How To Write During Hot Weather?

[FountainClogger]

OK, this might sound like a super silly question, but I'm going to ask anyway.
How do you write with your fountain pens during hot weather?
What I mean is this: normally I write using arm movements with my arm resting and sliding on the desk surface, but when it starts to get hot and I wear short sleeve shirts, my arms are a little sweaty and tacky so they "stick" to the desk, therefore arm movements are precluded and I'm forced to use exclusively wrist movements, which makes my handwriting ugly and, most of all, it's uncomfortable. Not to talk about the fact that the paper sticks to your hand.

I tried with tablecloth: it's worse. I tried a sort of oversleeve and I can manage only for a while. I was thinking of dusting myself with talcum powder...

So, other than the obvious solution of wearing a long sleeve shirt (and suffer the consequences), do you have any other method of dealing with this issue?

[tubular]

I have been wondering about this too. I keep fans going always and in sticky weather avoid using my good writing table, writing instead on a table with a less finely finished surface. I think writing on slightly rough surfaces helps, because your skin has less immediate surface area to adhere to and because there is, for me at least, less worry about marring a delicate finish. If I'm feeling especially humid I put an extra piece of paper between my hand and either the table or my writing paper; if I'm damp enough to need it, it will travel with me across and down the page.

 

I imagine this is why people use leather blotters.

 

Edited to add: I love your beautiful and clever little dragon fountain!

Edited August 8, 2019 by tubular

[BaronWulfraed]

Could be one reason so many ancient writing desks had a sloped surface...

[Bibliophage]

Hm. I think I tend to just hold the paper with my fingertips of the other hand, then write with my writing hand slightly lifted.

[Freddy]

OK, this might sound like a super silly question, but I'm going to ask anyway.

How do you write with your fountain pens during hot weather?

What I mean is this: normally I write using arm movements with my arm resting and sliding on the desk surface, but when it starts to get hot and I wear short sleeve shirts, my arms are a little sweaty and tacky so they "stick" to the desk, therefore arm movements are precluded and I'm forced to use exclusively wrist movements, which makes my handwriting ugly and, most of all, it's uncomfortable. Not to talk about the fact that the paper sticks to your hand.

I tried with tablecloth: it's worse. I tried a sort of oversleeve and I can manage only for a while. I was thinking of dusting myself with talcum powder...

So, other than the obvious solution of wearing a long sleeve shirt (and suffer the consequences), do you have any other method of dealing with this issue?

I'm wearing tee shirt with pocket..without issues.

 

Stay calm.

 

Work the problem.

 

Fred

[Larry Barrieau]

Buy a pair of leggings and cut one leg long enough to go from wrist to elbow.

[praxim]

Use a felt top writing slope

[Studio97]

I place my journal, all sizes, on my lap to write all the time unless I'm in a coffee shop. Weather doesn't affect me.

No desk at home.

No dining room table either.

Olde hippy.

[tubular]

Felt sounds like a very good idea. But why do you and BaronWulfraed recommend slopes?

 

Use a felt top writing slope

[DrDebG]

I use a larger piece of heavier weight paper under my hand which extends down my arm - usually a 8x14" or 11x17" But it also helps that I have a felted cardboard desk pad (old blotter style) on my desk as well. On my other desk I have a larger piece of a plastic type of material with a sueded surface. It works find for writing in my journals or pads, but not with just a single piece of paper.

[praxim]

Felt sounds like a very good idea. But why do you [i can not speak for the Baron] recommend slopes?

 

A slope gives me a more natural angle for both head and hand.

 

I had thought there was more discussion on this than I managed to find in a quick check on FPN now.

 

I have a 19th C writing box which unfolds to present an 8° slope with about an A4 size felt surface bordered by a few cm of timber surround, with pen tray and capped glass inkwell at the top. The pen tray lifts out to reveal storage for more pens (or nibs). I keep water in the inkwell in case a vintage pen dries out from non-use. The interior has room for paper or letters, ink bottles, spare comb. Ideally this is placed on a low desk or table. It is awkward to use on your lap; too big.

[tubular]

I have read a little about slopes. It sounds as if they would be good for reading, but I am surprised that the angle would not cause the writer's hand to bend backwards slightly, a retraction that would over time, I would think, become stressful.

