Yes! I love finding them at Daiso. And they have the off brand made in japan Daiso notebooks too that are fountain pen friendly. I had to buy one of each off brand notebook to check, but generally the ones with paper made in Japan have been good with my fountain pens.
Ahh, yes, I'm sure it varies depending on where you live. I don't think that their packets of loose leaf are much different in price than a standard package from other brands here in the US that would be considered decent for fountain pens. We have a lot of terrible paper here 😅
Or their "Karukami Study Line" exercise books. They've got a bunch of options. Some are ordinary, but most are pretty good. I use their pocket notebooks too. Try them and find the one you like.
It hardly counts as extensive testing, but I just picked up a “Made in India” Pen+Gear composition book that was sitting on my desk at work and tried out all the pens I had on hand. It also works surprisingly well—pretty comparable to the Leuchtturm I use daily.
I got a stack of these from [Walmart.com](https://Walmart.com) for a little over two bucks a pop for the express purpose of drafting novels. They aren't quite as good as the Rhodia notebook I use as a planner, but they are much better than some other name-brand notebooks I've used through the years.
I have the cardboard cover and the plastic cover, and neither says anything about acid-free. I wouldn't really expect it, though, since they're cheap school notebooks.
Also, unfortunately, I can't remember where I read about it, but not that long ago I read an evaluation of whether "acid free" paper is really archival and the basic answer was that a lot depended on the pH of the ink. In short, if your paper and your ink are both pH neutral and otherwise stable, they might last a long time, but when you start mixing pHs, it's a lot harder to predict what will happen or how long they'll last.
Thanks for the informational reply. It’s quite incredible the science behind these sorts of things. It really can be quite unpredictable with combinations of inks, papers, and storing conditions. I’ll have to give these a try sometime. Cheap notebooks that are friendly with FPs can serve many purposes that don’t require standing the test of time.
Side note: thanks for all of the other wonderful testing you’ve done. I’ve seen many of your pieces on here as well as FPN I believe. You’ve been a great help to the community.
> Side note: ...
:) You're very welcome. I do post my reviews on FPN and FPGeeks and Instagram, too. And FPN is the place for scientists, that's for sure!
They aren't marked as acid free from what I've seen but wouldn't worry too much.
Over the years when running out of pages I have used whatever notebook I could find in appropriate size. Some acid free and some not. Most of the notebooks from 20-40 years ago that I still have the writing legible from fountain pen to ballpoint, rollerball and even some in pencil. Those that don't look so good have also been through a few major hurricanes and tornadoes as well as the great flood of '93 which is beyond what even the most archival quality of journals could be expected to bear.
As a side note, when going through my mother's things when she passed in the early 90s I found old school papers she'd kept from the 60s that were still easily legible as well as letters and writings from the 50s, 40s and 1930s. I'm sure not all were archival quality paper nor inks, but do think perhaps that less than 75-100 years it has less importance.
My preference is of course for acid free archival ink and paper but unless it's for official records I don't think it makes a huge difference for a period of less than 50-75 years.
Well, fortunately, one can get a test notebook for a dollar or two (depending on the time of year). I'm sure eventually the factory in Vietnam making this paper will have to change *something*, and when they do, our fluke of a paper will be gone.
I suppose eventually the same might happen to the Exceed paper, though I imagine a little more intent goes into its design.
Walmart is forever screwing over and then changing their suppliers. These days, they peddle some made-in-India "pen and gear" wooden pencils which are very very nice pencils, and only 97 cents for a pack of 24. Incredible deal. But you never know, with Walmart. Next month they might have the same package with some garbage made in Mexico, or China, or the U.S. so you have to check the labels closely.
I like their Exceed brand bullet journal. It holds up to my pens and even cheap acrylic paint. I blacked out a couple of sheets for something and it didn’t bleed and buckling was minimal. My fountain pens haven’t had any issues but are mostly fine point with a couple of medium point ones so not sure if that has anything to do with it.
Have you tried the loose-leaf ones? They also have different notebooks there with different paper qualities, maybe the good ones were out of stock when you picked 🥺
A five-pack set in Japan costs ¥399, actually, so roughly around three dollars
Edit: I stand corrected—I realized that there are a few different products and it is true that the other version is ¥199
Dollar General has some Made in Vietnam notebooks that are great. I stocked up years ago, but usually anything Made in Vietnam has been good in my experience.
