Levenger - True Teal

[Uncle Bud]

This is my first experience of Levenger inks, and it's been a good experience. A very neural teal colour, you can see both the blue and green shades at different times. Here it is:-

• Nicely lubricated, nib flows well

• Very wet ink

• Showthrough is severe on all but very good paper

• No noticable shading

20150523_levenger_teal.jpg

The photo above shows more of a blue tinge than there is in real life, there is a very even spread of blue and green. This is a well lubricated ink, and makes the nib flow across the page well, it is also very wet. If you have a broad nib, this ink could be a gusher. You are really limited to what paper you use this one on, with cheaper paper showthrough is significant. You get an average dry time with this one at around 15 seconds. There is no shading with this ink, as it is very saturated, and lays down the same shade along all the writing line. There was no feathering or spread with this ink on any of the papers I used it on, ranging from cheap copy paper to rhodia and tomoe river.

Hope you enjoy the review.

Cheers,

Bud.

[Laura N]

That's pretty!

[migo984]

That's a good teal colour. Many lean too far towards either blue or green and some end up as more of a turquoise. My favourite teal is a mix I make up myself.

Although it's a shame the ink doesn't shade much, which I do look for in an ink, that one has enough character to make it an addition on my future purchase list. Thanks for the review Uncle Bud.

[Tracy Lee]

The teal is gorgeous but be careful. I used it in one of my Visconti Operas and I can't even get it off of my metal section (I had an unusual converter failure) or from the inside of the pen body nevermind the nib. I have soaked in pen flush for a week, ran it through 6 sonic cycles, scrubbed with soap and a bottle brush. . . .it has been shocking and disturbing. I am not sure I will use it again as much as I love it. Levenger ink has never been an issue for me. My bottle of blazing sunset has so corroded under the lid and around the bottle threads (thick, dried, flaky, goopy - like bottle creep instead of nib creep) that I am afraid of it too. Both brand new bottles.

[migo984]

The teal is gorgeous but be careful. I used it in one of my Visconti Operas and I can't even get it off of my metal section (I had an unusual converter failure) or from the inside of the pen body nevermind the nib. I have soaked in pen flush for a week, ran it through 6 sonic cycles, scrubbed with soap and a bottle brush. . . .it has been shocking and disturbing. I am not sure I will use it again as much as I love it. Levenger ink has never been an issue for me. My bottle of blazing sunset has so corroded under the lid and around the bottle threads (thick, dried, flaky, goopy - like bottle creep instead of nib creep) that I am afraid of it too. Both brand new bottles.

YIKES!

[Crazyorange]

Uncle bud any issues with cleaning?
Sorry to hear about your opera Tracy. Can you try a weak bleach water soak?

[Uncle Bud]

Uncle bud any issues with cleaning?
Sorry to hear about your opera Tracy. Can you try a weak bleach water soak?

I had the ink in the pen for over a week when I done the review. After reading this I cleaned it out. Two flushes with a bulb syringe, then put the nib unit and section in the ultrasonic cleaner for 8 minutes. Both nib and section are sparkly clean. No issues at all. Could it have been a dud bottle, I didn't have any problems.

Cheers,

Bud

[Uncle Bud]

The teal is gorgeous but be careful. I used it in one of my Visconti Operas and I can't even get it off of my metal section (I had an unusual converter failure) or from the inside of the pen body nevermind the nib. I have soaked in pen flush for a week, ran it through 6 sonic cycles, scrubbed with soap and a bottle brush. . . .it has been shocking and disturbing. I am not sure I will use it again as much as I love it. Levenger ink has never been an issue for me. My bottle of blazing sunset has so corroded under the lid and around the bottle threads (thick, dried, flaky, goopy - like bottle creep instead of nib creep) that I am afraid of it too. Both brand new bottles.

Wow, that sounds horrible. I didn't have any issues cleaning it out.

[Tracy Lee]

The teal is gorgeous but be careful. I used it in one of my Visconti Operas and I can't even get it off of my metal section (I had an unusual converter failure) or from the inside of the pen body nevermind the nib. I have soaked in pen flush for a week, ran it through 6 sonic cycles, scrubbed with soap and a bottle brush. . . .it has been shocking and disturbing. I am not sure I will use it again as much as I love it. Levenger ink has never been an issue for me. My bottle of blazing sunset has so corroded under the lid and around the bottle threads (thick, dried, flaky, goopy - like bottle creep instead of nib creep) that I am afraid of it too. Both brand new bottles.

Wow, that sounds horrible. I didn't have any issues cleaning it out.

I am so glad you had zero issues. It sure could be some anomaly on my end.

[Uncle Bud]

The teal is gorgeous but be careful. I used it in one of my Visconti Operas and I can't even get it off of my metal section (I had an unusual converter failure) or from the inside of the pen body nevermind the nib. I have soaked in pen flush for a week, ran it through 6 sonic cycles, scrubbed with soap and a bottle brush. . . .it has been shocking and disturbing. I am not sure I will use it again as much as I love it. Levenger ink has never been an issue for me. My bottle of blazing sunset has so corroded under the lid and around the bottle threads (thick, dried, flaky, goopy - like bottle creep instead of nib creep) that I am afraid of it too. Both brand new bottles.

Wow, that sounds horrible. I didn't have any issues cleaning it out.

I am so glad you had zero issues. It sure could be some anomaly on my end.

It's still a bit of a bummer though. Visconti Operas, one of my favourite pens is my elements in Amber with 14k nib, should not be messed up by an ink. I feel really sorry for you... And your Opera. Have you tried a 1:10, or even 1:5 bleach solution, but only for 5 mins or so. That worked for me with my Opera Master Demo that got stained.

[Neo]

Tracy, have you tried to contact Levenger to see if they have any suggestions?

[Tracy Lee]

Tracy, have you tried to contact Levenger to see if they have any suggestions?

Not yet. I honestly just haven't had time to get back to it. They have great customer service so I won't hesitate to call. I have questions about the Blazing Sunset too, which is doing frightening looking things around the threads of the bottle. I am just not sure I want to use it either. For a really long number of years back when, Levenger ink is all I used.

[naimitsu]

So I had an unfortunate run-in with this ink.
Apparently you need to clean this out of your pen like it was a biohazard.

It apparently does not take much of this ink to completely alter the color of your next ink. In my case, it turned Diamine Red Dragon to a dark brown!

[Chrissy]

Thank you for the review Uncle Bud.

I have never tried any Levenger ink but I really like this colour.