20ish lb US Letter Printer Paper that's inexpensive and not terrible

[bunnspecial]

I may be searching for the impossible, but here goes:

 

My work supplies high recycle content 20lb copy paper that might double as blotter paper. I've started a thread about it here, but I quite literally can't find something that doesn't bleed and feather at least to some degree. I've pulled out my finest nibs and used inks like Pelikan 4001 BB and Diamine Registrars. Basically I've found that I can get bordering on acceptable performance out of fine, dry writing nibs with inks that aren't too exotic(Sheaffer and Waterman have worked for me) but I'm not wild about that option.

 

I'm a professor and this semester I'm back in the classroom and printing and grading a fair bit. Because of the volume of paper I handle, I don't really even want to move up to a 24lb paper as that's going to increase the weight I tote around with me by quite a bit.

 

I'm willing to buy my own paper, but again for volume reasons I'd prefer not to go over ~$5/ream(could stretch that maybe to $10 if needed, but I'd go broke going much over that).

 

I did buy some HP paper at Walmart that I think was about $6/ream and either 21 or 22lb. In general, though, I get stuck in a tough spot on this because a lot of paper that looks like it has potential I'm finding can run $20+ retail when bought by the ream, and only gets into the moderately affordable category if bought at least by the half case if not the full case(which still can mean comitting $100+ to paper that could end up being junk).

 

I'm about to grab at least a half case of the 22lb HP I mentioned above, but I'm wondering if anyone else has any other ideas. I know I'm asking for a lot in this, and 20lb papers in particular often are the worst of the bunch. I don't need something that's going to show off the fancy features of my inks. I'm mostly going to be using plain boring inks(Sheaffer Red, MB Irish Green, Waterman or Quink Blue, Pelikan 4001 inks) and I'm not looking for a lot of sheen or shading. I just want something that's going to write reasonably true to the nib I'm using and not bleed. I have good paper(I buy Rhodia 80gsm dotpads in bulk, plus have plenty of loose or padded Clairefontaine and Tomoe River, and hardbound Oxford Optik in Black'nRed notebooks) for when I want to really show off my inks.

 

Can anyone suggest something?

[arcfide]

Have you had any more luck by going towards the laser papers instead of inkjet papers? My understanding is that those can sometimes be a little more reliable and usable. I've had some pretty good luck using Office Depot ImagePrint Multiuse 20lb. paper. It definitely will give you spot bleeding and a wider line, but the lines are usually relatively crisp. Of course, if you use an Iron Gall on the paper it works better, but I've also had good luck with basics like Sailor Black and Herbin Perle Noir. I don't know what the cost of this paper was when I picked it up, but maybe that might work? I think one think you'll have to prepare for is that any of these papers is going to write a much wider line than you expect even if it doesn't feather. And most of it will likely have some spot bleeding with normal dye-based inks. With Iron Gall inks on this 20lb. paper I get a wider line but no feathering and only heavy ghosting (no fully penetrating ink spots). 

 

If you define feathering as any sort of line spread, then I'm confident in saying you won't find anything that is as ink resistant (except maybe some of the sugarcane papers like what Franklin-Christoph sells). So there will have to be some spread, and with wet inks you'll almost certainly at least risk some spot bleeding. However, I think you can find some papers that will not show the "wooliness" in the line as well as be a little less susceptible to spot bleeding than others (hence the laser paper idea). 

 

I don't know whether you're not happy with the more "tame options" because of how they make the writing experience feel or whether you just want some more color variety. If you just want some more color variety, there are the KWZ IG inks, the Sailor Storia Pigmented ink line, and the Platinum Classic Ink series. All of them should be less susceptible to feathering and bleedthrough. I especially find the Platinum Classic inks to be very well behaved, and on absorbent papers the colors can be really neat and quite good. On the other hand, they are drier inks than KWZ, I think, and so if you wanted to find something with a less dry feel as opposed to a different color, you might not be satisfied with that. On the other hand, with something like the Classic inks, you might be able to get away with a broader, smoother ground nib than you could with some other color that isn't as dry. 

[bunnspecial]

27 minutes ago, arcfide said:

Have you had any more luck by going towards the laser papers instead of inkjet papers? My understanding is that those can sometimes be a little more reliable and usable. I've had some pretty good luck using Office Depot ImagePrint Multiuse 20lb. paper. It definitely will give you spot bleeding and a wider line, but the lines are usually relatively crisp. Of course, if you use an Iron Gall on the paper it works better, but I've also had good luck with basics like Sailor Black and Herbin Perle Noir. I don't know what the cost of this paper was when I picked it up, but maybe that might work? I think one think you'll have to prepare for is that any of these papers is going to write a much wider line than you expect even if it doesn't feather. And most of it will likely have some spot bleeding with normal dye-based inks. With Iron Gall inks on this 20lb. paper I get a wider line but no feathering and only heavy ghosting (no fully penetrating ink spots). 

