In the new Levenger catalogue, it says their inks are water-resistant and quick-drying. Have they ever used their own Cobalt blue ink? It's gorgeous, has a great bottle design and flows nicely BUT it is impossible to consider it water-resistant and quick-drying. What happened to truth in advertising?

Yup! Just like their "flex" nibs.

Lots of people have commented on Levenger Cobalt and found it does not dry smudge free.

I have a cobalt cartridge in a pen right now. The nib is a medium Bexley steel nib with average flow, if that makes any sense.

If I write the word MAY on regular Staples tablet paper and count to three after I finish the letter Y, I can run my finger over it without a smudge. Then I can rub my finger hard across the word in all directions and still no smudge.

I sure would not put water on it, but I have not found cobalt as bad as some people have. Maybe it depends to some degree on paper and the flow of the pen?

Cobalt Blue has a very rich deep color. My main issue with it is that I find it tends to feather more than some other inks I use. I haven't had a problem with smudging. It is, however, not at all waterproof, and that's what keeps me from using it more often. Most inks aren't waterproof, but some are still legible after getting wet.

TIA got bought out by the highest bidder.

Cobalt Blue appears to have some water resistance. Key word is "some". It won't disappear as fast as Florida Blue.

I haven't had the smearing problems out of Cobalt Blue that other people have--I just don't like it. Add a few drops of red or purple to American Blue and you've got a dead ringer for Cobalt Blue.

hi cowdad Is American Blue a Private Reserve ink or Noodlers? And which purple did you add? Very curious, as I might give it a try.

j

American Blue is Private Reserve. Any very saturated blue would probably work.

Sorry, but I can't even remember what purple (or red--it might have been a drop of red) I added. I did this in the cartridge, following Melnicki's ink mixing method--which is just taking a syringe and scooting a little ink in the cartridge--that way, you don't dump large volumes of ink down the drain when you screw up or come up with an awful color.

It may have been Purple Martin (Noodler's) that I used, but you don't need Purple Martin--or whatever red or purple I used to duplicate this. I don't like the color so I didn't even write it down on a page. I just remember it looked like a dead ringer for Cobalt Blue to me (I did this just the day before yesterday, so I do remember that part clearly). If you try it, just go easy on the Purple or Red until you get what you want.

thanks, will give it a shot. j

Levenger Smokey is a bit water-resistant...it fades a little, but remains mostly intact.

Lloyd,

Perhaps they've reformulated their Cobalt? I don't know, but that does happen (witness the new PR formulations for a few of their inks).

I don't think so! I have a bottle I bought in the last month. Just noticed I had some notes (I no longer needed) written in them. Dunked them in water and in 5 minutes it's unreadable.

I can believe you on the 5 minute dunk test. But I did a 5 second or so rinse test with Cobalt Blue and it held up better than American Blue and whatever other washable blues I had on the page. So it does have some water resistance. I'd imagine it would still be legible after the wet finger or wet palm test too. I don't use it though. American Blue just looks so much better, and you can come up with dark purple/black mixes of Noodler's bulletproof stuff that looks just about as good enough.

And some of the Noodler's waterproof blues improve on cheaper papers, I've found. That is, they look less chalky and bluer.

I can't comment on water-resistance (a quality that doesn't interest me), but as for how fast it dries, I've noticed that the smearing problems some inks have varies enormously with how long it's been in a pen. I almost never have a problem when I've just filled it, but let it sit a day or so and the problems begin. I was recently reminded of this when I went to use a pen loaded with Cobalt I've not used much in the past few months (aside from the occasional brief scribble). Ink could barely be persuaded to leave the nib, so I squeezed out a couple of drops onto a piece of paper to try to get the flow going. I then ran the nib through the alarmingly syrupy drops of ink to smear them out and set it aside. Fifteen minutes later it was still wet and had developed a waxy shine (with more than a hint of red in it). Twenty-four *hours* later it was still sticky (and wet enough to come off on my finger) and looked not entirely unlike the back of a sheet of carbon paper. If I hadn't thrown it away I suspect it would still have those qualities....

