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Eight years ago while looking for my first black ink to stamp with, I asked the advice of a woman standing next to me at Michaels. She advised me to buy Versafine. To this day that ink pad stamps as beautifully as it did the first day.Ditto Marvy markers even older.
About 18 months ago I purchased SU Early Expresso in their new "juicy" ink pad, and this winter the color is no longer as strong. Ditto Ranger Ink Distress both markers and ink pads also fading within the year of purchase.
Now before anyone starts asking me how I store these products, let me make it clear that I store each one according to manufacture"s instructions.
I then turned over my ink pads everyone of them, and looked to see who the manufacturer was of the ones that were old and still stood up. I was very surprised to see thatit was Tsukineko, who makes ink pads for a number of companies including Momento whose black ink is also endorsed by SU demos.
So I have come to the sad conclusion that some of the above companies know either their pads or ink will not have lasting power, and have the re-inkers which you have to buy over and over if you want to keep these colors or pads performing. Its seems to always come down to money;)
I would love to hear from anyone who can endorse inks from other brands that have good lasting ink besides the ones made by Tsukineko which I now look for when I contemplate buying.
I really would love to hear your experiences, as I cant believe I simply have bad luck picking up pads of ink or markers from the above mentioned companies as there are too many to be that.
I don't have a lot of different ink pads, but I've had the same wonderful experience that you have had with the Versafine Onyx pad that I purchased years ago. I use it constantly when stamping, and it is still going strong.
About a year ago, I was worried that it would "dry out" unexpectedly in the middle of a project, so I used a coupon and picked up another one at Mike's for a spare. It is still wrapped up waiting to be used when my old one dies, if it ever does, lol.
I don't use colors much at all, but have picked up some inexpensive little cubes of chalk/pigment ink in colors when I've found them here and there. I think many of them are Studio G and only cost $1 each. They are still juicy, too.
I think the term "planned obsolescence" certainly must apply to a lot of ink pads!
__________________ Bugga in OK
"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." Dalai Lama
Last edited by buggainok; 05-12-2015 at 09:57 AM..
Versafine is not a water based ink like SU, Distress, etc. I believe Versafine is a pigment ink and advertised to last 5 times longer than other ink pads. Back when I bought mine, they didn't even sell reinkers for them. Which they now do.
That's an apples to oranges comparison, so that may be the source of your frustration. The technologies and ink compositions are entirely different. Versafine is a pigment based ink on a linen pad. The Early Espresso is a dye, water-based ink on a firm foam pad.
Linen and firm foam pads both need to be reinked with dye water-based inks. Water evaporates. They use approximately the same amount of reinker, but in a different way. Linen pads use more reinker less often. Firm foam pads require less reinker, more often. The foam pads are more porous, and designed specifically to give a smooth inking on solid stamps, which they do beautifully. They also perform much better on photopolymer stamps than linen pads do. You will get pooling from a linen pad that you don't get from a firm foam pad because of the way the ink is distributed across this smooth, foam surface.
Pigment inks, like Versafine - which is an AMAZING ink - perform a different job, and linen pads perform a different job than firm foam pads do.
I've reinked my Versafine, but far less often than any dye-based ink pad, regardless of pad technology.
Hope that helps. They're just different animals, and all the animals in question are great at their jobs.
I'm another Versafine fan, I've had mine for many years, still doesn't need reinking, although I did buy a reinker recently of Amazon.com, just to be ready. It has to run out eventually, doesn't it?
I also swear by it for clear stamps, and solid stamps, never ever had a problem with them using Versafine.
And another versafine fan adds her two cents worth. This is the original inkpad And first one I ever bought. I cant even remember how long ago it is but it feels like a long time ago and it is still absolutely brilliant. I have also bought a replacement one, two years ago and it still sits on the shelf unwrapped and waiting.
My next purchase was the Tim Holtz Distress Ink pads. I LOVE these. I use them all the time for watercolouring, blending, stamping, adding colour to paste etc. I bought all the reinkers at the same time and they are still going strong. Have only ever had to reink the very popular ones and still have plenty of reinker. Worth every cent.
Memento ink is another I have had for a long time and use for outlines when doing copic colouring, feels like it is just as good as when I got it, probably 6 or 7 years ago.
