I love this review. I love how you give us the tools to discuss and assess paper for our pens and inks i.e. “properties” of paper: tooth, smoothness/slick, bleeding, ghosting, weight, display of the ink, lines/dot/blank, etc. So very helpful. THANK YOU for your talent and discipline! ❤

Thanks for a video on paper. I love Rhodia. Easily my fave. Clairefontaine is almost too smooth for my taste. I got one of Goulet's notebook samplers when I was first getting into the hobby and found it a very useful way to test out multiple types of paper.

Great video! I too love Tomoe River paper! I also love Leuchtuurm for daily bullet journaling -- and Rhodia! My favorite cheap paper is CVS Caliber filler/notebook paper!

For my work notebook,. I'm using the Taroko Design Enigma in A5 with their veg tanned leather cover. It's TR paper with a bit of texture and works great with fountain pens. I'm also studying for the AWS Professional certification and am using the Midori A4. I'm going through a lot of these, so got a very nice leather cover from Etsy - the maker is in Ukraine. TR paper is wonderful, but some inks dry in geologic timelines. The typical well-behaved Japanese inks like Pilot or Platinum and even Sailor are perfect for the paper.

For those not familiar with paper grading, it would have been helpful to state that GSM means grams per square meter. Also, it would be helpful to discuss blotter sheets and rocker blotters, which are necessary tools when using wet inks, pens, and non-absorbent paper. Blotters do not receive enough attention.

I know ghosting is a problem for a lot of fountain pen users but I think it looks really cool! My handwriting slants so it looks a bit like cross hatching. Thanks for the great video! For anyone new to pens who might be hesitant to buy more expensive paper, I recommend looking for regular composition or spiral notebooks that have recycled paper with a smooth texture. I've had very good luck with this type of paper with minimal bleed through. There is some ghosting however and the notebook quality might not be very good.

I like the notebooks you recommend, and also enjoy the Midori notebooks. I see some others mentioning Black and Red, which I pick up for when I need a notebook to keep ongoing notes for a course or committee meetings--its inexpensive and works nicely. Also, it is occasionally on sale on Amazon.

Love all the context you provide in your reviews. Very detailed 👍

I have so many different kinds of notebooks, picking a top five would be hard, but here goes anyway. I love A5 so almost all of mine are A5. The Rhodia Dotpad is pretty close to perfection for me. I love that it's inexpensive, that I can tear sheets off and the way my nibs feel gliding across that page is just about unmatched. My journal currently is a Midori MD notebook. No frills cover, but good paper that doesn't give me any issues. I like having smaller, or thinner A5 notebooks that I use for meeting notes, jotting quick notes down, writing out my ideas and I even use them for vacation journals bc they are thinner so I prefer the NockCo Dot Dash A5 notebooks and Apica CD Notebooks. I had only been able to use Tomoe in a small pocket size until recently. Now I have a full A5 and I use my pocket tomoe notebook for playing with new inks. I have a few othersI've bought but haven't used yet, including a kokuyo campus, tsubame fool's notebook (what a name) and a Mnemosyne.

Very helpful, thank you so much!! I've used many of these and like them all for different reasons. Tomoe River is Amazing of course, Lol. I enjoy the slightly off white color but most of all the way the paper feels and sounds when flipping through it- LOVE it!! I've found I don't like the super bright white of the Claire Fountaine and Rhodia sometimes, but the smoothness is fantastic and so I love them, too. Haven't actually written in a Leuchturm, but love the color of the paper and the numbered pages, etc.

Hi Kerry- another very interesting and very fair video! Thank you! My own preference, (I do a lot of writing -fiction and non-fiction, with first drafts in long-hand using a fountain pen) is for Leuchturm 1917 notebooks. I first wrote on Moleskine, which I found only fit for writing with ballpoints (ugh!) but then discovered Leuchturm about 10 years ago and have used them exclusively ever since as my main "carry around" notebooks. I go through one notebook every 3-4 months on average. Their A5 size is perfect to put in a pocket or a bag, the pages are numbered, the paper is of excellent quality. So they get my vote for the #1 slot. One excellent notebook manufacturer you did not mention are those produced by MUJI, the Japanese store selling storage boxes and clothes. They produce excellent notebooks with superb paper- not on the level of excellence of Tomoe-River, but certainly the equal of Rhodia, IMHO.

I use a dot grid Leuchtturm every day and have had no issues with bleed through (yes, I use my fountain pens - mostly fine nibs) There is some ghosting but that doesn’t bother me. I like it for the value & I think it's good paper in a good quality notebook.