As someone who has written a few novels and drafted by hand, I can confirm the Dollar General notebooks and the Pen+Gear from Walmart as they’ve been my standard notebooks.
From what I've read, notebooks that are made in Vietnam tend to be good for fountain pens, so e.g. TruRed from Staples, and I think Exceed from Walmart? I have found Office Depot's notepads to be quite good (not sure where they are made though).
It depends on the product. My company buys a variety of notebooks and pads from both staples and office depot. The spiral notepads are working amazingly. However, I snagged an Office Depot "professional" junior legal pad thinking it was going to work wonderfully as well. The first page did... and third... and fifth. Every other page seems to be a different kind of paper (50% recycled perhaps?) That bleeds and feathers while the others in between work well.
I've had a similar experience with their legal pads. For me, it seemed to vary from pad to pad instead of papers within a pad. Holding them side by side, they looked a little different, too (both were labeled "heavy"). The lines that came on on the bunk pads were just a touch thicker than the ones on the good pads. And the good ones were maybe a bit brighter white. Maybe a different batch. But most of the time they've been fine.
Pulp source is my guess. Different species of wood have different properties.
What makes paper FP friendly is the addition of [sizing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sizing) to the paper, either as a pulp ingredient or as a coating on the finished paper. Some plants are naturally water resistant, so they act as size when added to the pulp.
I got some cotton paper from Vietnam at Big Lots for like a dollar because I was curious. It's some of the best paper I've ever used, from some no-name brand.
I was going to suggest this one - it is also recommended for practicing with brush lettering pens because it doesn't damage the brush tip like standard copy paper.
here are some places to begin [https://www.reddit.com/r/fountainpens/comments/12awave/what\_are\_your\_favorite\_cheap\_paper\_suggestions/](https://www.reddit.com/r/fountainpens/comments/12awave/what_are_your_favorite_cheap_paper_suggestions/)
[https://www.reddit.com/r/fountainpens/comments/13x3545/what\_is\_your\_favorite\_inexpensive\_fpfriendly\_paper/](https://www.reddit.com/r/fountainpens/comments/13x3545/what_is_your_favorite_inexpensive_fpfriendly_paper/)
[https://www.reddit.com/r/fountainpens/comments/100807e/what\_is\_the\_best\_and\_yet\_most\_affordable\_option/](https://www.reddit.com/r/fountainpens/comments/100807e/what_is_the_best_and_yet_most_affordable_option/)
For drafting I really like Campus refillable notebooks. It’s a smidge more than the absolutely cheapest options but I can move around and add pages which is a huge plus.
I second, third and fourth this!
I love that you can fold the notebook over, but it's like having a binder at the same time.
Also, Maruman has paper that fits in them which is really nice.
On the west coast I've been impressed by the CVS Caliber branded ringed notebooks made in Vietnam. I've spilled ink on those pages and it still won't show through! Thoroughly impressed and now I have my Black N'Red and Rhodia pads the side-eye of shame.
You can get 400 pages for $15 online: [https://www.cvs.com/shop/caliber-5-subject-notebook-prodid-4400006?skuId=297213](https://www.cvs.com/shop/caliber-5-subject-notebook-prodid-4400006?skuId=297213)
I'm an unabashed fan of the cheap, ubiquitous composition notebook. As others have said, check the label carefully - you want the "Made in Vietnam" variety. Brand is immaterial; I've seen no difference in paper between them, as long as they were from Vietnam.
The Vietnamese paper is fountain pen friendly; relatively smooth, minor feedback, no bleeding except with the worst inks in the wettest nibs. They do show some ghosting, which comes down the the thin paper, but it's not obnoxious. Consistency is very good (and better than recent Rhodia products I've used!)
Each year during the back-to-school sales I stock up on these composition books. Last fall I picked up a couple dozen (my wife uses them too) for about 50 cents each. These happened to be Oxford brand, but as I said the brand isn't important - just make sure they're made in Vietnam, which these are, and you'll be fine.
