Is Filofax Paper Fountain Pen Friendly?

[SarahB]

Hello everyone! Do you know whether Filofax planner pages, specifically the Pocket size, are FP friendly or not? I've gotten conflicting information on the issue and am thinking of going FF unless it isn't FP happy.

[Jimothy]

Yes, it's fine.

[kernando]

I doubt that size matters in this case.

 

The plain white paper is probably made in China, or it might even be labeled so. It's not hostile to ink, but it isn't the best either. If your ink is very good at not showing through, like a light color, and pen a dry writer, then it's better. The ink doesn't bleed through or feather at least.

 

The cotton cream paper costs more, is thicker, and works better with ink. It must not be all cotton, because if it were they would brag about it. I don't use the colored papers enough to comment, though you probably get less show through.

 

If you end up choosing between pocket week on two page diaries, the layout is a little different between white and cream. White has Saturday and Sunday in the same size space as the weekdays. The cream has M-Th on left, F-Sun plus note space on right.

[The Good Captain]

I've had most success with Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black, Lamy Blue-Black and R&K Salix on the paper in my FF Personal sized one. However, as I use my phone's calendar linked into Google I'll not be replacing the paper diary but will cut up and hole-punch some Ryman's Bank paper and use it as a 'disposable' notebook. I could have a section of thicker paper or copy paper as well.

[Plume145]

Disclaimer: last time I used a regular Filofax (as in with the holes, not one of those Flex things) was about 10+ years ago, meaning the last time they were somewhat popular just before they gave way to the notebook revival spurred on by Moleskines (which is the wave Filofax are riding this time to get back in the game...ah how the world of stationery geekery turns around). This is to say, I have NO idea whether my observations would still apply to the FF paper you can get today. Best I can do is guarantee that it really was genuine FF stock. I am only posting because so far you don't have a ton of answers and might need all extra detail.

 

At the time, I was a full-time FP user, and had used both the regular FF paper, in white and colored, and the 'Cotton Cream' version. My darkest ink would have been black, my widest nib about a Medium-y, and there's not much I can tell you about wetness/dryness of inks or pens because at the time I didn't have nearly enough pens and inks to choose from to be able to discover there was such a thing at play :-)

 

The regular was fine; not toss your skirts great, but I could live with it. It did better with my medium nibs than my skinnier ones, when it got a bit too glazed and scratchy. FP was still better than BPs or gels which needed pressure - press a little when writing and the paper curled up all the way into a tube practically. Overall impression: cheap and cheerful.

 

The colored was a disappointment because it seemed to have a coating that sort of made my pen 'skitter' on the surface and skip or have line width variations - a pen that was otherwise a gorgeous workhorse of a school pen. And the colors were a lot more muddy and grayish than they looked in catalog/site, so that's another thing to bear in mind. Overall impression? Cheap and grim

 

The Cotton Cream now, that was a whole different animal. Veeery lush stuff indeed. Probably at least partly to blame for my continuing luurve of all papers cream/ivory in color and smooth but matte. Also, the chocolate brown lines and rounded corners on the text boxes etc gave the whole thing an extra edge of sweetness that was rather welcome with such an otherwise rigid and restrictive format. Overall, this is the only one I would actually call 'FP friendly'. Everything else just accepts FPs, but it doesn't befriend them So to speak

 

The most recent Filofax offering I've used is actually the Flex range, which is closer to what I remember of Cotton Cream than to the other stuff. I think it may be a tad more prone to feathering/spreading than Cotton Cream, but nothing too ghastly, AND I probably use wetter inks and pens nowadays too.

 

 

Overall, the best bet (for me) when it comes to the various notebook 'systems' (like Filofax, organizer and Flex, Traveler's notebook, and so on) is to try the refills first, and only go to the considerably larger expense of buying the cover/shell IF the refills cut the mustard. That's what I've been doing the last few years, and it works on the whole

 

Only caveat: don't assume the paper is the same across refills, eg diary, notes, etc. Buy *exactly* what you'll be using (eg small graph notebook, not any notebook or even the diary). I made this mistake recently, with the Midori TN - I got the planner and loved the paper, got the whole kit and caboodle based on that, only to find out the notebooks were a whole different paper - one that was actually just FP-tolerant, not FP friendly.

