It’s officially winter here in Virginia! This time of year, our team often gets asked about shipping glass bottles of ink with such cold temperatures outside. Should you not order ink this time of year? What happens if the ink bottle freezes? How cold is too cold? Unfortunately, it is possible that your order could sit on a postal truck without heat for some time, or be delivered at your doorstep while you’re still at work. Therefore, your ink could freeze while in transit. The great news is once it is thawed, it will be totally fine to use in your pens. In the event that anything does happen to make your ink unusable, we’ll do everything we can take make it right.

While Winter might not be the best time to stock up on your ink, you certainly don’t need to stop ordering ink during this season! If you’ve ordered from us before, you’ll know that our Fulfillment Team goes to great lengths to pack each order with a slightly ridiculous amount of care. Orders are wrapped with both bubble wrap and blue plastic wrap in order to keep products from moving around inside the box and ultimately to prevent them from breaking. Additionally, during the winter, packages headed for colder climates are shipped with a “Do Not Freeze” sticker to communicate to anyone handling your package that we want to keep your ink in the best shape possible!

If you live in a particularly cold climate, there are a few ways to avoid broken bottles should you be worried about ordering this time of year.

1. Order samples

Ink samples are a great way to try new brands and colors of inks with low risk. If you don’t like it, no worries! All of our samples come in plastic vials with 2 ml of ink, with no risk of breaking. The vials are also recyclable too, for all the inquiring eco-friendly minds out there. 😉

2. Consider ordering plastic bottles

Another great option during the winter is choosing brands that use plastic bottles. We offer a select range of the most popular Diamine colors in 30ml plastic bottles, making them affordable and easy to transport. These are a good alternative to the standard 80ml Diamine glass bottles which can often break in transit during the cold months. Because of the 80ml glass bottle shape, and how the bottles tend to move around inside their box, they’re a bit more prone to breaking as the ink freezes and expands. The 30ml plastic bottles solve that problem!

Other brands with plastic bottles include Visconti and Robert Oster. The Noodler’s Polar ink collection from Noodler’s is designed to be freeze resistant so consider trying one of these colors as well.

So cozy up this Winter and get writing! Let us know if you have any other questions about ordering or shipping during the cold months – we’re happy to help.

Write on,

The Goulet Pen Company Team