Meanwhile, I let a couple of drops drip from the pen into a glass of water. Usually when I do this, the ink rapidly blends into the water, creating expanding clouds as it does so. Not this - the ink remained fairly tightly connected to itself, as though it had a high protein content, creating compact (and rather attractive), precise, patterns in the water which took a long time to disperse. Unsurprisingly, it took forever to clean the ink out of the pen....

I've not had similar experiences with any other ink.

All of which is rather a shame, as it's one of my favorite ink colours. So I look forward to trying the various remedies suggested (including your Namiki mix).

Simon

Wait you expected Levenger's ad copy to be truthful

Just like every pen they sell is super flexy

Kurt, I think I agree Lloyd, there should be truth in advertising, but alas I think that has gone the way of the Dodo in today's market.

They are. However, they only can demonstrate this attribute once.

I have not tested all the Levenger inks. However I did a water test on several violet and royal blues. Levenger Amethyst was one of the most water-resistant--much better than Herbin Violette Pensee, for example. As for the Cobalt blue, I have not had a lot of trouble with it smearing (I try to re-load my pens each day before using them), and much does wash off when dunked in water, but it has more staying power than Pelikan Royal Blue, which disappears almost completely.

The type of paper will also have an effect. I do my tests on reasonable quality paper (usually at least 25% cotton) or on acid-free card stock.

In short, my experience has been that Levenger inks for the most part are more water resistant than Pelikan, Waterman, or most J. Herbin inks. Also more water resistant than some PR inks. Not nearly as water-resistent, however, as Noodler's bulletproof or "eternal" inks. I have found Namiki black and blue to be equally or somewhat more water resistant than the Levenger colors, which probably vary.

As for quick drying, I have not noticed that in my pens (I use a variety), the Levenger inks are more slow drying than many others. However, I am not a leftie and I blot the page before I turn it (or the check before I send it out). The other inks I use tend to blot about as much as the Levenger.

Maybe the Levenger claim is a stretch--but it is a mite strong to call it a total untruth. (I have no connection with Levenger except that I sometimes buy their ink, as I do from some seven or eight other purveyers.)

I like Levenger Cobalt ink. I don't have any problems with it smearing after I use it. It seems to dry as fast as any other ink to me. It doesn't really matter to me if it is waterproof or eternal as I don't buy it for those properties. I can't think of anything I write that has eternal consequences such that I would care if it eventually got washed off the paper. I just love the saturated color.

PS: I have eternal, bulletproof, waterproof Noodlers Black for check writing.


However, when ever someone makes outlandish claims on a product I think of this...

"It won't rust, bust, collect dust, mold, smell bad or mildew!!!!"

Spoken very quickly with your best "Announcers" voice.

At Christmas '06, I was given a six-pack of Levenger ink. On 7 Jan 07 I tested it. I wrote on lined Mead Cambridge note paper with Amethyst, Raven Black, Cardinal Red, Gemstone Green, Cocoa, and Cobalt Blue. One sheet was a control and was kept in a desk drawer. Another sheet was tacked to a piece of wood and placed on a porch where it was exposed to the elements (full sun and indirect rain and snow). Another was tacked to a piece of wood and placed on a sheltered porch (no direct sun, no rain, but . . .oops, drifting snow ). Another was placed on an inside windowsill in full sun. The samples were left in place from 7 Jan to 12 Jun 07.

Here's the deal:

Full sun only: Amethyst faded to blue; still perfectly legible.
Raven Black faded slightly.
Cardinal Red faded a lot! Still marginally legible.
Gemstone Green faded to aqua green; still perfectly legible.
Cocoa faded to a dull aqua green; still perfectly legible.
Cobalt Blue: no discernable fading.

Exposed Porch: Amethyst faded to aqua green; still perfectly legible.
Raven Black faded a lot; still legible with tiny voids.
Cardinal Red: washed away completely.
Gemstone Green faded to aqua green; still perfectly legible.
Cocoa faded to aqua green; still perfectly legible.
Cobalt Blue faded to aqua green and smeared; not legible.

Protected porch: Interesting. I looked at the sample after snow had drifted over it. The inks, except for Raven Black, had bled into the dry snow! The Raven Black looks good; the rest are smeared. Cobalt Blue is just barely legible in the midst of its smear. The rest are legible.

Paddler