When we talk about Ink everyone assumes of the kind of ink that we use on a daily basis like, printer inks (the refilling of ink in a toner or ink cartridge) or ink in a fountain pen. Ink is probably one of those things that we use on a daily basis but the importance of ink is very high as it was the only medium that was used to communicate ideas throughout history before the digital technology. Ink has evolved drastically from the ancient inks that were produced from burnt bones and plant dyes to the present day where inks are obtained from natural plants, minerals or manufactured from chemicals to produce a dye or pigment that gives the inks its colour. Today, scientists are even bringing out 3D Printer ‘ink’ that will change everything completely as 3D printing is the next big invention.

Here are some ink facts that you most probably didn’t know about or are unaware of:

1. Be a Secret Agent by Making Invisible Inks from Lemon Juice

You probably have done experiment of this in your science lab classes by using a lemon juice to create invisible ink. If you haven’t, try this at home and you can create your own invisible ink that only costs you a lemon.

Step 1: Take a lemon juice and squeeze into a bowl
Step 2: Add a little bit of water in to the bowl
Step 3: Use a cotton bud to dip into the mixture and write on a plain piece of paper
Step 4: Wait for the juice to completely dry (so it becomes invisible) and then hold it up to a light bulb and you can read your secret message

In 1995, a man tried to rob a bank by covering his face with lemon juice thinking that it will work the same way as the lemon juice experiment on paper and make him invisible from the security cameras. FAIL!!

2. The So Called Green Incredible Hulk was actually Grey

The famous Incredible Hulk from the comic book was actually portrayed as a tombstone grey rather the green. Stan Lee, the creator of the Incredible Hulk and many other superheroes wanted the Incredible Hulk to be grey so that it is not associated with any race. Because grey is not very consistent in printing and was hard to maintain in printing, the hulk had a different shades of grey when printing; sometimes light grey or dark grey. It was later on that the Hulk was changed to green as the green ink colour could be more carefully controlled in printing therefore was consistent throughout the comic books.

3. Real Ashes in a Comic Book

As you know inks were originated from burnt bones and ashes. But now this method of making ink has been discontinued. If you ever owed a comic book called Squadron Supreme by Marvel Comics you could be one of the lucky (or unlucky) ones that may have held ashes of Mark Grunewald who is known for popular titles such as The Avengers, Captain America, and Thor. Before Mark passed away, one of his wishes was that once cremated he wishes his ashes were mixed into the inks of a comic book and this wish was fulfilled.

4. Termites. Love it or Hate it

Termites are probably one of the worst insects I can think off. If you have an infestation of termites you are probably under a lot of stress as they eat away wood at people homes costing billions of money in property damage around the whole world each year. Now it’s time for payback and time to bring out the termites from hiding. Termites leaves a trail just like Hansel and Gretel with breadcrumbs to their food source. Termites excrete a trail of pheromones so that they can find their food later. This useful information has been used by many pest controllers to find termites by using ink from any ballpoint pen to mimic the effect of pheromones as ink contains these kind of substance that will make the termites believe it’s their trail.

If you want to have fun with termites you can gather a handful of termites and put then a piece of paper. Use a ballpoint to draw a design and watch how the termites follow the trail believing that they are following their own trail to their food source. Be control of them and don’t let them eat away your woods.

Now you know there are some interesting facts about inks and how useful inks can be. If you prefer just some normal printer inks and not invisible lemon ink, the incredible hulk ink, ink made from ashes or termite trailing ink, then visit inkntoneruk. Here at inkntoneruk you find the number one source to find inks in ink cartridges or toner cartridges for your printer. You can choose from refilling by sending us your empty cartridges so we can refill them for you, or if not we can offer you compatibles that come in budget or premium prices. If you prefer original OEMs of ink and toner cartridges we do them as well. We promise we don’t use inks made from ashes, like how Mark Grunewald did!