Staples Bagasse paper rules!

[Mrsal]

yesterday i went to staples to get some more ink cartridges for my pen, and i thought i would pick up some of the bagasse paper that everyone is talking about. so i bought 4 composition books, 2 wirebound notebooks, and 4 packages of looseleaf, and all i have to say is WOW! this paper is awesome! the next time that you go to staples, you gotta pick some up!

[lovemy51]

i bought a lot of it bout'a month ago (loose sheets, legal pads, wire-bound notebooks and steno pads) and i used it this weekend!!! i love the FP friendliness!!

[Mrsal]

i know! isnt it the best FP friendly paper for the price!

[Flourish and Blotts]

Meh.

 

 

[Djehuty]

I love this stuff! I wish they'd release it in other forms. Unlined, for instance, or not pre-punched for binders.

 

[Peter from Sherwood Park]

Agreed, this is great paper -- the ideal ink to go with it is J. Herbin's Lie de The.

[NYLegMan]

Can anyone tell me what the Staples brand name might be? No one at my local store (NYC) has any concept of bagasse. Can't find it on a seach of Staples.com either. I feel like a clogged feed right now :~) Perhaps a SKU # would help?

[TMac]

  NYLegMan said:

Can anyone tell me what the Staples brand name might be? No one at my local store (NYC) has any concept of bagasse. Can't find it on a seach of Staples.com either. I feel like a clogged feed right now :~) Perhaps a SKU # would help?

 

On my spiral bound notebooks, it is labeled eco-friendly. The inside cover has notes about bagasse paper.

[NYLegMan]

Thanks TMac... found it! The key work was eco-friendly or "sugarcane waste". Unfortunately it is not in stock, but the stores will order it for free in-store delivery.

[WriteOn]

  Mrsal said:

yesterday i went to staples to get some more ink cartridges for my pen, and i thought i would pick up some of the bagasse paper that everyone is talking about. so i bought 4 composition books, 2 wirebound notebooks, and 4 packages of looseleaf, and all i have to say is WOW! this paper is awesome! the next time that you go to staples, you gotta pick some up!

 

After all the raves about this paper, I went into my local Staples to check it out. Several folks mentioned that they had a hard time finding it, so I located the manager after entering the store and asked, "Where's the bagasse?" He immediately replied, "She's out to lunch, but may I help you with something?" O.K. -seriously, I found it easily on a special display and picked up a two-pack of the letter size legal pads. ($1.99) I have tried it with several of my pens - medium and broad nibs loaded with Aurora black, Mont Blanc black, Visconti black and Waterman Havana brown. Very smooth and not a bit of bleed through. Can't say I'll abandon my Rhodia, but this stuff was much better than I expected.

[Margana]

  WriteOn said:

...I found it easily on a special display and picked up a two-pack of the letter size legal pads. ($1.99) I have tried it with several of my pens - medium and broad nibs loaded with Aurora black, Mont Blanc black, Visconti black and Waterman Havana brown. Very smooth and not a bit of bleed through. Can't say I'll abandon my Rhodia, but this stuff was much better than I expected.

I won't abandon Rhodia either but Staples Eco-Friendly is readily available in the US and very economical. I can waste, er, use tons of it without a thought to conservation. Anything that makes us write more is good stuff. Staples certainly hit a home run this time.

 

Still have any of you found some nibs almost skate on Eco-Friendly paper? Are there other brands of bagasse paper? If you've tried one, how does it compare to the Staples brand?

 

[StephY]

Picked up some legal pads yesterday and did a test with some of the pens and inks in my current rotation. With most inks there was very little feathering, if any. There was really no bleedthrough, either, but the paper is so thin that one can see shadows of the writing on the other side.

 

The exception to the feathering (some) and the bleedthrough is with some Noodler's inks. The notorious BSB feathers and has pretty bad bleedthrough (but then it has this issue somethings with Rhodia too). Concord Bream in the Noodler's regular line performed better. Neither Noodler's Black nor Noodler's Kung-Te-Cheng had any of these problems.

 

ETA: I have used this pad today at work and do like the paper very much. Can't beat it in price compared to Rhodia etc.

