Do ballpoint pens fade? How long will it take to fade?

Ball-point pens are oil-based pens. For ordinary ball-point pens, when written on paper with good oil permeability, the ink will spread out in two or three years, and the handwriting will become blurred. That is to say, an ordinary ballpoint pen, in the worst case, will fade in two or three years.

But if it is a good pen and good paper, it can be stored well for 100 years in a dry environment. So how long the handwriting of the ballpoint pen will fade, mainly depends on the quality of the ballpoint pen oil and the quality of the paper, the difference can be 2, 3 years to 100 years.

Why do ballpoint pens fade?

The situation that the handwriting fades or becomes lighter depends on two points, one is the quality of the ballpoint pen oil, and the other is the quality of the paper;

Generally speaking, the handwriting of the ballpoint pen tends to disperse after a long period of storage, because the pen oil contains oil, and when encountering poor quality paper, it will disperse and the handwriting will be blurred. If the ink quality of the ballpoint pen is first-class (ink The formula is reasonable), and it is written on good quality paper (the requirement of the paper is that the permeability is low), then in a suitable environment (air drying, ballpoint pen ink is most afraid of hot and humid environment), it can be stored for a long time. Ordinary ballpoint pen to write things, or pay attention to the preservation of the environment, try to ensure a dry environment.

Which pen is less prone to fading?

Generally speaking, carbon ink is the least easy to fade, but the pen is not easy to carry, and it will be spent when exposed to water, so it is recommended to replace it with a black gel pen.
(Note: it is neutral or medium oily, do not choose water-based or neutral water-based, the effect is not as good as a pen)

The oily marker pen is also very difficult to fade, the pen shape is thick or thin, and it is convenient to carry, you can choose.
(Not suitable for writing on too rough recycled paper, especially paper with loose paper, such as newspapers, which will not only penetrate but also smudge)

Ballpoint pens are also fine, but after a long time (about two or three years), there will be oil stains around them, which are not suitable for writing long-term preservation documents.

Generally speaking, the fading situation is: black pen > other color pen; oily marker > gel pen > carbon ink pen > oil pen > pure blue water pen