Cuppa Tea anyone?

[prasad]

Hi all,
I was reading up on recopies of Ink on a couple of forums and particularly about Iron Gall ink.  It is not so easy to get my hands on Gall so I tried something else.

Anything with Tannin should get good ink, according to the stuff I read.  Tea also has a fair amount of Tannin.  SO i wondered if my morning cup of black tea could be used for ink.

Here is my first attempt….






The shade is a darkish grey, not really black.  Maybe needs more tea leaves and less water.  But it’s a nice grey and CHEAP   
Great for practice.  The writing is 2mm 'X' height

-Prasad

[Nickkih]

Holy awesome! I love it

[Roseann]

That really is awesome!!
Thanks for sharing! !

[Blotbot]

So how did you make it?  Did you just add the iron sulfate?  And now I am wondering about red wine...

[prasad]

So how did you make it?  Did you just add the iron sulfate?  And now I am wondering about red wine...

Hi Ellen

100 ml water with 3 teaspoons of tea leaves.
Bring to a boil and then simmer till water reduces to about half.

Strain and squeeze tea leaves to get last drop of tea saturation from them
Cool to about 50 Deg. C. ( or just till you can stick your finger in it without getting burnt)

Add pinches of iron sulfate till it turns greyish black.

About 3 pinches does the trick. Beyond that does not change the colour much.

The best part is, when you write, when ink is still wet on paper, it's an almost tranrperent colour. Once it dries and the Fe oxidises, it turns a lovely grey.

Works well with, (replace tea with any of the below)
Coffee, red wine, pomegranate peels, beet root (slices with peel)

 . Got my wife wondering why I have a sudden interest in groceries.

[bluestockingpen]

So interesting! Thanks for sharing your results. I'm an avid tea drinker myself, so this would be a fun project to try!

[schin]

This reminds me of a ink recipe for Bloser's ink.. he says when the ink is too dark, thin it water or with coffee strong enough to kill a cat!

I wouldn't want to test that out..

http://www.iampeth.com/text_docs/Bloser%20ink%20article.pdf

[Milonguera]

@Schin--I wouldn't want to know what coffee would kill a cat, but @prasad1970, where do you get iron sulfate???  I wonder if you used green tea, what color ink do you suppose that would would yield? 

[Cecilia]

@prasad1970 that is absolutely amazing!! thanks for sharing the recipe!


Being unable to find iron sulfate, I tried the 100% natural recipe (raspberry + vineyard + salt).
This is the result.


Smell is not as good as a rose... believe me, you have to totally love nature and green-life to love this ink.


Pros:
- you can produce it instantly and what you see in the picture is how the "ink" works immediately after production
- you can try using any kind of fruit
- unexpensive
- gets dark when it dries
- results in good thins and shades


Cons:
- not waterproof
- doesn't last long (you have to keep it in the fridge and will be good for use for some days)
- I fear it's light-sensitive / will see how it changes after sometimes exposed to sunlight


But it's fun making it

[prasad]

@prasad1970, where do you get iron sulfate???  I wonder if you used green tea, what color ink do you suppose that would would yield?

I have some green tea and will experiment  Indians make tea by boiling the tea leaves in milk and water and green tea is normally just infused in hot water.  But will try both and tell you what happens.  Iron sulfate is normally available with all Chemical Suppliers.  Just ask them for Ferrous Sulphate FeSO₄.

I got it in a chemical supplier shop for schools here.

@prasad1970 that is absolutely amazing!! thanks for sharing the recipe!


Being unable to find iron sulfate, I tried the 100% natural recipe (raspberry + vineyard + salt).
This is the result.


Smell is not as good as a rose... believe me, you have to totally love nature and green-life to love this ink.


- I fear it's light-sensitive / will see how it changes after sometimes exposed to sunlight


But it's fun making it

This is awesome    Yes, with some other fruits and veggies I have tried,  the smell is ..... like you said "have to be a nature lover"
It is light sensitive,  exposed to sunlight, it grows fungus after about 1 week. 

But the fun involved and the lovely shades are amazing.
I have a friend who is into natural dyes.  I tried making some inks with him and below are some results.  This was done ages ago and I have not been able to experiment more on it.
The shades were quite light and the names I have mentioned are in Hindi (Indian language)



Anar = Pomegranate (used the dried powdered skin)
Haldi = Turmeric powder
Katta = this is from a tree bark (Acacia Catechu Powder)  mainly used in India as hair dyes like Henna
Harda and Sappan = again powdered barks of different trees.

IN textile dyeing,  they dip the cloth or yarn more than once into the dye to get a richer, darker shade.  I haven't figured out how to make it more saturated yet. 

Been too busy practising "ovals"