Graphite pencils and gel pens are the most archival, while color Sharpie markers are the worst. Mechanical pencils, ballpoint pens, and all children's pencils and crayons are in between.
An accelerated aging test of archival properties of several writing implements was performed as follows: the implements were used to write (or print) their own names on three separate sheets of alkaline Strathmore Pure Cotton paper; one of the sheets was placed in a plastic sleeve and was kept in a metal filing cabinet; one was taped from the inside to a second-floor window facing south (the window is made of two layers of ordinary float glass); the remaining sheet was tacked at four corners to a guard rail on the back porch, facing south. The first sheet was not intentionally exposed to any environmental factors and was kept for comparison purposes. The second sheet received ample light (including ultraviolet light that passes through float glass); thus, light-fastness was tested. The third sheet was exposed to unfiltered sunlight, acidic rain, snow, and repeated cycles of freezing and thawing in Ann Arbor. The test started on 2003-11-05 and was discontinued on 2004-04-02 when the sheet outside was torn by the wind; the experiment thus lasted through Michigan winter for 150 days.
The results are presented in the following table.
| Writing Implement | Exposed to Light | Exposed to Light, Rain, etc.
|
|---|---|---|
| HP LaserJet 4100 laser printer | No change | No change |
| Pigma Micron 0.5 black marker | No change | No change |
| Higgins India Ink | No change | No change |
| Pentel esharp 0.5 pencil | No change | No change |
| General's Kimberly 2H pencil | No change | No change |
| Conte graphite 2B pencil | No change | No change |
| Uniball Vision pen (blue) | No change | No change |
| Uniball gelgrip pen (black) | No change | No change |
| Uniball UM-100 pen (black) | No change | No change |
| Zebra rollerball pen (black) | No change | No change |
| Zebra rollerball pen (blue) | No change | No change |
| Zebra Jimnie Gel Roller Ball Medium pen (red) | No change | Light fading |
| Panasonic FP-7824 photocopy machine | No change | Small chunks of black missing |
| General's charcoal 4B pencil | No change | Smudged |
| Cheap felt tip pen (black) | No change | Almost imperceptible smudging |
| Bic Great Erase 0.7 pencil, Japan | No change | Smudged |
| Conte carbon HB pencil | No change | Light smudging |
| Conte sepia | No change | Light smudging |
| Conte sanguine | No change | Smudged |
| Faber 2663 china marker | No change | Possibly light smudging |
| Sharpie twin tip (either end, black) | No change | Light smudging |
| Super Sharpie (black) | No change (seeped through) | Light smudging |
| Cheap ballpoint pen (black) | Significantly faded | Barely legible |
| Pentel RSVP BK91 ballpoint pen (black) | Significantly faded | Almost no trace left |
| Cheap ballpoint pen (black) | Significantly faded | Barely legible |
| Bic Atlantis ballpoint pen (blue) | Faded | Barely legible |
| Pilot PB-S fine ballpoint pen (blue) | Barely legible | Almost no trace left |
| General's watercolor pencil (blue) | Light fading | Light fading, light smudging |
| General's watercolor pencil (black) | Light fading | Light fading, light smudging |
| General's watercolor pencil (red) | Light fading | Significantly washed out |
| General's watercolor pencil (brown) | Light fading | Light fading, light smudging |
| General's watercolor pencil (orange) | Significant fading | Very significantly washed out and faded |
| Red wax crayon | Barely legible | Little trace left |
| Cheap ballpoint pen (black) | Lightly faded | Significantly faded |
| Papermate ballpoint pen (red) | Light fading | No visible trace left |
| Bic Atlantis ballpoint pen (red) | Significantly faded | No visible trace left |
| Super Sharpie (red) | Significantly faded | No visible trace left |
| Super Sharpie (blue) | Significantly faded and fully discolored | No visible trace left |
| Cheap ballpoint pen (rose) | Barely legible | No visible trace left |
| Sharpie extra fine (blue) | Very significantly faded and discolored | No visible trace left |
Note: I have identified the writing implements as fully as I could; in the case of giveaways and hotel pens, where manufacturer is not specified and reproducibly obtaining the same kind of pen is not possible, I simply specified ``cheap'' instead of the name of the (unknown) manufacturer.
Salient points:
The test is unscientific (I could have exerted different pressure on the three different sheets of paper; controlled source of light would have been preferable) and the findings should be viewed as my personal opinion.