[QUOTE=UnderstandBlue;20977281]That's an apples to oranges comparison, so that may be the source of your frustration. The technologies and ink compositions are entirely different. Versafine is a pigment based ink on a linen pad. The Early Espresso is a dye, water-based ink on a firm foam pad.
Linen and firm foam pads both need to be reinked with dye water-based inks. Water evaporates. They use approximately the same amount of reinker, but in a different way. Linen pads use more reinker less often. Firm foam pads require less reinker, more often. The foam pads are more porous, and designed specifically to give a smooth inking on solid stamps, which they do beautifully. They also perform much better on photopolymer stamps than linen pads do. You will get pooling from a linen pad that you don't get from a firm foam pad because of the way the ink is distributed across this smooth, foam surface.
Pigment inks, like Versafine - which is an AMAZING ink - perform a different job, and linen pads perform a different job than firm foam pads do.
I've reinked my Versafine, but far less often than any dye-based ink pad, regardless of pad technology.
Hope that helps. They're just different animals, and all the animals in question are great at their jobs. [/
Okay so how do you explain 8 years of Versafine as opposed to the others. What I am basically saying why can one company make an amazing ink pad and others do not? Why do companies choose to make whatever types of pads or inks when obviously they have a choice.
Your explanation is very good, and I do appreciate the detailed explanation. However it just comes down to a choice of the company and how they can maximize their profits. Somehow Versafine does not feel they have to be pushing Re inkers like others. Usually when someone comes out with a great product their competition takes notice and tries to one up or give consumers an equally good alternative. In this case the alternative is Re-inkers
Okay so how do you explain 8 years of Versafine as opposed to the others. What I am basically saying why can one company make an amazing ink pad and others do not? Why do companies choose to make whatever types of pads or inks when obviously they have a choice.
Your explanation is very good, and I do appreciate the detailed explanation. However it just comes down to a choice of the company and how they can maximize their profits. Somehow Versafine does not feel they have to be pushing Re inkers like others. Usually when someone comes out with a great product their competition takes notice and tries to one up or give consumers an equally good alternative. In this case the alternative is Re-inkers
Rant over. Lol
Like Lydia said, though, it's the formula of the ink that accounts for the difference.
Versafine is made by Tsukineko, which also makes Memento products. Memento is a dye ink... The better comparison is MEMENTO ink to SU ink. And there are plenty of Memento reinkers to be found.
I just realized that while all my inks made by Tusenieko work like the energizer bunny, now I have probably put a curse on them but putting these thoughts on paper so to speak.lol
My experience has been, across the board, whether dye or pigment or chalk formulations, that Tsukineko inks are superior quality. I haven't had much luck with SU inks. Lydia's explanation was so interesting, though I've only gotten good solid stamp coverage with pigment ink or Shadow Ink (and that must be a sweet spot between ink formulation and pad but I don't know what it is!)
I have every color of Versafine ink and wish there were more colors but these are the inks I use all the time with clear stamps or any sentiments. I have lots of Distress ink pads too but these are used for sponging and other techniques rather than just stamping images. I prefer pigment inks over dye inks since I've always gotten better stamped images with pigment inks and pigment ink is what I first started with.
Like Lydia said, though, it's the formula of the ink that accounts for the difference.
Versafine is made by Tsukineko, which also makes Memento products. Memento is a dye ink... The better comparison is MEMENTO ink to SU ink. And there are plenty of Memento reinkers to be found.
You don't buy a bottle of olive oil and expect it to last forever. Sooner or later it's going to be used up. Same way with the ink in an ink pad. That's why the companies make the reinkers, so you don't have to buy a new pad each time. I remember when Versafine first came on the market. It was marketed as different, special. Stampers freaked out because the company didn't make a reinker. How can you not have a reinker? But Versafine proved to be as long lasting as the manufacturer promised. Different formulations are what give the various inks the characteristics they have.
Dea
I have 2 PSX dye ink pads that still work, anyone care to guess how old they are? I've used brand new pads straight out of the packaging that barely worked.
While I understand what people are saying about different ink types, I also understand what the op is saying. Some companies do tend to be more generous with the amount of ink provided on their ink pads in my experience.
