RESEARCH JOURNAL # 2

Name: Venice Claire O. Cabili Date: November 5, 2019

INK OUT OF TEA BAGS

INTRODUCTION
Tea is created by using the leaves of a plant known as Camellis Sinensis. This plant is a native
to China, South Asia and Southeast Asia but is now found. Tea-drinking can be traceback to the
10 century BC in the China before it was spread to Korea and Japan. Basically, this drink is
made by brewing tea leaves to create an extract. Due to the chlorophylls and other a green
photosynthetic pigment found in plants, algae, and cyanobacteria in the leaves. The extract
commonly appears with a brown color. It was mentioned that theaflavin is the reddishbrown
pigment found in tea. It is an example of a flavonoid which acts to create color.

OBJECTIVES
This research is being done to find out the potency of the extract of the leaves from the the plant
Camellis Sinensis as an ink. Nowadays, ink is a pigment in a liquid or paste form used as
colorants and dyes. Also, they are becoming more and more expensive because of their
increasing purposes.
Our research aims to produce this ink as a cheaper alternative to those commercial ones.
Compared to the ink we are aiming to create, commercially produced inks are toxic and can be
hazardous to a persons health once there is inappropriate contact with it.
To match with the color and consistency of other inks, we will be adding other substances
specifically vinegar and cornstarch, which are common and easy to find.

STATEMENT OF THEPROBLEM
Generally, this investigatory project aims to find out if tea bags can be used to create an ink.
Specifically, it aims to answer the following questions: a. Can vinegar strengthen the color of the
product, ink? b. Can cornstarch contribute to achieving the right consistency of the ink? c. Are
the processes boiling and straining efficient in taking the extract out of the tea bags?

HYPOTHESES
Extracts taken from tea bags have the potential to be made into an ink. If vinegar and cornstarch
are added to the mixture, then the product would have a stronger color and a thicker consistency
than
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This investigatory project will benefit us by producing an alternative for other inks. These other
manufactured inks nowadays come quite expensive prices, but since the materials to be used in
our project are common and easy to find, you will be spending less money. Also, no harmful
chemicals will be used in making our ink. Therefore, it is non-toxic compared to commercially
sold inks which have the tendencies of causing harm to ones health and to the environment.

SCOPE ANDLIMITATIONS
Our research and experiments are only limited to making a simple ink as a colorant. It does not
include inks that are used in machines such as printers, copiers, etc. Also, our study includes the
effects of vinegar and cornstarch on the product. To have accurate observations, we will be
creating two set-ups: an ink without vinegar and cornstarch and one with vinegar and cornstarch.

REVIEW OF RELATEDLITERATURE
The history of Chinese inks can be traced back to the 18th century BC, with the utilization of
natural plant dyes, animal and mineral inks based on such materials as graphite that were ground
with water and applied with ink brushes. The India ink used in ancient India since at least the 4th
century BC was called masi, and was made of burnt bone star, pitch, and other substances
applied with sharp pointed needle.
Saffron is well known as the source of a truly brilliant if rather fugitive yellow and there is
evidence of its use, both as a colorant and medicine, in the Greek and Persian civilizations of the
same period. Indian skill in vegetable dyeing and painting reached a high point in the two
centuries from 1600 to 1800 AD, when the painting and resist dyeing of cotton cloth known to us
as Chintz became the basis of the largest trade in textiles that the world had ever seen.
The Strasbourg manuscript, of an earlier period, also describes the use of a whole range of
plants used in the manufacture of inks and water-colours. Later we see developments in
vegetable block-printing inks in 17thand 18th century Japan where it is interesting to note that
some colours were actually leached from previously dyed cloth.
Early historical accounts of tea are unclear, for the Chinese character forte a had not been
standardized, and several other Chinese characters appear in books referring very likely to the
same plant, Camellia Sinensis, what we now call tea.
Tea dyeing is an easy way to mute fabrics or give them an older, antiqued look. Tea stains the
fibers and gives asemi-permanent dull brown "dirty"tone to the whole piece. It is used when you
want to "antique" a craft textile such as a doll dress or small quilt. Griffiths uses the medium of
tea and ink (sometimes graphite, vodka, whiskey, and others) to create these pieces.
Tea and ink as a medium has become a trademark for Griffiths inthe art world.
METHODOLOGY

SET-UP A Experimental Set-up

MATERIALS
- 7 teabags
- 1 1/2 cups of water
- 1 tablespoon of vinegar
- Cornstarch
- Strainer and fork
- Bottle
PROCEDURE
- Place the 7 teabags in 1 ½ cups of boiling water.
- Create the tea for 6-8 minutes.
- Remove the teabags from the boiling water. Use a strainer and a fork to remove all of the
extracts.
- While stirring the tea, add a tablespoon of vinegar.
- Continue to stir it. Add as much dissolved cornstarch as you need to have your desired
consistency.
- Remove it from the heat and let it cool. When done, store in a bottle.

