Q&A Slices: What makes paper fountain pen-friendly? 

I learned from my years of using fountain pens: the weight of the paper prevents the ghosting effect, the press (cold or hot) determines the feathering effect and the coating interferes in the drying time of the ink. In a general way I go for the 90gm or higher weight with cold press and no coating on the paper. This way I prevent the feathering and ghosting as well as the smudging. I did find some good 80gm paper though in some notebooks, there's just a little ghosting in them which, if you aren' too picky, can be a nice paper. However, I never go under 80gm or else it becomes quite the mess to write.

Oxford notebooks market their paper as 'Optik Paper' which I have no idea what does actually mean, but they also have a little fountain pen nib figure on them. They feel a lot like Clairefontaine, also 90 g/m2. The good thing, at least for me, is that I can find those notebooks everywhere, and despite being a little more expensive than regular notebooks, they are not 'fountain pen premium price'.

My favorite paper to use for daily writing, besides Clairfontaine, is Kokuyo and specifically their Campus Todai line series. Ultra smooth paper, multiple sizes, rulings with small marks for doing indentions or working on your lettering space and sizes, and it just so beautifully handles even my wettest of pens and inks without any hint of feathering. If you need a LOT of loose and lined paper you can't go wrong with Kokuyo Campus Todai

I've found that in the wild, made in Vietnam and sometimes made in India paper is cheap yet good for fountain pens assuming you aren't using super broad nibs and don't mind some ghosting on the back (but little to no bleed through). They are usually light weight too and kind of coated I guess.

I find MUJI passport notebooks work well, I use and nibs mainly, but I think it should be good up to a nib. My Noodlers flex nibs will bleed through, but something like a Platinum 3776 doesn't put down enough ink to even ghost. I haven't used a Midori insert yet, but the MUJI is half the price at my local B&M.

Also... CICERO NOTEBOOKS (the one you couldn't read because it's Brazilian) ARE AWESOME! They usually tell on the label if it's ruled, dotted or squared, the weight and if the pages are white or beige/natural color. I know because I have some of their sets and love their notebooks to work with, specially the cute A6 ones that comes in boxes of twelve.

In my experience if they are willing to tell you what the paper is, it's probably decent. If they just say high quality paper with 0 specifications it's most likely garbage. If they care enough to give you brand or weight or type or any real defining factors it's probably a better quality paper.

Vellum paper refers to paper with a very smooth finish. Where parchment is made from sheep and cows, for parchment to achieve vellum, it was made from the finer grain of lamb and calf. Vellum paper is smoother than general paper and is popular among engineers and architects for fine detailed drawings, among calligraphers for fine lettering. G. Lalo paper with watermark and laid finish is not an imitation of ancient parchment, which was made from scraping skins smooth. Parchment never had those features. The laid finish is from paper pulp being lifted out of the vat in wired frames. Where the wires pressed against the forming paper it reduced the density of the drying pulp, only fractionally, but that is what causes the laid finish.

As you assert, Brian, it's a "crap shoot". I consider someone should define a standard grade for all the uses employed for differing writing implements; Pilot seem to be the only company who unequivocally define (their) product. Other than that, Vivianne Wanderly posits experience as the definitive - which for many just starting out in the world of fountain pens, leaves them with little or no guidance ( a potentially expensive error). Thank you for your input :)

i love KOYUYO loose leaf a lot... do not bleed through, very little feathering, smooth. a little bit of ghost on noodler's fox red. works good with golden brown and Kung-Te Cheng. X-fether doesn't fit so well with it. it may never dry or looks a nib size smaller.

I really like Black n' Red's paper (the one called "Optik Paper 90 g/m2 Feel the Difference" that has a fountain pen nib as part of the logo). Pukka Pad notebooks are also often good ones, at least the hardbound ones and the same goes for the Office DEPOT notebooks you can get in the UK.

if anyone interested , in italy/EU we have Pigna and Fabriano, recognized old semi-artisan factories, with they "premium" line , strongly focused to bio, aciditly control and so on ......

Second! I notice that supposedly fountain pen friendly notebook paper like leichtturn 1917 still shows some bleedthrough, which I personally don't like. Rhodia seems to work best for me

I've found that 'Studio C' brand books available at Meijers, Walmart, Walgreens, etc during the back to school sales hold up really well to FPs for cheap commercially available notebooks. They've got Comp Books, Date Books and 8.25"x5.125" (just a hair smaller than A5) Skinny Journals that I've seen.