Edited February 17, 2009 by StephY

[R.ticle One]

Some of the nicest paper I've tried. Not quite Rhodia, but it has it beat in other ways - like the price! Very thin, very smooth. No bleedthrough yet - seethrough, yes, but that doesn't really bother me.

 

Anyone who hasn't tried it yet, I'd suggest that you do! It may be some of the best few dollars you ever spent on paper.

[Bill]

I discovered an added benefit of this paper a couple of days ago. I can shred at least twice as many pages at a time compared to the average credit card application paper.

 

Bill

[dcande01]

  StephY said:

Picked up some legal pads yesterday and did a test with some of the pens and inks in my current rotation. With most inks there was very little feathering, if any. There was really no bleedthrough, either, but the paper is so thin that one can see shadows of the writing on the other side.

 

The exception to the feathering (some) and the bleedthrough is with some Noodler's inks. The notorious BSB feathers and has pretty bad bleedthrough (but then it has this issue somethings with Rhodia too). Concord Bream in the Noodler's regular line performed better. Neither Noodler's Black nor Noodler's Kung-Te-Cheng had any of these problems.

 

ETA: I have used this pad today at work and do like the paper very much. Can't beat it in price compared to Rhodia etc.

 

 

I just LOVE this paper! And this is coming from a confirmed Crane's freak.

[sharonspens]

Just bought some of this paper 30 minutes ago, but haven't had a chance to try it yet. While perusing the aisles, though, I looked over the stationery. Has anyone tried Staples correspondence cards, specifically the ones with initials? I am a confirmed Crane-o-phile, but I could be persuaded to try them.

 

Sharon in Indiana

[pen2paper]

took the leap-my budget could handle 2 6 x 9.5's at this price..

have tried apcia notebooks.. bagasse eco-paper has similarities..thin..pen/ink friendly/no bleedthrough using Noodler's lux blue.

similarity ends at the heavy wire, and stiff heavy cover w/ pocket page.. apica covers are thin/flexy.

Edited February 22, 2009 by pen2paper

[djpyle]

I picked up a couple of these yesterday (the small, staple-bound pads) and can't believe that as thin as the paper is there's no bleed through, even with my .9 mm Binder nib and Noodler's Old Manhattan. I wish there was an unlined option, but that's my only complaint. I especially like the non-blinding, off-white color of the paper.

 

I also picked up a pad of Gold Fiber, which I'd been wanting to try. It's nice too, though nowhere near as thin.

 

So far, my favorite of the cheap papers is the Xerox Pastels Plus Recycled Paper (24 Lb, Ivory) I got at Office Depot. It's acid-free and really FP friendly. I've been using it to do some practice bookbinding.

[Garageboy]

Theres different types of gold fiber; a thin version that's tissue thin and watermarked (I don't like this stuff) and the thicker 22-24lb version

[Inka]

This was the thread I'd first read about the "bagasse" sugarcane waste paper by Staples.

At first I couldn't remember the name of the thread, so I wrote my impressions about this in an older thread, located here and at post # 14.

 

I too am simply amazed by the thinness and quality of this very fountain pen friendly paper.

I read it on this thread last night, then immediately ran out to Staples to find and buy some just minutes before the store was to closed.

 

I normally prefer heavier stock, 25% or greater cotton paper for my FP writing, but for a college ruled binder paper this sugarcane bagasse is the best I've ever used.

Now that I've tried the loose leaf binder paper, I may have to run out and see what journals, composition books and other items Staples has using this paper.

No matter what pen, nib, or ink I'd tried on this super-thin binder paper, not once did I get a single spot of bleed-through.

That's something I can't say with even the heavy stock cottons paper I usually write on with my FPs.

 

This stuff is inexpensive too, gives me plenty to write on for the money, plus it gives me more paper to write on without concern for the clear-cutting of old growth forests.

With just one sheet tested so far, writing on both sides and having tested it against many other paper types I have, I'm hooked.

This truly is great paper for the money, just added it to my vast stock of different papers and it will likely be the one I use most when just doodling, practicing my penmanship, just for GPs.

Like others have mentioned, I too wish they had a non-ruled version of this paper, something for sketching and practicing my pen & ink drawing.

Regardless of its' being lined, I like the light brown lines much better than the typical blue or black lined papers I have and have tried; gives it a softer, more vintage look.