 

Yours sounds beautiful, though the spare comb is puzzling.

 

I think that a couple of yards of baize might be the best solution for me.

 

 

A slope gives me a more natural angle for both head and hand.

 

I had thought there was more discussion on this than I managed to find in a quick check on FPN now.

 

I have a 19th C writing box which unfolds to present an 8° slope with about an A4 size felt surface bordered by a few cm of timber surround, with pen tray and capped glass inkwell at the top. The pen tray lifts out to reveal storage for more pens (or nibs). I keep water in the inkwell in case a vintage pen dries out from non-use. The interior has room for paper or letters, ink bottles, spare comb. Ideally this is placed on a low desk or table. It is awkward to use on your lap; too big.

[fabri00]

Top of the desk made of glass. This is what I have at office, and it works well also with high temperatures in summer, like now.

[praxim]

I have read a little about slopes. It sounds as if they would be good for reading, but I am surprised that the angle would not cause the writer's hand to bend backwards slightly, a retraction that would over time, I would think, become stressful.

 

Yours sounds beautiful, though the spare comb is puzzling.

 

Your arm is at a a slightly different angle at the elbow. The angle between wrist and arm does not change, so there is no impact at all.

 

You probably knew but for the avoidance of doubt, the comb was a throwaway line.

[tubular]

Indeed I did not know. Slopes are such odd things you could have said they came with special compartments for gyroscopes and cricket harnesses and I would have been puzzled but willing to believe you.

 

 

Your arm is at a a slightly different angle at the elbow. The angle between wrist and arm does not change, so there is no impact at all.

 

You probably knew but for the avoidance of doubt, the comb was a throwaway line.

Edited August 9, 2019 by tubular

[Karmachanic]

elbow in one of these, all year round: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Adjustable-Computer-Ergonomic-Aluminium-Professional/dp/B0752MCX82

[inkstainedruth]

All of these are great suggestions.

I have an inexpensive writing slope that I bought at an estate sale company's warehouse sale a couple of years ago, that was made by The Bombay Company. And I was tempted last winter by a gorgeous Victorian writing slope, with purple velvet for the writing surface -- I just couldn't justify the price when I didn't really have a place to put it (the cheap one gets used on my lap in the living room but at the moment is buried under stuff... ).

And when I'm writing in my journal, I'm generally in or on my bed, so in that respect I'm kinda like Studio97....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Ciliegia]

I write at a small Davenport desk, which has a sloped lid and anlaid leather surface. I highly recommend these...mine has 4 drawers on the right hand side that are capacious enough to hold about a dozen A5 notebooks, as well as sundry items of stationery (stapler etc). Under the lid, the desk itself holds about 50 bottles of ink, and has inner drawers at the back for spare nibs, blotting paper etc. Finally the narrow upper section at the back holds sheets of notepaper and envelopes. These are tiny desks that don't take up much room, but they are an excellent purchase for fountain pen users. I picked mine up off eBay a couple of years ago for £150, which for a walnut desk made in 1820 was a real bargain! You can still pick up genuine ones for a couple of hundred pounds, and repro ones can be found for under £100.

 

Mine is pretty much identical to this one:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Antique-Late-Victorian-Walnut-Davenport-Desk-Inlaid-Bureau-Original-W-Keys-C1870/163556983123?hash=item2614c18153:g:BAkAAOSw5E1cbpew

[ethernautrix]

Buffer sheets from a notepad between my arm and the page. Or a thin plastic sheet between two notepad pages.

[txomsy]

Ye olde solution.

 

Use a guard sheet. That's the ideal approach whenever you don't want bodily fluids to get in your way while writing. It is the solution to hand oils, sweaty hands, etc... It may stick to your arm, which may be inconvenient, but not should not hamper your movements. Nice thing is, if it sticks, it will go with your arm, so with a little practice, you won't need to re-place it as you write.

 

If you want to avoid paper sticking to your hand/arm, a guard cloth maybe better. It's trivial: just a piece of sheet or cloth to isolate your arm from the written sheet. E.g.

 

https://www.calligraphy.co.uk/frequently-asked-questions

 

I can attest it works. Having written at 40+ C (104+ F) and more. Yet, if you don't like this solution, try...

 

Ye newe solution:

 

Use air conditioning.