Staples Sustainable Earth notebooks are surprisingly Fountain Pen friendly for F and M nibs. Anything really wet will ghost and bleed through. But if you need a notebook in a pinch, it's the way to go. The paper IS NOT smooth. But it doesn't feather.

Dunder Mifflin is one of my faves tbh

I stumbled on some 68 gsm Tomoe River paper and it's got the be the absolute best I've found yet. Most Tomoe is thinner, like 55 gsm or something in that area and has a lot of ghosting. Not the 68! Unfortunately I've only found it on small (A5) and low page count flimsy cover notebooks, so far. If I could find a large hard cover bound 150+ page notebook source with that paper I'd be set for life.

I recently got some Clairefontaine books and they've been great. Muji paper is also surprisingly good, but pricey for what it is

Shockingly, the paper in Amazon Basics spiral bound notebooks is very decent. Only tested with a pilot metro medium and a jinhao fine, but it absolutely gets the job done for notetaking. No feathering and doesn't bleed through unless you really try. Warning: they could change suppliers at any moment! HP premium 24# is less likely to change and its smoother, but I kinda prefer the feedback on the Amazon paper. Provided you have a laser printer and are willing to expend the toner, lined fountain pen friendly filter paper is just a three hole punch away. I'm sure the imported stuff is fantastic, but I go through at least 350-450 pages a semester...Now if you guys could track down the mystical economy paper that works suplier...I would bet they might just make some branded stuff for the store😉

To those from the Philippines, I suggest getting the VECO Classify notebooks. They're really good value for your money. The color of their paper is clear and they have binder refills that come in ruled, blank, dotted, and grid.

@The Goulet Pen Company: Like ink samples that you have been making available, how about making available a few sheets from each book/brand? I'm sure you would have already thought of that -- in which case, what's the reason for not making the paper samples available?

I really like the oxford paper and is widely available in Spain (I think that is called red and black in USA). In my opinion is more fountain pen friendly than claire fountaine but not as "smooth".

I'm not sure about availability, but I find Miquelrius notebooks work really well with my pens. It's made in Spain and comes in different weights and either grids or lines. I use the 70gsm (which is pretty thin) but don't have a problem with feathering or bleeding unless the pen is really broad and really wet. $8 for 150 sheets of A5, so, not bad.

I have found that some inexpensive German notebooks are fountain pen friendly. Also most local papers here in Finland are fountain pen friendly. But I use EF nibs mostly, so they work well on cheap papers too.

Thanks! That was a very useful overview, and I also learned from the other contents.

Really great video, Brian! Will save me from making some paper shopping mistakes!

Well, Clairefontaine would translate to "Clear fountain". Maybe not a coincidence.

I gotta second the composition book papers that if they were made in India, tend to be surprisingly well behaved with many kinds of ink. I don't get any bleed through or feathering, maybe a little spread from my fine nibs where they look like Mediums, but if there's a sheen, it still shows up in inks like Diamine Cobalt Jazz or Emerald of Chivor. I test swabbed a bunch of inks on a heavier brand Fabriano EcoQua notebook which is thicker paper and surprisingly all my Levenger inks spot bled through it. No idea why. They didn't bleed on my Rhodia pad which seems to be thinner and more translucent. Diamine's want to bleed on my rhodia pads, but are behaved on the Fabriano AND the composition book. I get a bit of echo or ghosting as Brian calls it on the compo paper. It's thin paper and the show is faint, but doesn't distract me at the time I write or confuse when I'm re-reading the page. Surprising results really all around.

I use kokuyo for my fountain pen, because it is the smoothest and usually won't go wrong except maybe the ink itself is 'problematic'. I used lamy inks, dimines, amd platinum with cartridge and there's no problem at all. No feathering, no ghosting, no bleeding and a normal time for drying as well. Rodhia pad is way more expensive, and muji have slightly lower price but i think it is more better choice than muji, and have way more option (sizes, the lines, the cover, binding, etc) so, yeah. Unless there's any other option with the same price range, i'll stick tl my kokuyo.

