Loose Leaf Notebook Filler Paper Bleed-Through Battle

[inkypete]

 

 

Same here. General impression with the Daiso products is that those actually made in Japan (Designed in Japan / Made in Japan) are better than those made elsewhere (Designed in Japan / Made in China | Indonesia | Brazil).

 

However I got a couple of packets of the Loose Leaf A4 Refills and am quite impressed with them, even though they are made in Indonesia. I haven't seen any bleeding/feathering/spreading with any of the inks I have tried so far.

 

Try the Muji too - there is one in the same building as Kinokinuya. They do a bigger range - A4 and A5 ruled and quad (maybe blank too). Also they stock binders in both sizes 2 ring and multi ring in board and plastic, as well as dividers etc. Nice range very well priced.

 

Bob_Hayden - worth a look if you get the chance.

Edited July 15, 2017 by inkypete

[bob_hayden]

Thanks for the feedback from elsewhere in the world. I was all too aware that my reviews might be of little use outside the US of A. Likewise the brands you mention are not available in New Hampshire.

 

Re the Jot brand paper I reported on the other day, I have since tried writing a letter on it with limited success. I was using a Jinhao 992 opaque blue pen and very old Levenger Cobalt Blue ink and it was like writing on cellophane. The ink just did not want to move from pen to paper. So I then tried 17 pens with probably as many inks, though in most cases the exact ink inside was unknown. The main pattern that emerged was that Jinhao pens generally did not like this paper while Sheaffer (Iowa) or A&W (Germany) pens were fine. I did not notice such fussiness with any other paper I tested. My theory is that this thin paper has a coating or filler to prevent show/bleed through which it does very well but at the expense of repelling ink in many situations. So I would have to move this down a bit in my ratings, or advise using good pens;-)

[bob_hayden]

Today I am reporting on a paper with even narrower availability than nationwide in the US of A. It's from Ocean State Job Lot, which is a chain in New England (NE corner of the US). This chain deals largely in leftovers but some name brands are present and they have some cheap stuff in brands you never heard of that seems to always be available. This paper is "A+ Homework" brand and made in Malaysia. I was wondering how much testing to do as I began printing a title on a sample page with a pen with a fine nib filled with the usually tame Made in USA Sheaffer Jet Black. I got lots of feathering and bleed through so that was the end of my test. This seems to be little more than bleached newsprint. I post this only to redirect folks away from this to the better and cheaper products reviewed above.

[bob_hayden]

Starting today my local Staples has their looseleaf notebook paper on sale for 50 cents a package. May you find some from the nation of your choice!-)

[Retro-user]

I've been told, but haven't tried it yet, that most standard notebook paper is 15-16 #. In contrast, the reinforced paper is not only reinforced on the edge, where the holes are punched, but is heavier, 20# bond, more suitable for fountain pen use.

[bob_hayden]

Yes, when I went to Staples to buy the stuff on sale they tried to direct me to that paper, which is much more expensive, even when the other is not on sale. However, I did look at it and some of it was made in Brazil. I still have not managed to find any of the cheap paper wide ruled from Brazil.

[TSherbs]

I appreciate these reviews. But what do you do with all of this filler paper? You seem to end up with a lot.

[bob_hayden]

Well, of course, much of it is used to test pens and inks!-)

 

While I am retired from teaching statistics, I still take courses and write papers and computer programs. That work ends up on a computer but usually starts with notes and drafts on this paper. I also write letters to the older generation, Mom at 93 and cousin Henry at 99. Then the paper that flunked my tests was given away.

[inkypete]

Happy New Year Bob from downunder. Love reading your reviews so please keep them up.

[TSherbs]

Well, of course, much of it is used to test pens and inks!-)

 

While I am retired from teaching statistics, I still take courses and write papers and computer programs. That work ends up on a computer but usually starts with notes and drafts on this paper. I also write letters to the older generation, Mom at 93 and cousin Henry at 99.

yay for family letters!

 

Then the paper that flunked my tests was given away.

why of course

[bluebellrose]

For Mead you might want to put mead/hilroy. They sell as Hilroy paper in Canada and staples paper in staples.I notice you didn't try platinum black on mead/hilroy

Edited February 20, 2018 by bluebellrose

[bob_hayden]

Thanks for the international perspective. I assume that Staples=Mead only in Canada? Here the Staples paper seems to be from outside North America.

[Chmara]

Your first example -- from Dollar General has worked well for me in a sample batch. Even the bleed from Parallel Pens cartridges was tolerable - while fountain pen fine and flex nib from Noodlers Heart of Darkness was acceptable, X-Feather was clean with no visible bleed through UNLESS I screwed up and double wrote, heavily crossed out over wet or left period writing nib in place way too long not lifting it as I thought.

