noodler's purple wampum

I am really enjoying my summer break, but you probably already knew that. I'm not sure if any of you have listened to it, but Frank Ocean's channel ORANGE is probably one of my favorite albums of this year. Frank Ocean has an amazing way with words - the way I wish I could be - and the story in each song is really just incredible. I don't listen to R&B very much, but this is definitely a must-listen for anyone.

I have decided to do a few things in my tests differently. A couple months ago, I got a big pad of Rhodia blank paper, and I'll be using that for swabs instead of the copy paper I've been using.

 Secondly, the dry time test will be done directly on the Strathmore paper, instead of being done on copy paper. Finally, instead of writing on a piece of copy paper and dropping it in water, I'm going to put 4 drops on "The quick brown fix jumped over the lazy dog." The first two of them will sit for 30 seconds before being dried with a paper towel, and the other two will sit for 15 seconds and then smeared with a dry brush - one drop once, and the other drop twice. I think these changes will make my tests a little more accurate, and a lot more helpful!

These changes won't be on this review, or the next one, but they'll be here! Eventually. I like to pretend I operate on a completely separate plane of existence from you mortals.

So! Noodler's Purple Wampum is a muted purple, not unlike J. Herbin's Poussiere de Lune. It is, however, definitely darker. It's not quite the smoky-purple you see here. In a flexed dip pen, it is nearly black. There isn't a whole lot of shading, either.

It has some problems with feathering - it even feathers a little on this Strathmore paper. Definitely not a whole lot, but if you absolutely hate feathering, this ink may not be it for you.

The dry time is a little long - on copy paper, it took up to 10 seconds for the ink to dry. On the Strathmore paper, it took about 30 seconds to dry.

I'll let you know right now that Noodler's Purple Wampum is not waterproof. The drip test lifted a little bit of ink, but the smear test did it in. You can barely see the sentence.


Purple Wampum is a lovely color, but its tendency to feather can definitely be an issue.


Many stores have been raising their prices, and unfortunately the Goulet Pen Company is one of them. You can purchase 90 ml bottles of Noodler's Purple Wampum at the Goulet Pen Company for $12.50.