Patent ID: 8123847

Claim:
A water base ink for ink jet recording comprising a coloring agent, water, a penetrant, and a surfactant, wherein: the penetrant includes 1 to 2.5 wt. % diethylene glycol n-hexyl ether; the surfactant includes at least one surfactant selected from the group consisting of alkyl sulfonate, alkylbenzene sulfonate, alkyl carboxylate, and polyoxyethylene alkyl ether sulfate; and a weight ratio of the surfactant with respect to the diethylene glycol n-hexyl ether is not less than 0.10, and a line width of a one-dot line, which is obtained when an amount of one liquid droplet of the ink to be discharged is set to be within a range of 22 pL to 28 pL and the one-dot line is printed on a plain paper sheet, is 115 μM to 135 μM .