My favourite is basic Silvine school notebook. It’s cheap, paper is not smooth but there is no bleed through or feathering.

I tend to swear by Leuchtturm paper. I don't like Rhodia, as it's not very absorbent in my experience, and therefore the writing looks like it was done with smaller size nibs.

I like Tomoe River paper, but I prefer the cream color version. I also enjoy the rarely mentioned Rhodia “Color” notebooks with cream colored paper.

I use Tomoe River B5 blank white loose sheets for letter writing, one side per page. Clairefontaine lined spiral notebook for Swedish language practice. A blank off-white Rhodia stapled pad for sketching and doodling. I have a Midori planner but I mainly write on one side and use stamps, stencils, stickers and photos on the other. I have a Rhodia spiral dot pad that gets used for a bit of everything, even to my grandsons try fountain pens. I’ll save their marks then stick them in my Midori journal as a visual reminder of the moments I have with them.

When drawing, much more ink is put down, sometimes over other ink. I've been happy with Strathmore 500 Multi-Media paper and hotpress watercolor paper (Arches or Fabriano). These are much thicker than those you discussed. I just bought a notebook of so-called "stone" paper that I am anxious to try out.

Great review. Thanks for the information

Thanks Kerry, this is very useful!

This was very informative and helpful. Love Tomoe River paper.

Clairfontaine owns Rhodia so the paper is very similar quality wise, just different styles of notebooks.

My current top 5 : - Tomoe River : I love it for fountain pens, and I'm in my 3rd year with Hobonichi planners. I heard about a change in the Tomoe River manufacture. With 2021 Hobonichi I didn't notice too much change except I find it more pencil friendly while still being top fountain pen fun (fun : more than friendly) - Midori MD paper : The more time passes the more it tends to be my favorite ever. Today it's first ex-aequo with Tomoe. Several configurations available in paper tone, rulings, binding... But the paper have a consistent behaviour, it's great with fountain pens AND pencils. Light watercolor washes are possible but don't go too wild ^^) - L!fe : Lots of ruling and color choices (even with red, brown, or light green rulings/grids !). I enjoy it a lot, but beware of hand oil, it seems to be the most sensible paper for this ! - Apica (normal paper, not the premium one) : I like their thin notebooks, not too fancy, almost boring at times, but top reliability. I personnally find the premium paper less comfortable. - Clairefontaine : It's the childhood friend (if fountain pens were mandatory in your school) you know by heart and you know you can always count on, even if most of the times you want adult friends (the 4 others ^^)

Great video! Very informative

Best ever review of papers. 👏

My favorite papers are TomoeRiver, and Claierfontain Triomph for my fountain pens I write with.

Great video! I have not used yet Leuchturm paper, but I'd say my top 5 papers is your first 3 papers with tomoe river being 1st, 2nd and 3rd. :3

My Leuchtrum ghosts like crazy in my bullet journal. It's ok but I'm not in love. I agree about the Tomoe, Rhodia, and Clairefontaine. I haven't heard of the Life Note and now have to go hunting for it. Thanks for the info.

I also really like Leuchtturm notebooks. While some inks so leave ghosting, that is something I don't really mind that much. Bleed-through can happen with wet inks and wet pens, which does annoy me a bit, but I just try to avoid those ink and pen combo's. I have used A5's for bullet journaling and the A4+ Master notebooks for making exercises from language courses I take, as well as for keeping a diary. However, as of a few months, I have been getting into the B5 format for keeping a diary. The A4+ was huge, I often felt like I hadn't written that much, and the pages were just too wide. Earlier this year I decided to get back into keeping a diary, after a long hiatus (depression), and since I had previously almost filled out the notebook I used for that, I decided to get a new one. I considered another A4+ but the point I mentioned kind of moved me away from that. But the A5 on the other hand feels too small for regular writing, it feels more cramped and suited to short writings and notes than a full-on diary. What I needed was something in between, and when I saw the size-comparison on one of those extra page thingies you get with every Leuchtturm, I saw that the B5 was kind of in between the A5 and A4+. Slightly, but not too much, bigger and wider than the A5, yet not as massive and, sometimes, unwieldy as the A4+. So I took a chance on that one, and it really fits my needs perfectly. I feel like I can write full sentences without constraint, without having to cramp my writing too much, nor do I feel like the page is so wide that it just kept going. For me, it is pretty much the perfect size for keeping a diary. So, TL;DR if you haven't already, give the B5 Leuchtturm's a chance.