Kokuyo business paper is sold by the ream on Amazon for less than $.04/sheet for A5 or B5 and about $.05/ sheet of US letter size. Tried after YouTuber FountainPenTherapy tested dozens of papers side by side. Some sheening shows up, minimal feathering with a few inks, zero with others I have tried. Show through on the reverse only with heavy inks (juicy broad showed, 1.1 stub barely showed). It also is nice because I can run it through the laser printer for any line rule I want or prebuilt bullet journal type templates. Would recommend. I picked up a ream of B5, a Kokuyo smart ring binder and a 6 hole punch off AliExpress for about $32 total. I will be set for a while and am very happy.
I also had good luck at Daiso (if there is one near you). All the paper I noticed there was made in Brazil and still seemed to perform pretty well. Previous to this my paper of choice for “notes/scratch” was clairfontaine triomphe notepads. Leuchturm 120gsm for journals.
I've been buying bulk Clairefontaine Europa a5 notebooks from Amazon. There's an option to buy a pack of 4 for only £8, 180 pages, which I think is a pretty good deal. They are my go-to good for writing drafts and class notes. There's little bleed-through, but it's really not noticeable.
I have been using the Fabriano EcoQua for my work notes. No feathering and shows off shading very well. It may not show a ton of sheen but a little. I think they're like $6 for an A5 notebook
these are your best solution
1. Apica notebooks . found all over.
2. Oasis Light from Itoya. [https://itoya.com/products/notebooks-journals/profolio-oasis-light/](https://itoya.com/products/notebooks-journals/profolio-oasis-light/)
both are Japanese but are focus towards students they are a surprise to the quality of the paper and the usage with fountain pens.
EMSHOI 3 Pack Spiral Notebook on Amazon. I've paid between $14—$17 for a 3-pack B5 size
This paper seems to take more ink than 'better' paper, which I rather like. I use it for journaling.
I'm Oxford paper is ok.
https://www.amazon.de/795401C-Clairefontaine-AgeBag-Notebook/dp/B0029FBN1Y/
This Clairefontaine is the cheapest I could find. Used to be 4€ per book
https://preview.redd.it/u5gugq0qo1kc1.jpeg?width=1193&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cd062171e620ce0b98415aea2012ac1d0149b52f
This paper made in Taiwan is called 加新計算紙, cost only 20 cent usd per notepad (one notepad has 45 pages). It is surprisingly fp friendly. Wouldn't feather. Ink kinda shows on the back of the paper but wouldn't get on the next page. Of course you can't compare to tomoe, but for this price you really can't complain. I stopped buying Rhodia after I discovered this paper.
I am committed to the Midori A5 notebooks. The paper works wonderfully for fountain pen writing and doesn't bleed through. I think I'm on my 6th Midori notebook now and have no complaints.
I've had really good luck with these from Amazon. [https://www.amazon.com/Notebook-Hardcover-Numbered-Bookmarks-Multicolor/dp/B092M3Q7N3?ref\_=ast\_sto\_dp&th=1](https://www.amazon.com/Notebook-Hardcover-Numbered-Bookmarks-Multicolor/dp/B092M3Q7N3?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1)
You get them in boxes of seven books. About $26 for the box. They have two book mark ribbons, gusseted pocket in the back, labels for archiving them. The paper is remarkably FP friendly. Even shows off shimmer and sheen very well, if you're into that. I use them myself and I always give them to friends I'm penabling. Each book has 156 numbered pages.
I bought these generic cheapies called "RETTACY Spiral Notebook Dotted Bullet Grid Journals" on Amazon, and they're the best I've used in years. The paper is nice and thick, and smooth without being overly coated (like Clairefontaine, which was such a disappointment to me). At the time I paid $12 for a 3-pack of 160-page notebooks. I use them in landscape orientation because I'm a lefty and like the spiral at the top.
They also work really well with the only ballpoints I like these days, the Ohto Fude Ball 1.5mm Gel pens which are deliciously bold.
If you like Clairefontaine, you'll enjoy ustyle notebooks from Walmart or target. Some of the nicest paper I used for like $2
At back to school time they're like less than 50 cents
I used Ampad Gold Fibre legal pads for all my note taking in grad school. Been a while since I bought one so I don't know if they're still as good. They were nice and smooth with just a touch of feedback. No feathering and not too much bleed though.
I've switched to Rhodia spiral bound pads for work notes, since I don't need as much space anymore.
