
This is why we tend to just recommend that any of our readers who do end up having dried out India ink just throw their current bottle away and buy a new cheap bottle of India ink to replace it. If your India ink does end up drying out then the soot tends to build up into large chunks that will not function correctly for use as an ink without being re-grinded. This is due to the soot in the India ink needing to be extremely fine for it to be suspended in the water and function as an ink. That said though, you can sometimes try adding water to your ink bottle, leaving it for a minute or two and then shaking it for a minute to try and re-hydrate your ink but there is no guarantee that this will work with dried out (often looked at as expired) India ink. Although this is not your India ink expiring, it is a pain and can cause issues with the formula formulating correctly in the future and the majority of the time, it is better to simply throw out a bottle of dried-up India ink and just purchase a new one. This is the traditional recipe that the majority of commercially available India ink formulas use today and what most people seem to use for their work.Īs you may be aware, the main issue with water-based ink is that the water in the ink formula can evaporate in the bottle if not stored correctly when not in use and the same is true for India ink. That said though, India ink does have some issues due to its simplistic formula that can make it a problem to store for long periods of time.Īs we touched on above, for this article, we are only looking at India ink in its base form being made up of very fine soot and water. This is why any artwork that you do involving India ink can last for a very long time with many people thinking that India ink is permanent.Īlthough this is not technically correct as India ink does not have the properties of archival ink or lightfast ink, it will not expire once it has been used for your art work. Technically, India ink does not expire in its purest form as it is simply charcoal and water mixed together so there are no ingredients in it that are able to expire. Please note though, when it comes to homemade India ink, there are a huge number of different recipes out there so we will be sticking to the standard soot and water recipe with no additional ingredients. Now, to be clear, there are two main types of India ink on the market, commercially available India ink formulas and then we have homemade India ink formulas.ĭepending on the type of India ink that you are using, you can have different experiences but throughout our article below, we will try and touch on the differences between the two as well as how you are able to get the most out of your India Ink. From what we have seen, one of the more frequently asked questions that we end up seeing is based around if India ink expires or not.ĭue to there being a few different variables involved in this one, we have decided to publish this dedicated article going over if India ink expires or not to try and help our readers get the most out of their India ink.


DOES INDIA INK EXPIRE HOW TO
In fact, the popularity of India ink seems to keep on increasing with each passing month due to people sharing their India ink artwork on social media attracting more and more people to using it for their own work.Īs with all things art related when they see a sudden surge in their popularity, we have seen a huge surge in the number of people reaching out to ask a wide range of questions about India ink and how to get the most out of it.

DOES INDIA INK EXPIRE FULL
Our content may have affiliate links that can result in commissions for qualifying purchases, full details in our privacy policy.Īlthough India ink has had its niche uses in both general art and body art for an extremely long time, it has seen a solid spike in its popularity over the last few months and it shows no signs of going away anytime soon.