From the comments here, I conclude that Tuseniko knows the secret to longevity with ink pads. Many inks serve a good purpose for various techniques and stamping. Too bad they don't all have the secret to "longer " lasting ink pads....... sigh
I was a SU demo in 2003, before they had the current style of ink pad. I have several of those old style ink pads (with the hinged lid) to this day and they are still good, and I've never reinked them and they are not stored upside down.
However, some of the more recent SU dye inks have dried up on me....some of them are the in color sets.
I recently invested in some newer inks - Hero Arts, Ranger Dye and Lawn Fawn. I can already tell that my Ranger dye pads are dryer then the HA or LF. They were the cheapest also. Hmmmm.
Pigment inks - i have quite a lot of cats eyes chalk and pigment. Many are dried up, but in all fairness, it is hot here and heat kills pigment ink pads. My house is not hot, but I did store them in the garage for a short time while I prepared to move and I suspect that is what did them in.
There is my 50 cents worth.
Ashwyness, is that the new Ranger inkpads? The old original ones, Lights/Brights & Earthtones, I've had mine 10+ years, still never re-inked, although I have just bought reinkers for them, as they've been discontinued. I use them a lot for brayering/sponging etc.
I personally LOVE the Palette Ink Pads. My Noir has never been reinked I believe I got it in 2005. Wow it is 10 years old. I absolutely love the hybrid ink pad. I use it when I need a good true black, when I use my watercolor pencils, my spectrum noir markers, I have stamped on glass, cardboard, cork paper, wood, candles and clothing. To this day I still wear a nightshirt that I stamped for a convention almost 10 years ago and the ink still looks like I stamped yesterday after being washed how many times.
For my pigment colors I use VersaMagic, I have not reinked these either.
Just my two cents, but I say go Palette Ink go! Yea rah rah Palette Inks.
A little off-topic, but BTW, regarding dried-up water-based markers, I had amazing success bringing them back to life by following The Frugal Crafter's tips in this video she created: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmOJLBjF5LQ
I've never worried again about markers getting old/dry since I found this video, as I know I can revive them and get years and years more use out of them.
I don't think it's just the Tsukineko brands that are long lasting (though they are great inks). I have Marvy brand ink pads from Uchida that I've had for fifteen years & I've never reinked them. My India Ink black is made by Superior, I use it every single day, & I've only reinked it once. My Brilliance pads have never been reinked and I've had them for over 12 years also. And, my old Adirondacks have never been reinked. I hate that they've been discontinued as well as the Marvys. I have a few SU and CTMH ink pads (which I haven't reinked), but I don't often use them because of the cases they're in. I either drop them or pinch my fingers. Just me. Anyway, the name of the game is "profit", no matter the company. They do what is in their best interest. It is what it is. I just LOVE ink, almost all of it.
__________________ Keep what is worth keeping
and with the breath of kindness
blow the rest away.
funny thing, the palette ink pads are $50 on amazon! :shock: i know thats overpriced. and i dont know how amazon sets some of its prices . but had to tell you guys that when you mention an item, i HAVE to google it and find prices and then it usually goes on my wish list. can i be happy with just the ink i have, oh no, i must have the whole collection.
__________________ Creativity is intelligence having fun. - Albert Einstein
funny thing, the palette ink pads are $50 on amazon! :shock: i know thats overpriced. and i dont know how amazon sets some of its prices . but had to tell you guys that when you mention an item, i HAVE to google it and find prices and then it usually goes on my wish list. can i be happy with just the ink i have, oh no, i must have the whole collection.
Okay so I am assuming that that price is for the whole set. You see I think that I maybe paid $4 an ink pad when I purchased them. I would never pay that price for one ink pad, trust me, I am what you would call a frugal stamper, I make due with what I have and even though I would LOVE to spend a ton of money, I just can't. I was taught to stamp by a friend who is very frugal and well I followed her lead.
The individual pads are $6.29 on Amazon. The listing for the higher price did not clarify what you would actually get - it just said "ink pad and reinker set" - clear as mud. I did some snooping and was unable to find any place that carries the Palette line. There were a couple of places that had a few colors, but none that offered much variety. I thought that was kind of weird, because Stewart Superior (who manufactures the Palette pads) have a huge selection of colors and offer them in full-size pads and four-packs of cubes. I want them now, but don't know where to get them!
