" because they're so fun. But this one is more than just pens.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Fountain Pens&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Fountain Pens","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/category\/stationery\/fountain-pens\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pilot Custom 74 Orange","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Pilot-Custom-74-Orange.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Pilot-Custom-74-Orange.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Pilot-Custom-74-Orange.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Pilot-Custom-74-Orange.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Pilot-Custom-74-Orange.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Pilot-Custom-74-Orange.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14755"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14755\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14765,"href":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14755\/revisions\/14765"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}