 

SO today I sought out local Dollar General again and the one I used had closed. A new one opened (larger) nearby but took a while to find. When I went to get five $1 packs of the Indonesian lined paper I found some of the other things (pads, etc.) are all from India which makes very bleed through prone paper. BUT the lined sheet packs (normally 125 per package) were in full stock. As I pulled one at a time, I found a new package with +25 (now 150 sheets) mixed in the piles. It did not take long to find 5 of the extra sized, same priced packs. That added up to one of the old packs FREE just by digging a little.

 

Now this may not be much for some, but retired on a severely limited budget -- this is a practical fiond that meets specifications of a practicing cheap fountain pen, learning to write again, individual.

[bob_hayden]

I favor the even cheaper Wal-Mart paper but most of the responses to this thread have favored the Dollar General paper. There has not been a DG near where I live now but I just did a search and found one a bit nearer than the old nearest. They have been rapidly expanding into New England in recent years and showing up in towns and villages that had nothing else. Thus they are competing with local convenience stores more than other dollar chains.

 

I too appreciate the low prices. I had planned to retire at 70 but was forced to do so at 60, so I had ten fewer years of accumulating retirement savings, and ten more years of retirement over which to spread those savings. Thus I also have threads on cheap pens and cheap ink cartirdges;-)

Edited April 27, 2018 by bob_hayden

[Guest jonathan7007]

Great topic! Thanks to Mr. Hayden for his broad search and documentation.

 

I have a great paper to recommend: ACCO Brands' "Five-Star (brand) Graph-ruled reinforced filler paper". 100-sheet sets are available, plastic-wrapped, in several outlets. It's marked, "Made in USA". UPC for precise ID: 0-43100-17012-9. You can get this on Amazon; I have also bought packages from big-box office outlets. There seem to be minor differences but all have been good fountain pen writing fidelity.

 

www.meadfivestar.com is also on the label so it's Mead Paper, I see. The label says it's 20lb weight.

 

I take lots of notes every day at my desk, on phone calls, or when out, working from a shoulder bag somewhere. I only write with fountain pens so wanted something that well showed the subtle (and not-so-subtle) pen/nib distinctions I enjoy. My wettest nib/pen pairings *do* bleed through a bit especially bearing down on a Noodler's "flex" nib. If I truly need the back side I work around that. The front-side performance is good enough (to me) to compensate.

 

1/4-inch grid frees me from the choice between "college-" and "wide-ruled". I write anywhere. I write quickly, so I need a wet nib and paper that works for wet nibs. I last bought a "three-fer" from Amazon.

 

There is a laminated layer of reinforcement on the left to give the holes a better shot of staying intact on the three-ring attachment gear. I roughly file these sheets by date, throwing them into a simple wide-spine binder every few days. I riffle through when I need a forgotten phone number, the name of a customer service rep from a months-old conversation.

 

To honor Mr. Hayden's work I have tried to learn FPN's upload steps... let's see if I can get some images "up" to display this paper's abilities. I have searched unsuccessfully in the Forum Help for the exact way to place (direct?) links in? the post itself? We'll see if I guess correctly...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 28, 2018 by jonathan7007

[bob_hayden]

Just a reminder to all you cheapskates that it's time for back to school sales which may be the best time to stock up on your favorite filler paper.

[TSherbs]

Just a reminder to all you cheapskates ...

Yo ho! 🤘

[bob_hayden]

Good news / bad news from Dollar General. The good news is that their loose leaf filler is on sale this week for 75 cents for either 125 or 150 sheets per package (both sizes randomly mixed in the bin). The bad news is that the sheet I tried (pulled out of the middle of a 150 sheet pack) is much inferior to that I previously tested. I would rate it at or below the level of the Top Flight, and put it on the "recommended" list. but below all the others I recommended. I think it would work well for daily use with tame inks in pens with F or XF nibs. Always Greener bleeds through to the other side much more than before. An unknown black ink in an old Sheaffer with a medium Triumph nib shows through a bit, and three random inks in F or XF nibs were fine.

 

FWIW the store I visited was a mess. The college and wide ruled papers were not even in the same aisle!

[Retro-user]

Bummer about the inferior DG paper. I'm thinking of either using reinforced filler paper or else heavyweight legal pads, like Double Docket.

[Incongruent]

While its not filler paper, there was astonishingly good paper in one of those 50¢ 80 page plastic covered spirals from Walmart.

Now I just have to find who makes the paper. I might end up just getting notebooks and taking out the pages.

Edited August 23, 2018 by Incongruent