A water base ink for ink-jet recording comprises water, self-dispersing type carbon black, an anionic surfactant, and a nonionic surfactant. The anionic surfactant is a surfactant represented by the formula (1) and/or a surfactant represented by the formula (2). The nonionic surfactant is a surfactant represented by the formula (3) or a mixture of a surfactant represented by the formula (4) and a surfactant represented by the formula (5). No ink discharge failure occurs, the long term stability is excellent, and it is possible to obtain a high quality image without any feathering.