Unbiased Opinon on Stampin Up ink and CTMH

Yes, I do sell SU! but I feel like I will give you an honest opinion.

Before SU! switched to the firm foam pad, SU! inks were the worst to use w/ photopolymer stamps. Since the ink pads have changed there are no issues. I have used the inks w/ quite a few different stamp brands (i.e. Lawn Fawn, Hero Arts, CTMH) and they work great. I haven't used them on acrylic stamps. I try to avoid acrylic because of the poor quality of the stamped images.

I have never used CTMH ink so I can't give you my opinion of them other than to say I've never heard anything negative about them.

I have purchased Hero Arts and Tim Holtz ink pads and was very surprised how fast they dried out. Before drying out I really liked the ink. I didn't craft for a little over 2 years and I had to throw those stamp pads away when I decided to start crafting again. I've had some SU! stamp pads for 10 years and they still ink up stamps well.

I tried to be as unbiased as I could be. :-)

I have SU! pads from 1990 or 1991, when I first started stamping. They still work. I use them with rubber or clear stamps. My only issue is that the lids are hinged and it's hard to ink a big stamp. I think they might have a new design now..

I have CTMH pads from maybe 5 years ago. I really do not like these pads. I think the ink is not dark enough and they don't do well with non-CTMH stamps. And with the twisty tops I get my fingers all inky.

I recently purchased a few Simon Say Stamp pads in basic colors - Red, Blue, Green, Brown, Black. So far I really like them. They stamp nice and dark and work well with rubber and clear stamps. The lids come completely off, so no problems with background stamps or inky fingers.

FWIW - I also have VersaColor. These stamp really nice, except they're pigment not dye inks, so either heat dry or let sit a while.

ETA:  I have never used Ranger inks. 

I happen to love CTMH inkpads. I usually buy a re-inker at the same time as the inkpads. The re-inkers last forever, which also helps my stamp pads to stay nice and juicy. One reason I have lots of CTMH stamp pads and only one SU pad is that I have generally preferred the CTMH stamps to SU. I rarely order from SU. The SU products are a lot more expensive, and until recently I simply preferred to spend my money on CTMH products rather than SU products. Recently, though, I have not been particularly happy with the direction CTMH is going. Unfortunately, I can't say that I am really any happier with SU, either. Each company has products that I love, but overall, I am not spending the money with either company the way I used to. I have thousands of stamps, so you know I have a serious addiction. Those two companies are part of the reason that I have so many. There was a time that I used to spend a lot of money on both companies. For the past 3 to 5 years, though, I have placed only two or three SU orders, compared to a lot of CTMH orders. Unfortunately, I have been disappointed in the last couple of CTMH catalogs, too.

I have used the CTMH stamp pads with other stamps. I have found that they work fine with some stamps, but some other companies' clear stamps are occasionally an issue. The Studio G and other clear dollar stamps always need to be prepared before using them with the CTMH stamp pads. However, that seemed to be true with other brands of stamp pads, too, not just the CTMH ones. I just take very, very fine sand paper and gently brush the dollar stamps with the sand paper. That seems to make them work better with ink pads in general. The only stamp pads that seem to work with any stamp straight from the store are chalk inkpads.

I have only one SU inkpad. I am not that fond of it, to be honest, but perhaps it has to do with what you are used to, and it is not a color that I use often. I love the twist top of the CTMH pad and rarely have issues with it.

I have not taken the time to do a comparison between the stamp pads of the two companies. I have thousands of stamps, so I could certainly do a comparison test with different brands of stamps with both my SU stamp pad and a CTMH stamp pad. I will try to do this relatively soon, but it won't happen this week. I can probably try next week some time.

I am not a rep for any company, and I never have been, so I can give you a pretty unbiased opinion when I do a comparison.