Regarding the new SU ink pads, they do dry out faster then the old SU ink pads.
__________________ The quickest way for a parent to get a child's attention is to sit down and look comfortable. Practice safe eating always use condiments
I concur about Tsukineko, but I also agree there are others that are good. Just last week, I dug out my ANCIENT tin inkpad of Nick Bantock Chartreuse Leaf dye ink, and it still was plenty juicy and vibrant. To criticize Tsukineko on one thing, seems to me that their little VersaMagic chalk ink dew drop cubes are MUCH juicier than their full-size pads - go figure. And recently, I can't prove it, but I swear that Wendy Vecchi's 3 newest archival ink pad colors are nowhere near as juicy as all her earlier ones (I have them all). Made me suspicious that Ranger is beginning to get stingy!
I also have to tell on myself - I use Tsukineko's little finger daubers a lot. I have one for almost every ink pad I own. Been using them for years. And all that time, I either pounced or rubbed the dauber on the inkpad to pick up ink. With the Tim distress inks, I'd press them onto a craft sheet and swipe my dauber through it.
Well, this last time I made cards, when I was using that old Nick Bantock pad, I was afraid it might be too frail, so I simply pressed the dauber tip into the pad for about 2 seconds to pick up the color. I was shocked! I picked up plenty of ink, and it blended into the paper better. Silly me, I've been doing it wrong all these years!
I have some old SU ink pads (from the late 90s!) that I am just now reinking on SOME of them. I prefer the old linen, flip top containers. I do have some of the new-fangled SU containers (and worse yet the CTMH style) that I hate because you need 2 hands to open an close them. However, the design to hold the pad upside down to keep it juicer is what seems to dry them out. (IMHO) I don't store the old ones upside down and they stay "wet" longer that the upside down variety. Either that, or they are not putting as much ink on the new pads originally. I refuse to buy the new SU pads, as I think it is just another gimmick to get us to buy a new pad. I don't use polymer stamps, so I'm satisfied with my old pads.
I have the entire line of Adirondack dye inks for about 6-8 years and the ones I use the most are showing signs of needing reinking. They are a Ranger product. I use them for most of my coloring. I have Distress inks as well, but started with the Adirondacks so I use a mixture of the 2 and I am finding my Distress pads seem drier.
My only complaint with the Adirondack pads is the strings they all seem to develop all around the edges. I cut them off but they make a mess. I have the complete set of reinkers as well and will finally open them and reink the whole set at once.
They tend to bead up on clear stamps but I have found my solution I cover my stamp in versamark first. Since I have them it is cheaper to make them work than buy new stamps! I do have some Versafine as well that get used for those "very special" cards.
One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that we now have environmental restrictions that don't allow the use of products we had in the past. Unless we have the inside track on what is used to make inks, it could be that inks don't last as long because of a change in the formula. There is also the issue of cost. If the materials cost more how does a company try to keep their prices affordable while still making a profit.
The only pads that I rarely re-ink are my old Ancient Page. I frequently re-ink all my pads because I like them juicy. I don't buy pads based on their longevity. For me it's about the color and the type of ink. I'm willing to buy re-inkers to keep the pads fresh.
Longevity also is an issue with markers. I have Marvy Brush Markers that are really old and still have great tips whereas the new ones don't last as long. I find this to be true with all my markers (Tombow, SU, Marvy, and especially Distress Markers). There isn't as much ink and the tips fray. Thank goodness for being able to buy new tips for some of the markers and if I have a matching color I will re-ink them.
Perhaps it's just a sign of the times...things don't last as long as they used to and we wouldn't want to pay the price to get the quality we had in the past.
Just a quick comment-I have had my Distress pads for several years and none of them have dried out or lost their color. I bought all of the reinkers, but use them for techniques rather than reinking. It is also good to keep in mind that the Distress formula is pretty unique and can't be compared to other inks for that reason.
Perhaps it's just a sign of the times...things don't last as long as they used to and we wouldn't want to pay the price to get the quality we had in the past.