The 68gsm Tomoe River is wonderful and doesn't have as much showthrough as the 52gsm Tomoe River. Great stuff! I'm also fond of the Leuchtturm1917. I don't think it's top tier, but it's good, and readily available. I use it when I need a notebook for something like a lecture or class where I need to hammer out notes quickly and I'm less interested in paper that can show off shading, sheen, etc. For personal stuff like a journal where the experience is important, then Tomoe River.

I love the 68 gsm Tomoe River Paper but can't deal with the 52 gsm! I've been buying from Taroko Designs for the last couple of years because of that. I've had a couple of Clairefontaine notebooks, one a small lined pocket-sized one with the paper you described, bright white and smooth as glass. But I also tried out a Clairefontaine Essential with graph (squared) paper and it was so yellow I gave up on that model. Another brand I really like is Black & Red. Their Optik White gives Clairefontaine's bright white paper a real challenge but I think they only make lined notebooks.

Interesting comment on the impact of skin oils. Great review of your favourite papers. It would be great if next time you could list out the names in the video description, that would be really helpful. (also the best time to add affiliate links if available to you)

Maruman Mnemosyne is really nice and is extremely smooth. It's not brilliant white, but pleasantly off. I have gotten perfect results using their 80gsm paper with extra fine Japanese nibs. I will have to try the Tomoe River for single-sided letters. It sounds fantastic. Well done review.

Tomoe River is my absolute fave, and looking forward to my Hippo Noto. Clairfontaine is a close second. The Midori MD paper they use in the yearly diaries is nice too. Never had any complaints with Leuchtturm and is 1000% better than Moleskin.

Thanks for the video!

I was worried that I wouldn't like Tomoe River paper because I really don't care for ghosting but I finally gave it a chance recently and it worked out better than I was expecting and I am happy to like it and add it to my collection! I also love writing on Clairefontaine! I have a Apica notebook in my cart for my next Goulet order - curious to try that out. Im kinda over the Leuchttrums.... I actually don't mind writing in Moleskines with fountain pens - but I really find I prefer WHITE paper and no longer purchase ivory paper/notebooks...

Thank you!

A ballpoint is for easy functional writing. A fountain pen is for style.

For me and some decades of writing with fountain pens it is Leuchtturm 100g paper (only in the A4 notebooks). The right amount of feedback, still so smooth and no bleeding, no feathering. I buy a notebook and let it cut to B5 in my local copyshop. I also like Tomoe from time to time, but most of the time it’s too smooth. Although I have to add, I love butter smooth nibs on great paper. Clairefontain for me is too smooth. Some pens don’t even write on it. Same with Rhodia. The Leuchtturm 100g gets connected with the nib and that is it.

I like the Clairefontaine cover but I can't find it in stationery stores. Was it a Goulet exclusive?

My Leuchtturm paper ghosts, but it doesn't bleed and I find it smooth enough to write on. Let it be known, I do enjoy a little ghosting. Don't ask me why, I just do lol.

Leuchtterm is awesome. I think people may confuse their notebooks with Moleskin which is terrible for FP work.

What’s the best Christmas cards fountain pens? It’s hard to know if the inside finish is gloss or matt; gloss obviously useless. Is there a way of looking at signs or symbols on the back of a cellophane wrapped greetings card that indicates it’s good for a fountain pen and non-oil based ink?

THANKS A LOT! I appreciate your comments.

Rhoda/Clairefontaine have different types of paper. The specific paper that most people like is the 90 gsm ivory high quality vellum. That is the paper in the No 16 notepad and the Rhoda web notebooks.

For super cheap, good fountain pen paper --- Mohawk #28 smooth. A ream of 500 sheets is $16.00 which is SO CHEAP but takes fountain pen ink great and you can write on both sides. Mohawk Color Copy 98 Paper Smooth Finish 98-bright, 28 lb, 8.5 x 11 Inch, 500 Sheets/Ream - Bright White Shade (12-203) 8.5x11 Inches

thanks for the tip, about 80-100 gsm paper being best for fountain pens, as I defo was wondering about the 'gsm' number size bit, I am using fountain pens for art work, so it is defo nice to know what gsm paper to look out for

I love Triomphe for letter writing and all my note books are Clairefontaine, although I do have a large Rhodia dot pad for projects. I loathe and despise all things Moleskine....

Great video! I've used all of these papers except the Life Notebooks and they're all great. If I used fountain pens exclusively, I would go with Tomoe River paper. However, I also enjoy using mechanical pencils, so Rhodia Ice Notepads in the A5 size with grid ruling is my favorite all-around paper.

