Ink UV exposure tests

This is the result of putting a sheet of paper right on the window, getting direct sunlight for about eight hours a day. This is the result after about a month and a half of UV exposure.

LEFT: Control sheet
RIGHT: UV exposed sheet

note: Disregard the accidental smudging around the sharpie test on the UV exposed sheet.
paper: Dot grid Rhodia

Standard ballpoint has clearly been affected by UV exposure and one of the worst off of all the tested inks here. Pilot G2 and Pilot Blue have also been degraded slightly.

Sharpie has surprisingly held up really well.

Mont Blanc Lavender Purple has lost some saturation. Most of the Sailor Storia inks have held up pretty well, only losing a bit of color saturation.

Noodler’s Black looks mostly unaffected.

Noodlers Apache Sunset and Sailor Apricot have both lost quite a bit of contrast with UV exposure.

It’ll be interesting to see at what point the text would be unintelligible due to UV degradation. So i’m going to keep the sheet at the window and see what happens over the course of the year.

So far, all the text is really legible, and I dont think getting an ink for UV protection is really necessary if you’re writing under “normal“ conditions. But if you want to write a note that’s going to get lots of sunlight, Sharpie and Noodler’s Black appear to be the winners so far.