Have you ever seen the terms permanent, archival, fade-proof on products and wondered what exactly they mean?
All of these terms describe materials that have been created with long-term preservation in mind, meaning that they will be fade resistant, and can survive exposure to sunlight or water. In the stationery community, people care about these properties because they help with the longevity of writing or art, making sure that memories won't fade away through time.
One thing to note is that while the material you are using is important, the storage conditions are equally if not more important. Elements like fluctuating temperature, humidity, and light exposure can all impact how quickly a paper will yellow,or how fast ink will fade.
Terminology
Permanent: When the word permanent is used, you can typically assume that it will be water-resistant but not necessarily fade resistant.
Archival: These items are typically water-resistant AND fade-resistant as well. Products like iron gall inks, certain fineliners, and even some gel pens are labeled as archival when they can truly stand up to the test of time.
Products
Here are some of our most recommended permanent and archival products.
Inks
Diamine's Forever Ink is archival, comes in a large range of colors, and has qualities such as lightfastness (another term for fade resistance), smudge and bleed resistance, and are actually nano-pigment inks which makes them more fountain pen friendly.
Iron gall inks such as Platinum's Classic Line and the BUNGUBOX Original Ink Line are notable for being highly resistant to fading, as well as being water resistant or even waterproof. Iron gall inks have a long history but have been adapted into a modern version that is fountain pen friendly. These days you’ll usually find inks that have a small concentration of iron gall in them, and they have a unique reaction when you write on paper, usually causing the shade to darken over time.
Platinum's Carbon Black is truly archival, and known for its true black hue.
Pigment inks such as Kakimori's Pigment Ink line and Platinum's Pigment inks are water and fade resistant, and while they're not necessarily advertised as archival they have many archival qualities.
Pens
The Copic Multiliner and Pentel Pointliner fineliner pens are both waterproof and fade resistant which makes them great archival pens but also comes in handy for use with water-based paints like gouache and watercolor.
Uniball Signo's gel ink formula is also advertised as archival for its fade resistance and is also water resistant.
Water Test
We went ahead and used a watercolor brush to do a quick test and see how water resistant/proof each ink was.
For inks, the Platinum Carbon Black, Platinum Pigment Ink, Kakimori Pigment Ink, and Diamine Forever Ink all performed very well. However, the Platinum Classic Ink and BUNGUBOX Original Inks both had quite a bit of smudging and blending with the water.
Conclusion
How serious you want to be about the archival quality of your materials depends on how long you want them to last. If you want your journal to last your lifetime, the regular fountain pen inks or materials you've been using will make it through as long as they are stored properly. If you want your writing to make it through generations or stand up to light exposure, it's worth looking into archival materials to make sure it's in the best shape to stand the test of time.
