My custom shimmer ink clogged my favorite pen after 3 days

I mixed a heavy gold mica powder into a sample of Iroshizuku Yama-budo last week, thinking it would be perfect for holiday cards. The ink looked amazing in the vial but completely gummed up the feed of my TWSBI Eco, and I had to take the whole thing apart to clean it. Is there a specific ratio or type of shimmer powder that actually stays suspended without causing these issues?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_derek12d ago

Wait you put straight mica powder into an Iroshizuku bottle? That's the wild part to me, those inks are so wet and smooth on their own. You really need a dedicated shimmer base or at least a ton of dish soap to break the surface tension. Even then, a TWSBI Eco feed is so fine, it's basically asking for trouble with homemade mixes.

price.jake12d ago

Remember my friend tried to make a "glitter lava lamp" by mixing craft glitter into lamp oil. It looked cool for an hour, then the glitter just sank into a solid, sparkly brick at the bottom. Your mica powder story gives me the same feeling. Some things just aren't meant to be mixed, no matter how good the idea seems. I've learned to leave the fancy shimmer inks to the companies that spent years figuring out the recipe.