Hi! Love your paper comparisons. Could you please tell me the difference between Rhodia high grade vellum paper and Rhodia high gloss vellum paper? Or, is it the same thing? I've seen these both for sale on a couple websites... as in, this description is printed on the back of the notebook along with dimensions and gsm. Thank you! :)

Paper doesn't have to be that expensive. I use 2 €/$ Muji notebooks with recycled paper, and it works as good as my Rhodias. Maybe a tiny bit scratchier but no ghosting or feathering wathsoever.

I do love my leuchtturm, however I have to say with a wetter medium nib with basically any J.Herbin ink will feather and bleed... And honestly, I think we all would choose the tomoe river

Great video!!! Do you know good loose leaf paper for pens?

PS- I've found I Really enjoy the Stalogy notebooks and my fountain pens do pretty well in them. And I'm partial to square grid, so that's a plus, haha!! 🌷

What do you think of black n red brand?

Which pen I used for leather journal

I like the leuchtturm paper. Now and then, I prefer the toothiness.

Have you tried Mitsubishi bank paper? I saw a review where sharpie doesn't bleed through it! I am reviewing papers again because the new Tomoe River paper isn't quite as good, so I'm curious about the Musubi journal with bank paper.

Thank you for your great vids , well, I am a year later.. 😂but ok, still very informative well done !!!

Rhodia and Clairfontaine are the same Company now. Clairfontaine a4 pads are my go to everyday pads. I use WhSmith pads too here in UK also. Tomoe river paper in 52 and 68gsm. I make up my own pages for my filofax mini wallet /diary with 52gsm using a hole punch.

I use pretty much exclusively midori a5 notebooks. Found them once at 13CAD and bought a pile. Not hard to find them at 15 though. I have a dot pad and it's okay for work notes, but dots are not my favourite. Not all Rhodia paper is good for fountain pens either, I've got a rhodia notebook or two that always bleed except with a posting nib, which is saying nothing because a posting nib doesn't bleed on any paper. It's not too hard to find tomoe river paper at 18CAD for 100 a4 sheets, which you can fold into a notebook yourself. I have no idea how these companies selling half that amount of paper for two or three times as much just to fold it into a notebook get any business. Tomoe River paper is pretty nice, but it is easily damaged. All these papers have been pretty good for not aging too quickly, since I guess it's all acid free. Suitable for drawings or notes you need to keep.

i love lauechterm. i dont like super slick paper for work as ink dries very slow then. their 100 gsm paper can handle bold nibs.

It would have been nice if you had listed the papers/notebooks and their specs (at least a few, or links to where to get them) so some of us knew which papers you were reviewing. Just a thought for future videos. Thank you.

What online stores do you recommend for fountain pens and stationary (besides Goulet Pens)?

Thanks for the video. There are two other (fantastic) large journals with Tomoe River paper: The Seven seas Writer 480 pages, and Seven Seas Crossfield Japan Version 384 pages, both A5 size.

Thank you. Would you please do a review of Yamamoto testing (fountain pen friendly) papers please?

What a great video. I’m new to fountain pens. Like I’ve been doing this now for several months. For the Tomoe River paper, does anyone make a large paper notebooks (i.e., A4 or similar). I like to write mathematics out freehand [yes, for any math types I use LaTeX and I’ve even set things up in Linux with key bindings etc to enable me to typeset mathematics as fast as I can write it, even to the point that I can take notes live in LaTeX fast, but for *thinking* I prefer longhand so let’s not discuss LaTeX etc]. The only problem is that I can’t easily find notebook’s beyond the A5 journal size. I was able to find a Rodia notebook but I need *blank* pages. No ruling or grids. I was able to find loose leaf blank large Tomoe paper which fits the bill except that I’d like bound up in a notebook. I don’t love Rhodia either: it’s a little more slippery than I want. Tomoe is just right. Appreciate any thoughts. Cheers

I'm looking for 8.5x11 in spiral bound format, but can't find any with decent paper. Ideas?

My first Rhodia notebook was really great. I loved the coated paper - no bleeding and almost no ghosting with my fountain pens. But the second one was the exact opposite - just a waste of money! Even my fountain pens with an extra fine nib bleeded through the paper. I guess they have issues with their quality control. So I stay with Leuchtturm 1917.

very nice

what kind of paper is 195 mnemosyne?

Hoperfully this doesn't sound like heresy: Have you got any suggestions on nice paper for a ball pen for writing letters?