 

Hope this helps! Let us know what you go with, and how you find FF paper if that's what you pick!

[SarahB]

Thanks everyone for your replies and great information and suggestions!

 

I am getting a Pocket size loose-leaf organizer, with appears to come with the white paper, so I also ordered a cream refill.

 

Once I get it, I will write back here and try to give a mini review of how it behaves with my fountain pens and at least a couple of different inks.

[SarahB]

I promised I would post after I got the Filofax paper, which I have done. The results were not great with either the white or the cream paper. The cream paper had fairly bad feathering (I hope I am using that term correctly) and the bleed through was as bad as the white paper. Neither is a paper that I will use a fountain pen on. I'm attempting to attach photos of the front and back of both papers with Noodler's 54th and Namiki blue inks.

 

[The Good Captain]

I've had most success with Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black and R&K Salix but most of the rest of my inks have caused problems, of one sort or another. What I eventually plan to do is to cut and punch some reasonable paper and use that in the leather cover instead.

[whych]

I think the trick is to use a fine nib that doesn't write too wet.

The paper in the Collins refills is worse than Filofaxes for FPens.

I use an A5 mostly and print my own pages. Printing pocket is a bit more finicky and involves more cutting.

The best paper I have found is the 70 gsm sold at the pound shops.

For printable diary inserts go to http://philofaxy.blogspot.co.uk/p/diary-inserts.html

The cheapest pocket punch is the Rapesco 6 hole one. (google for it - there is a firm either on ebay or on the net that does the cheapest price around 10 GBP)

My main problem with the smaller filofaxes is finding a pen thin enough to fit the loops.

[SarahB]

Update: I have found that Noodler's 54th in my Pilot Prera with an F nib works well. There is a very faint shadow on the other side of the page but it is almost unnoticeable. Again I am finding that the cream paper is no better than the stock white paper.

 

Also FWIW I got the Domino Pocket organizer and the Prera fits perfectly in the elastic pen loop.

[PenCity.com]

Are you a big fan of the Pilot Prera?

 

 

Update: I have found that Noodler's 54th in my Pilot Prera with an F nib works well. There is a very faint shadow on the other side of the page but it is almost unnoticeable. Again I am finding that the cream paper is no better than the stock white paper.

 

Also FWIW I got the Domino Pocket organizer and the Prera fits perfectly in the elastic pen loop.

[whych]

Update: I have found that Noodler's 54th in my Pilot Prera with an F nib works well. There is a very faint shadow on the other side of the page but it is almost unnoticeable. Again I am finding that the cream paper is no better than the stock white paper.

Like I said, the finer, drier nibs work... but it's more satisfying and cheaper to print your own!

Also FWIW I got the Domino Pocket organizer and the Prera fits perfectly in the elastic pen loop.

That's the other problem, especially with smaller organisers - the pen won't fit the pen loop!

[SarahB]

Are you a big fan of the Pilot Prera?

 

 

Update: I have found that Noodler's 54th in my Pilot Prera with an F nib works well. There is a very faint shadow on the other side of the page but it is almost unnoticeable. Again I am finding that the cream paper is no better than the stock white paper.

 

Also FWIW I got the Domino Pocket organizer and the Prera fits perfectly in the elastic pen loop.

 

The Prera is a good option for my planner because the cap snaps on and off, I have a fine and an EF nib for the Prera, and it's not such an expensive pen that I worry about it getting knocked around in my pocket.

[Runnin_Ute]

Wish I had seen this earlier.

 

I am a long time FranklinCovey planner system user (back to about 1986) and they have always had wonderful paper. Most of which, whether you use the "original" or one of the other styles are pretty good with FP's as I have used Levenger Raven Black, Levenger Cobalt Blue and Pelikan 4001 Blue/Black with it.I use the "Monticello" design pages, which are a pretty bright white with a blue accents and lines. The original is green & white. You might want to get a pack of sheets. When I get my annual refill it ends up costing me $30 or so. (including storage binder - I use the "Classic" size which is 5.5" x 8.5") I don't know how much different their paper is from filofax paper, but something you might want to look at. Classic is 5.5" x 8.5"; Monarch is 8.5" x 11"; Compact is 4.25" x 6.75", Pocket is 3.5"x 6'

 

 

 

 

 

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[vishae]

Just thought I should add that I've used Lamy inks on Filofax paper (note and calendar, in white though) and they work just fine. I think it's because they tend to be a "dry" ink.

