Can you store ground Chinese ink?

[Chessie]

I've got some dinky dips that have nice screw-on plastic caps. 

I grind Chinese ink for my calligraphy each day and...frankly, it feels like I waste a lot of ink because I have to pour out a bit at the end of each day, then regrind it at the start of the next day.  Don't get me wrong - I love grinding ink, but this does feel a bit of a waste if I ground a BUNCH.

 I know the general philosophy on ink is that you can't store wet ink in a covered ink-stone for more than a day, but those are porous.  Can you store wet ink in a plastic dinky dip and still use it for a few days in a row or is it going to separate terribly? 

[Erica McPhee]

That’s a great question. I don’t know the answer but why not give it a try? If you are just going to discard the ink anyway, throw it in a dinky dip. My question is whether there is anything to prevent it from molding already in the ink.

[Chessie]

There's nothing to prevent it from molding specifically, but I think I can just use boiled water or distilled and that will extend the life of it.  I'm going to try storing it for a week.  I'll shake it once a day, then see in a week how it writes and report back. 

[Chessie]

That’s a great question. I don’t know the answer but why not give it a try? If you are just going to discard the ink anyway, throw it in a dinky dip. My question is whether there is anything to prevent it from molding already in the ink.

I've now tested it for a week and, no joke, the ink keeps fine.  It hasn't lost any color and I give it a quick shake each day to get it stirred.  Brilliant.  This simplified my 'getting to calligraphy' process considerably.

[Erica McPhee]

That is great news! Thanks for sharing!