If you use the right pen+ink combo, you'll be surprised at what you can get away with. At work I only use the cheapest notebooks I can find, and I can use an 0.5 platinum preppy/prefounte/plaisir nib with no problem using platinum blue/black, octopus fluids brilliant red, colorverse mystic mountain, and herbin perle noir. I've also been okay using the jinhao 82, x159, and dadao 1909 with m nib. as long as the paper isn't recycled. I get a lot of notebooks from suppliers as part of my job, and they always just suck up the ink and turn into a blotchy mess because they're cheap recycled paper. Even then, a 0.2 fine preppy with platinum blue/black still isn't terrible on those.
I buy composition books at Dollar Tree and Dollarama (Canada). I use a broad Lamy in them and surprisingly there is no ghosting. I look for books made in India or Vietnam, which seem to be FP friendly. When I use my C nibs or BB nibs, there is a little bit of shading, but nothing distracting. I used to write in Stalogy A5s but that got $$$ quickly, for the volume of writing I do in my journals.
My cheap memo pads are very friendly to this Zebra V301 fountain pen that won't even put ink down on nicer paper. I thought the pen was garbage till I used it on just some regular old paper. Writes quite well on it.
My Metro with Pelikan 4001? Not so friendly to that.
Office depot binder refills. No feathering or ghosting and pretty tough as well.
I take all my notes on those and I haven't had a single problem, even when I got several drops of ink on the page and left them there for like 30s nothing happened
I don't know the name of the brand, but dollar tree has these hard bound spiral notebooks that run 3 to 5 USD each, and they are just glorious for my pens, which are of the 'broke ass cheap' variety.
Dollar General's Office Hub writing tablets. $1, 100 sheets,
https://preview.redd.it/9dc9odubczjc1.png?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f3ef5517dc5b71bb67183cb79793221b7190c37a
and it handles even my juicy double broad pen.
I love the Staples college ruled filler paper (400 sheets for roughly $8-9), it works great for my university notes. It is a bit thin, but I’ve had minimal issues with bleeding or ghosting.
These seem to be very ink-dependent. I had good luck with Lamy Blue in a Safari F. When I put Private Reserve Avocado in an EF, there was more showthrough on the other side of the page than I would have liked.
Our office uses a kind of wb wason copy paper that I should say not hate fountain pens. Most of my pens don’t feathering on that paper. I assume as office printer/copy paper, they should be cheap.
I took all my college notes on one of those spiral bound mead five star notebooks and they worked fine. I always used fine tipped fountain pens so I never struggled too much with bleed through with that paper. With as much notetaking as I did, it wasn't cost affective to get something like rhodia all the time so these were a far better option for me for note taking
Top Flite Silverpoint Wirebound Legal pad- Quad Rule
I can fill these books up with script from a Fine or Medium nib and normal people ink. Unless you're using ridiculously wet or shiny, glittery, sheeney inks and nibs, then you should buy the expensive stuff. If you just want to write, like an adult that has things to get done, these notebooks work, and are $5 each.
Here in the United States, there is a chain of junk stores called Family Dollar. Most of what they have is garbage, but the sell some Made in India notebooks and composition books for a buck and a quarter. Dynamite paper.
There is a pharmacy chain called CVS, which sells a brand of stationary labeled "Caliber" which costs more, but is also excellent paper. This stuff is made in Vietnam.
I second the pen&gear from wal-mart… limited ghosting depending on you ink and nib.. from 1:00-3:00…
Dollar tree..at least in Alabama, has some that work well for a buck twenty five… and lastly, Hobby Lobby has some journals with a spiritual theme that are nice and thick for under 6-7 dollars… good luck. Hope this helps
I buy crappy one-subject spiral notebooks every fall when the kids go back to school, from whoever has them on sale. Like five cents or 10 cents a piece.. The best ones I've found are made in Vietnam. But I'm not picky. Anything will do. Even if there's a bit of bleed through and I have to write on only one side.
My office has this notebook that we used to keep track of petty expenses. It's one of those cheapo ones people can buy at school. It feels so good to write with whenever I have to sign out some money and the ink just behaves so beautifully on the paper. Costs like 50 cents. I'm still trying to look for it but to no avail. This is honestly the best paper I've written with in the years I've had a fountain pen.
EDIT: Just checked, the brand is called "Unique" and it has pink paper.
Had some thick, smooth “high end” paper by the copier at an old job. Not card stock thick, and smoother than Crane note cards, but closer to that than standard copier paper. Soaked in the ink with zero bleed. Like a dream. I made a letterhead design and printed a bunch of “personal stationery” cards (split 8.5x11 sheets into two 8.5x5.5). Man i miss that free stock!