In France it is very commun to use fountain pen at school for cursive writing so claire fontaine is good 👍🏻

JetPens says that Tomoe River paper is fountain pen friendly. They sell Japanese stationary supplies; and they have the Pilot pad show at 8:00

Just as a heads-up, the Cambridge 06194 is about 18-20lbs paper, but whatever it is, it doesn't bleed easily. It takes a LOT for me to make Pelikan 4001 bleed through. Like, deliberately saturating an area.

Excellent as always. Thank you.

As an architect I like rhodia or moleskins. When I draw details I don't get alot of bleed.

Youve got to question where the average person's head is at when you can pick up a product and find out it's environmental friendliness, whether its suitable for people with nut allergies, and whether it's gluten free or not but you cannot find out the product's usefulness in it's intended role. I know the mind of me, my dad, my brothers, uncles, and grandfathers want to know "is this product going to suit my needs?" first. Paper, you would think, would design it's packaging with it's common usefulness considered first. I used to enjoy taking the time to research my products deeply and enjoy learning the industry terms so I could evaluate products better. But then I realized "it's kinda Bulls--t I have to do this much work and i dont even have time if i could anymore. Now; i give products a quick once over, if it's useful features aren't on the package at all or take me a few seconds to locate I skip it forever without a second glance. Apparently they want the casual purchaser's money and not mine even though I have to buy some products for my hobbies quite frequently.

Do you guys have a monthly subscription box? Does anyone knows a good subscription box for ink and fountain pen lovers?

i am recently using Maruman Mnemosyne, it's a great paper, the smoothness and the feel is suits best for me, and also it looks premium compared to others

noodler lexington grey bleeds right through straight to the second page with a single stroke of a medium nib on rhodia 90g . watching this to see if i can figure out wtf is going on, seriously

I’ve asked this question before, but have never received an answer, so here I go again: does there exist a BLUE ink that has the same (or at least similar) properties to the amazing Noodler’s X-Feather? There are situations at work where I am forced to use EXTREMELY non-fountain pen friendly paper, and at the same time use blue ink on it. I NEED HELP!!!! (Mentally as well, but that’s a topic for a different forum, methinks.)

Just beginning to work on improving my handwriting and use of a fountain pen (it has been years!) So am looking at a lot of practice. Any recommendations for paper that won't bankrupt me but will have decent non-bleed or non-feathering properties.

I don't see any of these brands at my local Walmart. As most of us know every Walmart is different and will cater to the local clientele. I know you are not going to find guns and ammo in big city Walmart, but in more rural parts of the U.S. you can buy guns and ammo. Can I found these brands at an office supply store, like "Office Depot?"

Is 70gsm paper fountain pen freindly? I am looking for a fountain pen with the broadest nib size under twenty dollars, which pen would you recommend?

I purchased a Claire Fontane (sp) pocket booklet for my wife, and she hated it. She will nick my pocket booklet made of Tomoe River. I absolutely love TR, best feeling smoothest peper I’ve ever used

Yes! Cicero from Brazil!

im big fan of various Rhodia notebooks, use them for years but im curious what are competitive products in similar price range

What printer paper would be the best for fountain pens. Hope someone can help me. I have an inkjet printer. If that helps. Thanks before hand.

Stay clear of Moleskin notebooks. They a not fountain pen friendly and the binding tend to deteriorate pretty rapidly.

For anyone who own a wearingeul ink skip apica paper Somehow the ink won’t write at all it make my pen skip like crazy but the same pen and ink work well on other paper

I came across this paper they give out during exams, super thin, no one would even think it would hold FP ink, but surprisingly it had held better than its super expensive counterparts.. no shedding, feathering, bleed through, nothing at all.. wrote using a lamy vista fine nib and quink black. Currently i am trying to find who manufactures this paper ( no luck yet) so that i can purchase some for my daily use. Does anyone know how to identify any brand of paper?

What are the 2 pens you have on the back wall in the wood block?

Goulet should sell parchment scrolls

Thank you for all the knowledge and info you share !

Factors: Paper, Ink, Nib

Links to paper references?

Dead Sea scrolls were papyrus.

Thickness... or density at same or thinner thickness

L1917 THE BEST !!!!!!!

Found some fountain pen deadly paper in my uni notebook. Feels smooth to the touch but once you write using a fountain pen, you feel like going through a minefield of glass shards. Your fountain pen will never write smooth again once it's written on this paper