Did you know you can make ink for your home printer instead of purchasing one?
Well, it’s possible. And this article will show you how to make black ink for printer at home.
You can finally say goodbye to frequent ink purchases and refills that, over time, become more expensive than the original cost of your home printer.
As a bonus, we’ll show you how to make blue and brown inks as well.
We can feel you’re excited already and we are too, so let’s learn something new…
Table of Contents
What Are The Materials and Ingredients You Need?
The materials you need to make your printer ink include:
i. 8 ounces of honey
ii. 1 egg yolk
iii. ¼ ounce of gum Arabic
iv. A candle
v. Water
vii. A stainless plate
viii. A container with a lid
How to Make Black Ink
Blend and mix the ingredients you’ve got to make your black ink. We’ve explained the steps carefully below. Now, you will be able to make black inks for your printer at a lesser cost.
Step 1: Get a Container
This container must be plastic and have a lid. Make sure that you don’t intend to use it again. The color of the container will change by the time you are done making the ink.
Step 2: Mix the Honey and Egg Yolk
Get your 8 ounces of honey and 1 egg yolk. Here’s where you need them. Take these items and carefully mix them.
Step 3: Mix Gum Arabic With the First Mixture
Take the ¼ ounce of gum Arabic and mix it with the mixture of honey and egg yolk you made in step 2.
We recommend this Gum Arabic (Acacia) Powder for this process.
Find more ideas on what to do with your home printer from these articles:
How to Print Poster Size on Home Printer
What Can You Make With a 3D Printer at Home — 43 Cool Ideas
How to Buy a Wide Format Home Printer — The Ultimate 411
How to Refill Ink in Printer Cartridge At Home — In 8 Easy Steps
Step 4: Create Lamp Black
Light up the candle and hold a stainless plate over the flame. As you do this, you’ll see a black greasy element appearing on the plate. This element is known as lamp black and you’ll need ½ tsp of it.
How Do You Make Lamp Black?
Get a candle with bad quality for this. You need the candle to produce a lot of soot for you to collect enough lamp black; bad candles will serve this purpose.
Place the candle on a safe candle holder. Then upturn your silver plate on the flame. Make sure to wear rubber mittens or hold the plate with a towel to protect your hands from the heat.
After a while, you’ll notice the build-up of soot on the plate. Remove the plate you’ve got enough or the candle diminishes.
Step 5: Collect Lamp Black
Collect the lamp black by scraping the plate with a razor. Then use a bit of the honey mixture to remove it. It is easier to collect if you use the honey mixture than your bare hands.
Step 6: Mix Lamp Black With Mixture of Gum Arabic, Honey, and Egg Yolk
Take the black substance and mix it with the honey, egg yolk, and gum Arabic mixture. You can add a little bit of water to make the mixture smoother.
Step 7: Blend the Mixture
Blend the mixture to prevent any build-up of lumps in it. You can make use of an electronic blender like this USB Portable Juicer Cup Blender. This mixture will produce the blank ink you need.
Make sure you dilute and mix the mixture properly else the printer won’t be able to use it effectively.
Step 8: Store Ink
Now that the mixture is completely mixed, place it in the lid container. Make sure it is air-tight.
Video: How to Make Black Ink for Printer at Home
Watch the video below about how to make black ink at home
Making Blue Ink
You can also make blue ink for your home printer. All you need to do is get laundry bluing and add it to the mixture in the container.
Laundry bluing can be gotten from stores that sell laundry detergent or you can get one here.
Making Brown Ink
You’ll need the following to make brown ink:
i. 4 or 5 tea bags or 4 teaspoons of loose tea
ii. ½ cup of boiling water
iii. 1 teaspoon of gum Arabic
We’ve described the steps you’ll take to make your brown ink below.
Step 1: Pour the ½ cup of boiling water over the tea
Step 2: Let the tea settle for at least 15 minutes
Step 3: Squeeze the tannin from the teabags
Step 4: Mix the gum Arabic with the tannin acquired from the teabags. Do this until the solution is evenly mixed. Now, you have your ink mixture.
Step 5: Drain the ink. Do this until only a thick paste is left.
Step 6: Allow the mixture to cool before storing it.
If you want to learn how to print gold ink, check out this article.
Conclusion
We believe with the simple steps above you can now make black ink for your home printer.
Have you tried making printer ink in your home before? How did it go? Let us know in the comments section.
How to Make Black Ink for Printer at Home: Frequently Asked Questions
What is Black Printer Ink Made Of?
Black printer ink is often made from carbon black pigments. But there are two types of ink: pigment-based and dye-based black ink. Pigment-based inks are made from carbon particles in powdered form which are dissolved in liquid. Dye-based inks are made from colorants dissolved fully in liquid.
To improve the shade of dye-based black inks, manufacturers can include CMYK inks in the black solution. Other ways manufacturers improve shades of black ink is to mix pigment-based ink with dye-based ink. Inks produced this way will have the adhesive strength of pigmented inks and the color brilliance that comes from dye.
To read more awesome articles, click any of the links below…
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Can You Install Two Black Ink Cartridges in a Printer?
You can install two black ink cartridges in your printer if it has slots for two of those. Printers with 2 slots for black ink will have one cartridge assigned to printing text and the other one to improve the appearance of your photo prints. Each cartridge will have a number and you should slot them in their correct space.
If the printer has one slot for black ink cartridge and another one for color ink cartridge, make sure to put the correct ink in each space. Placing a cartridge with black ink in the colour ink slot will not work. Instead, you risk ruining your printer.
Can Blood Be Used As Ink?
You can use blood as ink, but not in a printer. First, you’ll need a lot of blood to fill up your ink cartridge. Then, you’ll need to add an effective anti-coagulant to stop the ink from clotting. Anti-coagulants will work for only a few days before it muddles up again, then there’s the problem of thick, pungent smell.
It’s easier to use blood as ink with dip pens. With some alcohol or sodium citrate, you can keep it flowing for a while. Since blood is not effective when used on any form of print, inks were produced. Ink is efficient and barely clots, except when left unused for a long time.
Can You Use Color Ink to Print Black?
You can use color ink to print black in a variety of ways, depending on what you need to achieve. If your black ink has finished, you can remove the empty cartridge from the printer and go ahead with your printing. The colors, often CMY, will combine to create black color prints.
Some printers will not allow you to print if you pull out the printer. Adjusting a few settings in your computer will help you print. Go to Printer Properties and set color to Grayscale. This setting allows the printer to combine colors to create rich, quality black and white prints.
Is Black Ink Cheaper Than Color Ink?
Black ink is cheaper than color both in price and usage. It can cost about one-fourth the price of a color ink cartridge to buy a black one. Plus you often have to buy more than one color cartridge for the printer. This further increases the cost of these cartridges.
However, black inks are the most consumed in the printer. Depending on your setting, it’s possible to change the black ink cartridge more than once before you exhaust a color ink cartridge.
Does Grey Use Less Ink Than Black?
Grey prints need less black ink than direct black and white prints, but require more color ink. With black and white prints, the printer uses only black ink when replicating the object. The areas with shades appear as thick, black images and the open areas remain white on paper.
In grey prints, the printer combines the color inks to create a balanced shade that looks more like the original image. The combination creates an even, soft tone while using less black ink. The printout is always warmer and better than the effect of black ink alone.