You make some great points. What annoys me most about our modern throwaway culture is that there's no pride in the products anymore. They would rather see us repurchase cheap stuff "because that's just how it is" (which, of course, increases their profits) rather than earn our loyalty by making quality products. I definitely stick to companies that prioritize quality as they are so rare now!
I have many brands of ink and I've only found them to run out after many, many uses. My SU! Inks are fading but they are 9+ years old. Even if you store them according to manufacturer's directions, climate in different places varies. Both heat and humidity can affect how long an ink pad lasts.
I've also noticed some lids fit better than others which may also be part of the problem. And someone mentioned that the type of ink matters. Virtually all inks come with reinkers and not because they are trying to steal your money. They run out when you use them a lot! Or if the liquid in them evaporates. I've had to reink many Tsukineko ink pads. They are good quality but eventually... My Distress pads are still good after 5+ years. I think my Antique Linen and Vinatge photo are much older. I've reinkers the AL but not the VP. And it still works beautifully.
You could also try ink refresher by Ranger. I haven't personally had the best results but some people love them.
I love my old Stampin' Up pads and have had some of them for 10 years without reinking them. But I've gotten 3 of the new foam ones and I HATE them. After stamping 20 flowers the middles had no color left in them and I had to stamp around the edges to get any ink. And they replaced my grey stamp pad three times and two of them were completely dry out of the plastic wrapping. I will never buy Stampin Up pads again.
I do love my versafine black pad. I did quite a bit of research to find a really nice black and that was everyones favorite.
I love my old Stampin' Up pads and have had some of them for 10 years without reinking them. But I've gotten 3 of the new foam ones and I HATE them. After stamping 20 flowers the middles had no color left in them and I had to stamp around the edges to get any ink. And they replaced my grey stamp pad three times and two of them were completely dry out of the plastic wrapping. I will never buy Stampin Up pads again.
I do love my versafine black pad. I did quite a bit of research to find a really nice black and that was everyones favorite.
Originally I just "liked" your post, but I thought I would add to your thoughts on the new SU pads. Why did they change? No one else has such a pad, so maybe they should take a clue and go bak to what really works.
I've been using various inkpads for nearly 20 years now, and I do have several ColorBox pigment inkpads that still work great. However, if you use a pad a lot, at some point it is going to run out of ink and have to be reinked. Every time you ink a stamp, a dauber, or put ink directly to the paper you are pulling ink out of the pad so it stands to reason that it will at some point "dry out." As to how long that takes it all depends on how much and how often you use it.
If you fill your car's gas tank, how long it lasts depends upon how much you drive. And when the tank is getting low the only thing that will keep your car going is to put more gas in it.
Originally I just "liked" your post, but I thought I would add to your thoughts on the new SU pads. Why did they change? No one else has such a pad, so maybe they should take a clue and go bak to what really works.
I think SU changes the ink pads because there was a problem with the pads sinking in the middle.
__________________ The quickest way for a parent to get a child's attention is to sit down and look comfortable. Practice safe eating always use condiments
Originally I just "liked" your post, but I thought I would add to your thoughts on the new SU pads. Why did they change? No one else has such a pad, so maybe they should take a clue and go bak to what really works.
I fully believe that everyone has the right to their opinion so I want to be careful in my words so as not to be offensive in anyway.
At first I hated the new SU foam pads. I over inked stamps, didn't like that I had to refill more often, and held onto all my cloth pads because I was sure I would never be able to adjust. But once I started to see the richness of the ink and how well they worked with poly stamps I decided I needed to find out how to use them. It took me a while to change my ways because old habits die hard.
When I compared the changes I had to make I found that my "perfect" cloth pads also required special treatment (strings that need to be trimmed, having to stamp around the edge of the pad because the middle was broken down, special ways of inking up solid stamps so the linen marks didn't show, and that I needed different ink for clear stamps). The perfect pads didn't see so perfect anymore.
I wish more companies had foam pads because if my very old Ancient Page pads are any indication, they last a long time without breaking down.
All in all, its a good thing that we have so many different kinds of pads so that everyone can find something they can love. :p
I think they switched to foam because the foam inks up photopolymer stamps better. I just read that you get better results by smooshing the ink into the pad with a plastic spoon.
Ink...Whats going on here?
