Why you can not get Pelikan ink for tattooing…A final answer
Aug 17th, 2010 by Staff
Okay, so artists have been calling and calling asking about the availability of Pelikan ink. Well, we finally have the answer.
We have heard (and repeated) several false stories, including:
- The FDA banned Pelikan (not true, the FDA has a hands off approach to tattoo ink)
- Pelikan contains iodine and someone had an allergic reaction to it and sued Pelikan (honestly have no idea about the iodine part; as for the lawsuit, very doubtful)
- A Pelikan tattoo caused a tattooed consumer physical harm and they sued Pelikan, forcing them to take it off the market (again, not true. no one has confirmed any of this story.)
A source from Pelikan told us this: Pelikan bottles plainly state “Not for tattooing.” The distributor of Pelikan asked the North American distributor about the volume of large bottle sales of Pelikan ink. (Apparently the manufacturer does not sell that much of the large bottles and thought the high volume was beyond the realm of normal sales.) So, Pelikan company decided to restrict North American sales; Pelikan ink of all kinds is still available but now purchasers are screened to determine their end use. Tattoo artists and suppliers will be turned away.
If your looking for Pelikan ink it can be bought on ebay all day and everyday……..Dan
Thats good to know. Kinda paranoid about any other lining ink. Pelikan seens to stay put in the skin and heal to a nice clean line. I remember for years I used Starbright Black Magic and my lines were often fuzzy when healed. Thought it must be my technique or something. So I started at a new shop and ran out of my usual, so my boss lends me some of his Pelikan. Voila, like overnight the quality of my linework improved dramatically.
I can get it! I just got 2 1000mL bottles in the mail today from the UK! You can get it from Pelikan Direct through ebay or Crestar LTD United Kingdom.
I have seen many tattoos done with pelikan ink and after a few years they have a blue hue to them. its no secret that there are many tattoo inks on the market i personally use kuro sumi for lining and you cant get any crisper lines and if you have any professional training behind you, you will understand about diluting it for soft shade work. kuro sumi is also the best ink for solid black work. do the math and research pelikan is for art, tattoo ink is for tattooing. but as i always say to each their own…my personal input..
i ordered the palikan ink from united kingdom but it was 2 kinds to pick from just the black and black calli they both said a17 which one is good for tattoos an what does a 17 mean
tattoo ink must be sterile for injection and pelikan ink is not sterile! it comes with all manner of nasty ingredients taht could cause problems. if the company that makes and sels the ink are trying to prevent it from being used in tattoos then you must be bloody thick to keep using it!!
Admin note: We edited this comment a bit to make it a bit more friendly and we would like to say we do not agree with or condone this individual… Also, for the record, tattoo ink may be sterile when it arrives at your (the artists) door but is no longer sterile as soon as you open the bottle. And it is certainly not sterile once you put it into a non-sterile ink cap. It just really clean and free of the most harmful biological components that could potentially hurt a client. Some of the most popular tattoo inks on the market are not sterile…