[OleOle]

Well, I'd like to thank people on this and many of the other Filofax/FP threads around the forum as I was wanting an 'excuse/reason' to be able to use my FP's each day but they ended up staying in a little pen jar where they're all stored, in reach, but somehow out of mind and I figured that buying a new Filofax would be an ideal way to become a daily writer with my FP's. So far it's going well with 'to do' lists, various jottings with financial news, items to research, ideas to follow-up etc all giving my pens a work-out so I'm very pleased.

 

I ended up going for the A5-sized Guildford Zip which has the larger ring binder mechanism, smooth black leather and two elasticated pen loops which even take my favourite wide Sailor FP. The primary reason I opted for the zip-around style was because this purchase is 'all about the fountain pens' and even with just two pens inside the Filofax, the value of the pens is far more than the cost of the Filofax, so now I can travel easy knowing that my pens are safe and will be there when I need them.

 

My old Filofax was also black leather A5 but the pen loops were non-elasticated, it's open-edged (non-zipped), the binder mechanism was the smaller size not holding much and I didn't like using it as I felt the few FP's that would fit in the loops would fall out and get lost in transit.

 

The points made about the quality of Filofax paper on this thread are spot-on and as I prefer to write quite heavily with a wetter ink, I also purchased an A5 hole punch so that eventually when I do manage to locate some excellent paper, I'll be able to slot it in without any hassles. The hole punch is quite slimline so I just keep it at the front of the Filofax and it's very handy to have there especially when I want to keep, say art gallery exhibition flyers or other transient pieces of paper to refer to later, just fold it, punch it, slot it in, no stray bits of paper flying around or getting lost... well, there always does tend to be extra paper, envelopes to post, bank statements and whatever else, but with the zip, it doesn't really matter. I suppose know how you work and you'll know the right Filofax to get.

 

But, the long and the short of it is, now I'm using my fountain pens each day and I'm far happier for it!

 

Cost of happiness: AUD$212 for the Filofax, AUD$25 for the hole punch, both new from Ebay.

 

Thanks for all your comments and observations, it made my purchasing decisions far easier.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited: corrections, additional info added

Edited February 5, 2014 by OleOle

[indigoskye]

Thanks everyone for your replies and great information and suggestions!

 

I am getting a Pocket size loose-leaf organizer, with appears to come with the white paper, so I also ordered a cream refill.

 

Once I get it, I will write back here and try to give a mini review of how it behaves with my fountain pens and at least a couple of different inks.

 

The cotton cream paper is much improved this year (2014). Filofax has been listening to the comments of fountain pen users and is attempting to meet this demand. Make sure you use an ink such as Pelikan 4001 and a fine nib with your Filofax. I have found that this has made a world of difference with bleed and feathering for me.

[GimbalLocker]

A bit late to this thread, but I had same question. I've since been using a Filofax for some time with a fountain pen. I am mostly using a fine nib TWSBI ECO with Noodler's Dark Matter as my everyday pen . Anyone unfamiliar with this ink, it is a replication of a black Mid-1940's ink used for the the Manhattan Project, so I assume they were using cheap stock for all the paperwork. It flows well on the filofax paper and hasn't been bleeding through , though you can see it slightly from the other side.

Edited January 16, 2020 by GimbalLocker

[Misfit]

A bit late to this thread, but I had same question. I've since been using a Filofax for some time with a fountain pen. I am mostly using a fine nib TWSBI ECO with Noodler's Dark Matter as my everyday pen . Anyone unfamiliar with this ink, it is a replication of a black Mid-1940's ink used for the the Manhattan Project, so I assume they were using cheap stock for all the paperwork. It flows well on the filofax paper and hasn't been bleeding through , though you can see it slightly from the other side. [/size]

I recently got a bottle of Dark Matter at my local pen store. I have two Filofax (one misplaced somewhere in the house). They are the ones that came in gift sets with a Lamy Safari or Al-Star. I find that paper works well with fountain pens.