Shelf life of bulk inks

[martin]

What is the shelf life of bulk ink? If it does have a shelf life, does storage in a fridge and occasional agitation (of the ink not the fridge) extend this life?

 

[Nifty]

occasional agitation (of the ink not the fridge)

hahah.. that was funny! I haven't heard anything about a fridge, but that's an interesting idea.

Regarding shelf life in general, I've contacted a few companies on this and have received different answers. I asked my ink provider (most of the ink I have now from www.alotofthings.com) and was told, "Shelf life is about two from the time you open it. Three years from manufacture. None of the inks we have in stock are ever over 30 days from manufacturing."

I've got a few bottles left of a few colors of ink that I originally got from another supplier about 3 - 4 years ago. I'm still using it in my printer and haven't had any problems at all (knock on wood).

If possible, always order your ink in multiple smaller bottles than one big bottle. Every time you open your ink bottle to get out your ink and stick the needle in you are introducing foreign stuff to the ink and 'contaminating' it. Compare doing this a few times with a small bottle compared to hundreds of times with a large bottle.

Often the price will be the same for a few small bottles of the same quantity as one large, but even if it isn't, it may be worth it to pay a little extra to get a smaller bottle.