Ink Review #93: Noodler's Black

I think everyone should have some good basic blacks in their stash, so let's take another look at black ink today. Noodler's Black is advertised as a classic, affordable black, great for students.  I purchased my bottle quite a while ago, from Goulet Pens. Whenever I hear people talking about good black inks for students, they always mention this one, so let's take a look.

The bottle:

The bottle is a white plastic bottle. At the time I purchased mine, it was only available in this bottle, but now it is offered in a glass bottle (I hate this bottle, I prefer the glass version). The label fell off a long time ago, due to insufficient glue. I just remember that my one unmarked bottle is Noodler's Black. The bottle is 3 oz (90ml). 

The color...

This ink is actually a pretty light black, which surprised me. I was expecting a more saturated black. Since Noodler's black is made by hand, there is slight color variation in each batch, so it's possible that I just got one of the lighter batches. 

The swabs and drops did take a very long time to dry. After two days they still weren't completely dry. 

Dry time: 50 seconds

Water resistance: High. This ink is advertised as bulletproof as well.

Feathering: None

Show through: low to medium

Bleeding: None

Other properties: low shading, no sheen

Ink swabs for comparison, left to right (top to bottom for RSS): Pilot Iroshizuku Take-sumi, Noodler's Black, and Diamine Jet Black. To see the Noodler's ink swabs together, click here.

Pelikan Edelstein Onyx, Robert Oster Graphite, and Diamine Onyx Black. To see the black ink swabs together, click here.

Longer writing:

I used a medium nib on Tomoe River paper. There is a little bit of shading, but no flow issues.

Overall, this is a well-behaved ink, but it does take a long time to dry. I did find the color a bit lacking, I prefer dark blacks, and this one is almost a grey. Between the light color and the long dry time, I think there are other blacks that I would use before this one. 

Disclaimer: I purchased this ink myself, and all photos and opinions are my own. There are no affiliate links on this page.