Recipe: Iron Gall Ink

Iron gall ink is light grey, it darkens significantly when dry.
Over time, the ink forms a sediment and a skin on the surface, which should be removed if necessary.

Processing

Step 1: Put the gall apples in a textile bag and crush the apples with a hammer. Then roughly pulverize them in a mortar and transfer to a jar. First mix them with iron (II) sulphate and finally with gum arabic.
Step 2: Add 48 g of water and let sit for one week. Stir once a day. The missing 15 g of water are added before filtration. Clove oil can be added for preservation as needed.

Ingredients

18 g Oak Apples (#37400)
63 g Water (#65000)
7 g Gum Arabic Powder (#63330)
7 g Iron (II) Sulphate (#64200)
ca. 0,5 ml Clove Oil (#73700)

Additional Information

Note

The production requires the following tools: a scale, mortar and pestle, an enameled pot, glass rods or wooden sticks for stirring, glasses, funnels and filters.


Water
Only demineralized water (#65000) is used in the recipes.
Color result
Since many ingredients used in ink recipes are of natural origin, the color result may vary. Deviations from the original recipe may also change the result.
Filtration
The inks are filtered with paper filters.
Cooking
Keep the cooking pot closed with a matching lid.
Shelf life
Moldy ink should not be skimmed off. Please dispose if the ink.
Cleaning
Pots are best cleaned with hot water and a small amount of citric acid (#64150).

We assume no liability for the processing instructions described above. In any case, we recommend the production and evaluation of sample surfaces.

Product list

Author: Kremer Pigmente, Recipe by: Lehner 1890, p 56.