I use Wordsworth & Bläck journals. Seven bucks, from Amazon. - Five colours - 128 pages - 120 gsm - Blank, lined, or dotted

I am using a lot of Japanese "business paper" called KOKUYO (got a ream on Amazon for about $10 - so economical) and it's AMAZING. LIght weight yet it doesn't bleed through. You can see it from the other side if you hold it up to the light. I write letters on both sides - and it's very readable. This KOKUYO paper is so smooth - it makes difficult pens behave - especially calligraphy nibs that can be bitchy. This paper gives me nice sheen too. Doesn't come in notebooks that I know of -- but you could always take it to Staples or wherever and have THEM make it into notebooks. It's not lined or dotted - it's just a ream of "business" paper - whatever that means. Shhhh - don't tell KOKUYO, I don't use it for business.

TL;DW 1. Clairefontaine 2. Rhodia 3. Tomoe River 4. Life noble note 5. Leuchtturm1917

I just wished Fountain Pen KZfaqrs would tell us , which 3.5 " x 5.5 " Notebook is best for fountain pen / Ink

I agree with all of these, but I would like to add for beginners that Caliber notebooks from CVS are pretty good and may be a cheaper start. The paper has some tooth to it. It still shades and sheens, but you can only get it in college rule.

I seen this this brand on eBay pretty cheap like $10.00 it’s called “EMAZNE” and is an A5 size. Is that fountain pen friendly?

I wish Tomoe River were available in still more formats. I'd like to see an A5 and A4 pad eg, rather than loose leaf.

MUJI is just fantastic!

Very timely subject. I need a new notebook for work, and am currently using a Rhodia Webbie. The Clariefontaine paper is fantastic, except I don't love how yellow the cream color of the paper is. Do you have a good recommendation for a notebook with a decent number of sheets (~100) with "whiter" paper? All of the Tomoe River notebooks I've found are extremely limited in the number of sheets which won't work for my needs. Thanks.

When you said what’s up everybody it reminded me of peter McKinnon haha

I’m looking for an EF Nib friendly paper, I tried rhodia and found both my pelikan ef and Leonardo ef are very scratchy, sticky and laggy which I don’t like.

Long live "Tomoe River" paper and its successor.

Where can I purchase the Tomoe River one? I search online and didn't find it. Do they have a website?

The papers that I use: (8.5 x 11); Eaton Air Mail--lightweight; Southworth Campus Bond all purpose medium weight; Southworth ivory parchment 24 lb.; Eaton Southworth acid free thesis paper 20 lb watermarked; Southworth white 100% cotton fiber 20 lb; and miscellaneous notepaper that comes with fancy no-message cards. I keep a diary in Mead 3-hole punched 80 sheet "college lined" 8.5 x 11 notebooks. The paper is fairly porous, so there is bleed-through. These notebooks also come with a grid format: 4 squares per inch on front front of the page, & 5 squares per inch on the back.

Lloydstrom? Is that your honorable mention? It would be nice if you would include the name of all the papers you mentioned I can't find lloydstrom paper or notebook anywhere.

I like when she uses fountain pen😉

I mostly use Tomoe river paper (I have a bunch of Hippo Noto books). Have you tried Apica paper? It is much cheaper than all the others and is great for everyday use.

It's so difficult to find anyone of this notebooks here on Brazil 😭 Rhodia it's really expensive around here

No MD Paper?! Why? BTW, I love the Life products. Kudos for adding them.

What about the color of the paper? Pure white vs an ivory? Also, do you use a cover for any of your notebooks? Do you use a travelers notebook?

Can you share the spelling of the brand of the honorable mention journal? I have tried searching for it but can’t find it.

Try dingbats 100gsm notebook. Its a pretty good notebook at about 19.95 for a5 and comes from responsibly managed forests.

could you do a cursive or handwriting video

I guess drawing with ink would be very different from just writing. I’ve ruined several drawings from ink bleed through. What’s expensive is time spent or lost.

Most Midori notebooks are not TR paper. I think that may have been a misspeak?

I know everyone loves Rhodia...But, I have quite a few pens that refuse to write on Rhodia...??? Anywho, I use some regular legal pads that seem to be FP friendly..

My list: 1) Rhodia R 2) Rhodia R 3) Rhodia R 4) Rhodia R 5) Rhodia R Just sayin! :)

Does Milady have a sniffle?

Kerry, I really love your videos, I watch them all the time and I’ve learned a lot from you. But please stop sniffing all the time!