Serious question, is it ever okay to mix inks from different brands?

For a long time, I thought the only rule was to stick with the same brand to avoid bad reactions. I mixed a whole bottle of a popular blue from Brand A with a green from Brand B, about a 70/30 split, and it was fine for months. Then last week, I pulled out that pen and found a weird, gritty sludge in the converter. It totally gummed up the feed. I had to take the whole thing apart. That made me wonder if I just got lucky before, or if some brands really do play nice together while others are a hard no. What's your line on this? Do you have a list of safe combos, or is it just too risky to ever cross brands?

3 comments

3 Comments

lisa_grant3mo ago

Ugh, that gritty sludge is a nightmare to clean out. I had a real close call mixing a basic blue from one company with a burgundy from another. It looked fine for weeks, then one morning it just stopped writing. When I checked, the feed was packed with this almost rubbery gunk. I got it all cleaned, but it was such a hassle. My rule now is to only mix inks from the same brand, and even then I do a tiny test in a sample vial first. It just saves so much trouble.

bettyhunt29d ago

Oh man, that gritty sludge is the absolute worst. I totally feel your pain with having to take the whole pen apart, that's such a hassle. I did the same thing with a bright turquoise and a dark purple from two different brands, and it was fine for like three fills. Then one day I got that same weird, rubbery gunk and I couldn't even flush it out properly. I had to soak the whole nib unit overnight and it still left a weird film. It makes me wonder if there's just a few brands out there that play nice, or if it's always a ticking time bomb.

shah.olivia3mo ago

Oh man, that sludge is the worst! I did the same thing with a black and a red from two different big brands, and it was totally fine for a few fills. Then one day it just would not flow, and I found this weird stringy goop in the nib. It was a huge pain to clean. I got lucky for a while too, but now I just don't mix brands at all. It's not worth the risk of ruining a good pen.