 

If you define feathering as any sort of line spread, then I'm confident in saying you won't find anything that is as ink resistant (except maybe some of the sugarcane papers like what Franklin-Christoph sells). So there will have to be some spread, and with wet inks you'll almost certainly at least risk some spot bleeding. However, I think you can find some papers that will not show the "wooliness" in the line as well as be a little less susceptible to spot bleeding than others (hence the laser paper idea). 

 

I don't know whether you're not happy with the more "tame options" because of how they make the writing experience feel or whether you just want some more color variety. If you just want some more color variety, there are the KWZ IG inks, the Sailor Storia Pigmented ink line, and the Platinum Classic Ink series. All of them should be less susceptible to feathering and bleedthrough. I especially find the Platinum Classic inks to be very well behaved, and on absorbent papers the colors can be really neat and quite good. On the other hand, they are drier inks than KWZ, I think, and so if you wanted to find something with a less dry feel as opposed to a different color, you might not be satisfied with that. On the other hand, with something like the Classic inks, you might be able to get away with a broader, smoother ground nib than you could with some other color that isn't as dry. 

 

Thanks for all of that.

 

I'm not opposed to iron galls(although they act up on the current paper I have-it really is terrible) but in particular I need a solid red or green for mark-up/grading. I've not used KWZ but it might be time to try.

 

I'm actually okay with a bit of line spreading and writing a bit wider, just as long as it's not too overboard.

 

I'll see if I can stop by Office Depot tomorrow and pick up a ream of what you suggested...

[brokenclay]

I've had good luck with Hammermill 20# copy paper, sold (at least) by Staples.

[arcfide]

3 hours ago, bunnspecial said:

I need a solid red or green for mark-up/grading

 

Two colors with a greater reputation for bleeding and feathering, too. 🙂 If you haven't already, you could give Cassis Black and Forest Black a try from Platinum's Classic line, as well as KWZ's offerings. I think Platinum and Sailor also both offer pigmented red inks that you might find suitable. Especially on absorbent paper they should be reasonably saturated.

 

Herbin, Sailor, and Lamy also have bottles of fairly tame looking greens and reds that might work well on less than ideal paper. Of course, the Pelikan and Waterman series that you have also seem like obvious choices. But if you combine that with some moderate paper, I can't imagine that it would be that bad. 

[bunnspecial]

Alright, came home from Office Max today with two different brands of Office Depot paper-20lb "Copy and Print"(red/white paper packaging). I actually bought 2 reams of it since it was $1 more than buying a single ream. The second was 20lb Office Depot "Multipurpose" in a plastic sleeve.

 

I had high hopes for Copy and Print since it was $45/case. The couple of finer nibs with IG inks wrote true to line with zero ghosting, and broader nibs with standard blues also were reasonably close to expected width. The latter isn't a big deal, since I'm not bothered by using finer nibs if needed. It was very useable with red from a fine nib, and only really started to feather badly with MB Toffee Brown in an OB 149.

 

The Multipurpose paper was definitely a lot better, though, and handled even reds/greens/browns in broad nibs and only wrote a bit wider than on good paper. They're not going to shade or sheen, but I'm fine with them just being useable with any inks I throw at them.

 

I'm going to test the "Copy and Print" paper some more and I may use it for an exam next week since I have a fair bit of it, and the "Multipurpose" paper is $75/cs.

 

They also had Boise brand paper, which I seem to recall being what we had at my last employer and it wasn't terrible either, so I might grab a ream of it. I think it's between the two in price.

 

Taking a step back, it's a bit ironic that I'll gladly pay $10 for a 50 or 100 sheet pad of good paper, or even have looked into buying 4000 sheets of Tomoe River at $200+, but then I'm also looking at potentially using a couple of reams or so of this a year and I'm trying to find a cost/performance crossover tolerance point.

[qntgns]

On 10/28/2021 at 1:12 PM, bunnspecial said:

 

Tree Zero 20lb Copy Paper is not bad. It's made from sugarcane waste fiber. Not anywhere near close to what Staples used to sell as Bagasse paper or Sustainable Earth paper but quite good with most reasonable inks in most reasonable widths. It's this the stuff at treezero.com. Available at Amazon, Staples. I've even seen the local Fedex shop selling it.

 

Quote

 

 

 

[Dip n Scratch]

I used to resort to keeping a Delike Alpha fillen with Diamine Registrars Ink on my person. The paper at work was copier paper. Bleurgh!!

I have about a third of a ream of copier paper I keep for the HP Laserjet attached to my PC. I haven't used the printer in months.

KVZ IG Blue #1 only partially oxidised. If you have to use such garbage then i'd recommend using a Platinum Preppy 0.2 or 0.3 loaded with their own Carbon Ink or Hero 234 Carbon Black.

I don't have any Registrars Ink at present.