What's All The Fuss Over Rhodia?

[PolarMoonman]

I work in an office supplies store and we carry Rhodia pads, so I picked one up today and looked at it. To my (untrained) eyes it looks quite unspectacular. It simply looked like cheap ol' graph paper. Now I know a lot of people on here love Rhodia paper and use it a lot, so I would be most grateful if someone would explain to me why it is so popular and what makes it different/better from other graph paper....

 

Thanks,

 

P&P

[tripcode]

Rhodia is a heavier weight than regular copy paper. I think its fibers are also somewhat differently cut than the normal paper.

[mAnuscript69]

Try writing in it.

Try writing on both sides of a sheet with a wet broad nib, using a free flowing saturated ink and compare your results with 'cheap ol' graph paper'.

[bassopotamus]

Try writing in it.

Try writing on both sides of a sheet with a wet broad nib, using a free flowing saturated ink and compare your results with 'cheap ol' graph paper'.

 

This. There is nothing special about how it looks, but it is really great to write on with fountain pens. Smooth, and very few inks bleed or feather on it.

[PolarMoonman]

Try writing in it.

Try writing on both sides of a sheet with a wet broad nib, using a free flowing saturated ink and compare your results with 'cheap ol' graph paper'.

 

This. There is nothing special about how it looks, but it is really great to write on with fountain pens. Smooth, and very few inks bleed or feather on it.

 

But why? What makes it better than regular paper?

[bassopotamus]

Try writing in it.

Try writing on both sides of a sheet with a wet broad nib, using a free flowing saturated ink and compare your results with 'cheap ol' graph paper'.

 

This. There is nothing special about how it looks, but it is really great to write on with fountain pens. Smooth, and very few inks bleed or feather on it.

 

But why? What makes it better than regular paper?

 

I don't know the mechanics of it. It seems much smoother to me than most cheap papers. It just works, and it isn't too expensive, so that's what I write on.

[Silvermink]

But why? What makes it better than regular paper?

 

It's dense so it doesn't bleed through, it's got a relatively smooth surface, and it doesn't have the long fibers of some cheap paper which cause feathering.

 

The only thing I don't like about heavier paper is that ink takes longer to dry on it, but I'm willing to deal with that to get the other advantages. My work notebook is a Rhodia Exabook.

[watch_art]

there's more sizing in the paper - and possibly some clay as well. I think there's clay...

[AlejoPlay]

Rhodia is some of the best graph paper ever made.

 

And I love the orange and black covers.

[mAnuscript69]

But why? What makes it better than regular paper?

In short, the paper is denser than most cheap paper. It also has a vellum coating, which provides a smooth writing surface in addition to being far more ink resistant; the paper is less absorbent: far less likely for ink to bleed through the page, and shading is encouraged due to ink pooling.

 

Due to the ink repelling nature of the coating, feathering will be almost non-existent except in extreme circumstances i.e. Baystate Blue in a flex pen. Regardless, your pen will write its true width on Rhodia paper and not 'spread' like when written on more absorbent papers. Some people might complain that ink takes longer to dry, but personally I enjoy seeing pools of ink across a page

 

Seriously, do yourself a favour and try one out. If you don't want to commit to a full size pad you can try one of the small #10 or #11 ones, they contain the same paper.

[lapis]

I like Rhodia because it is less smooth than Clairefontaine paper. R has more texture. The company R was bought out by the company CF in 97.

 

Mike

[dcrosier76]

Rhodia is definitely my favorite paper, hands down.

[AlejoPlay]

Rhodia is some of the best graph paper ever made.

 

And I love the orange and black covers.

 

EDIT: Also the dot grid which is my favorite of their rulings.

 

I love that their pads are very inexpensive (IMO).

[PolarMoonman]

I'll have to pick up a pad, we carry them at my work I will be sure to buy one...

[Plume145]

I'm not crazy about it either tbh It's nice, nicer than most even, but it doesn't completely wow me or anything.

 

I prefer some of the kokuyo papers. I have one of the Camiapp notebooks and it's beee-au-ti-ful - I don't even use the actual take-a-photo function that is the whole point of these notebooks, the paper itself is enough to make me re-purchase when I'm through with this one.

[JohnS-MI]

Try writing in it.

Try writing on both sides of a sheet with a wet broad nib, using a free flowing saturated ink and compare your results with 'cheap ol' graph paper'.

 

This. There is nothing special about how it looks, but it is really great to write on with fountain pens. Smooth, and very few inks bleed or feather on it.

 

But why? What makes it better than regular paper?

 

If we knew how to tell the difference, we wouldn't buy so much lousy paper. Many of the opinions here are at least part of the reason, but we all get surprised from time to time.

 

We love reliable paper even if it is pricey. Even more, we love dirt-cheap paper that turns out to be fountain-pen friendly. Look at threads on Staples sugar cane paper, composition notebooks from Brazil vs other countries, etc. Appearance is not a very good performance predictor (although some papers can be spotted as obviously bad).

[basakadakara]

Rhodia is inexpensive for the quality in my opinion. Definitely some of my favorite paper.

[MC_in_Houston]

Try writing in it.

Try writing on both sides of a sheet with a wet broad nib, using a free flowing saturated ink and compare your results with 'cheap ol' graph paper'.

 

This. There is nothing special about how it looks, but it is really great to write on with fountain pens. Smooth, and very few inks bleed or feather on it.

 

But why? What makes it better than regular paper?

The sizing used on the paper. Sizing is the material applied to the paper as part of the manufacturing process. .Paper is treated with clay, chalk and other materials to control the smoothness, brightness and absorption properties of the paper when ink is applied.

[JohnMarra]

I too find Rhodia to be nearly the perfect paper for a wide variety of pens and inks. I have rarely had any bleed through or feathering and you get a nice true line. I believe the secret is in the length of the fibers and the additives. By its characteristics, I think it likely has some titanium dioxide added. I love the stuff and like that it is showing up in more configurations, such as Levenger's Circa system.

[PolarMoonman]

Just bought a pad....

 

I like how it feels when I write, it is really nice. :roflmho: My only complaint is its slow dry time...