Tipex

[Pootle]

What's happened to it, it doesn't work. It's transparent these days.

[rojash]

Look carefully at the bottle! You probably have a bottle of Tipex thinners, which is for thinning it out if it starts to set...

[snapdharlich]

Try shaking the bottle

[Pootle]

'Look carefully and try shaking the bottle.'

Has anybody got any sensible ideas?

[smudge]

Tippex liquid pens are very good.

[flump1]

pootle I use Tipex Raid, the difference between this one and the original is that this one has a sponge to apply Tipex where the old one a brush. It is not transparent.

[Lore]

weird! We had the same conversation at work today! I've found that since the introduction of the sponge applicator it just doesn't work! :o(

just another point on weirdness! my name used to be Pootle on another forum! 

(probably should have left that part out lol)

[gucciman]

ive also noticed that the tippex is semi-transparent these days, and once its dry the ink underneath is visible through.

they may have cheapened the formulation to make more profits or to counter rising raw material prices such as the white pigment used in it which is fairly expensive. they may have also lowered the concentration of white pigment in the product which would mean less opacity ( covering power )

they could have also lowered the quality of the binder and pigments in the tippex which may be allowing the inks underneath to migrate through the tippex film to become visible again

[Tim Baxter]

Or, it could be a conspiracy based on the above to make you buy more Tipex!

[philandlil]

I agree with Tim Baxter. Going along the same lines as his answer they probably weakened the formula so that you buy one of their dearer versions thinking they work better.

[smudge]

Pootle - further to my previous answer - I just looked at the one I use & it isn't a Tippex pen, it's called a Pritt Correct-It Pocket Pen.

I have to say it's much better than Tippex.

[Red_Pixie]

When I was younger, there were two versions of Tippex - normal and some kind of environmentally-friendly one. The environmentally-friendly one was exactly as you describe, writing underneath just showed right through it - hence I always used the normal version! Having not used Tippex for many years, it's my suspicion that Tippex now only produce their environmentally-friendly version because tougher laws have meant that certain ingredients in their normal version are now illegal.

[gucciman]

the solvent should not make any difference to the covering power of the dry tippex as it all evaporates off during the drying/curing process. the covering power is directly related to the percentage of the white pigment in the formulation, the more the pigment the better the covering power. the solvents are only there to reduce the viscosity so it is suitable to be applied.