Noodler’s X-Feather is an anti-feathering black ink. It’s designed for use with paper that is prone to feathering, such as office and printer papers.
If you are using office or recycled paper often, you might have noticed that they are horrible with fountain pens. This is the case because they paper fibers that pull the ink along with them, creating a blurry look known as “feathering.” By using the correct ink for the paper you can avoid feathering as well as bleed-through and other undesirable characteristics.
The anti-feathering quality comes partially from ink make-up and partially from the ink being thicker than normal. It also takes longer than normal to dry, which is a problem for lefties, but not a huge deal for most people.
In fact, this is Noodler’s slowest drying ink. If you want a faster drying but very good black ink, try Noodler’s Polar Black.
Noodler’s X-Feather Fountain Pen Ink Review
While X-Feather is a great idea — a fountain pen ink designed for cheaper, lighter, and recycled paper — it’s hit and miss in practice. This is especially true if you are left-handed and the last thing you want is a slow drying ink. As Noodler’s slowest drying ink, this is not good choice for smear-prone lefties.
Noodler’s X-Feather does actually do what it says: write well on newpaper and copy paper. It has less bleeding and feathering than other inks, but generally not by as wide a margin as you’d expect. We are, of course, talking in generalizations here as the competition may be more or less watery — that is more or less prone to feathering.
The trade-off is that X-Feather is very slow to dry, making it hard to use if you are used to faster drying inks. This becomes a real problem when you move from your crossword paper to a nicer paper which promotes slower drying. At this point the X-Feather ink feels like it’s taking ages to dry.
X-Feather is a deep black with not secondary colors or tones. It’s a consistent writer that isn’t too hard to clean, but it does feel a bit gummy coming out of the pen.
Noodler’s X-Feather Information
| Street Price | Check Price |
| Manufacturer | Noodlers |
| Ink Color | Black |
| Secondary Color | Black |
| Bottle Size | 30 ml |
| Waterproof | Yes |
| Archival | Yes |
| Quick-drying | No |
| Tamper-proof | Yes |
| Fluorescent | No |
| Lubricated | No |
| Cartridge | No |
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