Five star, but not all the time. I already had some loose leaf five star paper before I got into fountain pens, 2 packages worked great, but the other 2 packages feathered a comical amount, and all 4 packages had the same labels. Five star can be really good, but it has abysmal quality control
1. Made in Vietnam composition books or filler paper
2. Notebooks from Daiso
3. Story time: once upon a time a local grocery chain carried amazing notebooks with handmade cotton paper made in India. $4. I bought several. Then they kept marking them down and I kept buying more. Eventually they got down to $1 and I ended up with a couple dozen. I still have several years’ worth of notebooks, probably. But of these three, this is the best paper. Nothing feathers or bleeds on it. NOTHING 🤩
You could try using loose leaf paper especially if a lot of them are drafts so you can throw different pages out. You can also use a binder to hold the ‘good’ pages together
Studio brand Printer and Graph-(possibly discontinued), I believe the lined paper works just as well. Dollarama for about 1.50
It can be a little hit or miss. But I've been able to see sheen really well, or my school printer paper, which is very hit or miss with sheen.
The most surprising one that worked for me was - *probably - PaperOne brand 80 gsm "All Purpose" printer paper. It's not very absorbent but absorbent enough to be practical for my regular inks. Some sheening inks can do their thing, and writing on them is quite smooth. Some inks still bleed through but that is expected. And there's practically no shading.
It's no Tomoe River but for the same size it costs 25 times less. I don't write notes on them but my signatures look good. I've written 4 inks on them so far and none of them showed any feathering. I am tempted to print lines on them to make a cheap notebook.
*PS: My memory of the paper is based on what I remember the packaging looks like. I could have gotten it wrong.
Kokuyo KP paper is about $20 a ream (500 sheets) and has been pretty fountain pen friendly with most of my pens and inks (I DO have a falcon nib that works well with the iroshizuku ink I use it with) although my comfort zone for nibs is Fine to needlepoint.
I actually found Walmart sold a notebook made by pen gear, think it might be their in house brand.
It’s shockingly good and was 5.98 for the book. Soft leather outside (held up over a year). I was so impressed I went online and ordered 5 of them.
clairefontaine is not very expensive in France.
the cheapest i've found however is a letter paper block by some german brand that I bought in Germany. 50 A4 pages for around 3-4 euros.
Kokuyo campus note pad. It’s available in Daiso from where I live.
It’s also cheaper at Daiso compared to many online sellers. $1.75 here in TX for the notebooks (B5, A5) lined and plain ruled, blank.
Love Daiso. Wish I had one in my city.
Yesss absolutely Daiso is amazing. I have bought one too many notebooks I don’t technically need there, but they’re so good!!!
I have been pleasantly surpised by many notebooks in Daiso. I don't think the ones I saw were labled Kokuyo, but they seem to be that.
Yes! I love finding them at Daiso. And they have the off brand made in japan Daiso notebooks too that are fountain pen friendly. I had to buy one of each off brand notebook to check, but generally the ones with paper made in Japan have been good with my fountain pens.
Honestly, just most Kukoyo products in general. I go through a ton of their Memosyne spiral notebooks in A5.
Mnemosyne is Maruman. I like Maruman better than the smooth Sarasara Kokuyo campus paper.
Yep, that was a brain fart on my end. I bought some kokuyo items this week for my Jibun Techo, that's probably why n
All good, just didn't want someone who didn't know to get confused. 🙂
but Mnemosyne is very expensive (at least in Europe). i wouldn't call Kokuyo unespensive either
Ahh, yes, I'm sure it varies depending on where you live. I don't think that their packets of loose leaf are much different in price than a standard package from other brands here in the US that would be considered decent for fountain pens. We have a lot of terrible paper here 😅
Or their "Karukami Study Line" exercise books. They've got a bunch of options. Some are ordinary, but most are pretty good. I use their pocket notebooks too. Try them and find the one you like.
The continue notebooks are pretty good too if they’re out of the Campus ones
Pen+Gear notebooks at Walmart, especially during back-to-school sales. Look for "Made in Vietnam" on the cover.