SET-UP B Controlled Set-up

MATERIALS
- 7 teabags
- 1 1/2 cups of water
- Strainer and fork
- Bottle
PROCEDURES
- Place the 7 teabags in 1 ½ cups of boiling water.
- Create the tea for 6-8 minutes.
- Remove the teabags from the boiling water. Use a strainer and a fork to remove all of the
extracts.
- Remove it from the heat and let it cool. When done, store in a bottle.
FINDINGS
During the procedure itself, we have observed that boiling is an effective process of extraction.
Right after we have placed the teabags in the boiling water, the change of color is very
noticeable. During this step the mixture had a very strong smell from the tea. While following
the procedures for set-up A which included the placing of vinegar, there was no immediate
change in color as we expected. Instead, the vinegar’s effect was seen when we tried to paint the
two inks on paper. While applying the ink on paper, it was harder to use ink B because it’ s
consistency was very watery. Thus it became runny and
After letting them dry, it was seen that ink A had a darker color while ink B’s writings faded.

DISCUSSION OF RESULTS
Our hypothesis which states that tea bag shave the potential to be made into an ink if vinegar and
cornstarch is added is proven correct. We had two setups which were Setup A that has vinegar
and Setup B that has no vinegar. Vinegar is mainly a dilute aqueous solution of acetic acid which
is an important reagent and industrial chemical, mainly used in the production of cellulose
acetate.
A cellulose acetate is used as film base in photography and a film base is a transparent substance
which acts as a support medium for the photosensitive emulsion that lies atop it, its base
generally accounts for the vast majority of the thickness of any given filmstock.
The addition of vinegar and cornstarch in making an ink can result to a thicker consistency and
consistent color which is better for the usage of the ink. Our observations prove that adding
vinegar to the mixture can be made into an ink because without the vinegar there would be no
consistency on the mixture and it will be less seen.

CONCLUSION
Tea bags can be used to create an ink. Vinegar can strengthen the color of the product, ink.
Cornstarch effectively contributes to achieving to the right consistency of the ink. The processes
boiling and straining are efficient in taking the extract out of the tea bags.

SUMMARIZATION
There are many different kinds of ink. In our experiment we will use tea bags as the main
component of our ink. Having two different set-ups will provide the chance to compare the
colors and consistencies. Cornstarch is an efficient additive to have the right consistency of the
product. Also vinegar is also efficient, though there is no obvious change in color, it was seen
that it gave the ink a consistent color whether wet or dry.
We therefore conclude that one can create an improvised ink using the extract from tea bags.
This will be very convenient and cheap because the ingredients to be used are commonly found
around the house. Also, the said processes, boiling and straining, are efficient and can be easily
done.
RECOMMENDATION
Based on the conducted experiment, we recommend the following for further improvements. To
have better results of extraction, suggest that there would be longer minutes of boiling. We also
recommend that one should make use of a large amount of corn starch, a thickening agent, so the
application of ink would be done easier.
Instead of directly placing your desired amount of cornstarch in the mixture above low fire, it
would be better to dissolve it first in cold or warm water to avoid forming lumps. We still
recommend the usage of vinegar because of the results we have observed. Depending on the
availability, one can also use processed soybean oil as a drying oil. This is used as a base for
printing inks and oil paints.

REFERENCES
- Cannon, 1995
- Ciba Review, 1938
- Irwin and Brett,1970
- Strange,1924
-
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Ink-from-Tea
http://chemistry.about.com/b/2011/08/09/how-to- make-ink-easy-ink-recipes.htm
http://www.diylife.com/2008/06/27/remove-ink-with- tea-bags/
http://www.ehow.com/how_4493973_create-ink.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinegar
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_bag
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn_starch http://www.stinkyinkshop.co.uk/blog/a-short- history-
of-ink/
http://ancienthistory.about.com/b/2004/09/27/th e-history-of-ink.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_tea
http://www.chcp.org/tea.html http://www.2basnob.com/tea-history-timeline.html
http://www.freesciencefairproject.com/requirements.htm
http://www.investigatoryprojectexample.com/exampl e.html
http://www.webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/7H.html
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/boiling
http://www.wordreference.com/definition/straining
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/extraction
 GLOSSARY

1. Camellis Sinensis - a species of evergreen shrub or small tree whose leaves and leaf buds
are used to produce tea. It is of the genus Camellia of flowering plants in the family
Theaceae.

2. Chlorophylls - a green photosynthetic pigment found in plants, algae, and cyanobacteria.

3. Photosynthetic Pigments - a pigment that is present in chloroplasts or photosynthetic

4. Algae - a diverse group of aquatic organisms that have the ability to conduct
photosynthesis.

5. Cyanobacteria - are a phylum consisting of free-living bacteria and the endosymbiotic

6. Theaflavin - are antioxidant polyphenols that are formed from the condensation of flavan-
3-ols in tea leaves during the enzymatic oxidation (sometimes erroneously referred to as
fermentation) of black tea.

7. Flavonoid - are a group of plant metabolites thought to provide health benefits through
cell signalling pathways and antioxidant effects.

8. Potency - a measure of drug activity expressed in terms of the amount required to produce
an effect of given intensity.

9. Colorant - a dye, pigment, or other substance that colors something.

10. Graphite - is a crystalline form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a
hexagonal structure.

11. Masi - the India ink used in ancient India since at least the 4th century BC.

12. Saffron - a spice derived from the flower of Crocus sativus, commonly known as the
"saffron crocus".

13. Chintz - printed multicolored cotton fabric with a glazed finish, used especially for
curtains and upholstery.

14. Griffiths - an American physicist and educator.