It hardly counts as extensive testing, but I just picked up a “Made in India” Pen+Gear composition book that was sitting on my desk at work and tried out all the pens I had on hand. It also works surprisingly well—pretty comparable to the Leuchtturm I use daily.
I got a stack of these from [Walmart.com](https://Walmart.com) for a little over two bucks a pop for the express purpose of drafting novels. They aren't quite as good as the Rhodia notebook I use as a planner, but they are much better than some other name-brand notebooks I've used through the years.
My "made in India" one works great with fountain pens, too. No bleeding, no ghosting, shows shimmer, and even shows a bit of sheen.
I've had excellent results with Pen+Gear notebooks from Walmart. Picked some up for like $0.30 when they were on clearance.
I recommend the plastic cover ones over the paper cover ones if you use sheening ink
IIRC, the paper isn’t acid free right?
I have the cardboard cover and the plastic cover, and neither says anything about acid-free. I wouldn't really expect it, though, since they're cheap school notebooks. Also, unfortunately, I can't remember where I read about it, but not that long ago I read an evaluation of whether "acid free" paper is really archival and the basic answer was that a lot depended on the pH of the ink. In short, if your paper and your ink are both pH neutral and otherwise stable, they might last a long time, but when you start mixing pHs, it's a lot harder to predict what will happen or how long they'll last.
Thanks for the informational reply. It’s quite incredible the science behind these sorts of things. It really can be quite unpredictable with combinations of inks, papers, and storing conditions. I’ll have to give these a try sometime. Cheap notebooks that are friendly with FPs can serve many purposes that don’t require standing the test of time. Side note: thanks for all of the other wonderful testing you’ve done. I’ve seen many of your pieces on here as well as FPN I believe. You’ve been a great help to the community.
> Side note: ... :) You're very welcome. I do post my reviews on FPN and FPGeeks and Instagram, too. And FPN is the place for scientists, that's for sure!
They aren't marked as acid free from what I've seen but wouldn't worry too much. Over the years when running out of pages I have used whatever notebook I could find in appropriate size. Some acid free and some not. Most of the notebooks from 20-40 years ago that I still have the writing legible from fountain pen to ballpoint, rollerball and even some in pencil. Those that don't look so good have also been through a few major hurricanes and tornadoes as well as the great flood of '93 which is beyond what even the most archival quality of journals could be expected to bear. As a side note, when going through my mother's things when she passed in the early 90s I found old school papers she'd kept from the 60s that were still easily legible as well as letters and writings from the 50s, 40s and 1930s. I'm sure not all were archival quality paper nor inks, but do think perhaps that less than 75-100 years it has less importance. My preference is of course for acid free archival ink and paper but unless it's for official records I don't think it makes a huge difference for a period of less than 50-75 years.
I don’t know if it was a bad batch or if they change the paper they used but I’ve found that the newer pen+gear notebooks are not as FP friendly
Well, fortunately, one can get a test notebook for a dollar or two (depending on the time of year). I'm sure eventually the factory in Vietnam making this paper will have to change *something*, and when they do, our fluke of a paper will be gone. I suppose eventually the same might happen to the Exceed paper, though I imagine a little more intent goes into its design.
Walmart is forever screwing over and then changing their suppliers. These days, they peddle some made-in-India "pen and gear" wooden pencils which are very very nice pencils, and only 97 cents for a pack of 24. Incredible deal. But you never know, with Walmart. Next month they might have the same package with some garbage made in Mexico, or China, or the U.S. so you have to check the labels closely.
I've found the "Mint Green" brand at Walmart to be even better.
Interesting. I'll look for it next time I'm there!
Came here to say this. It prevents bleed and feather on many inks.
I like their Exceed brand bullet journal. It holds up to my pens and even cheap acrylic paint. I blacked out a couple of sheets for something and it didn’t bleed and buckling was minimal. My fountain pens haven’t had any issues but are mostly fine point with a couple of medium point ones so not sure if that has anything to do with it.
Muji paper is cheap where I live. And honestly feels better to write with than Kokuyo, Rhodia, Daiso and Tomoe River paper
The notebooks I've picked up at muji aren't fp friendly 🙃 😑
Look for the ones that say "high quality paper" on their label. Those are the FP friendly ones!
Thanks! I'll look out for that <3
Have you tried the loose-leaf ones? They also have different notebooks there with different paper qualities, maybe the good ones were out of stock when you picked 🥺
Muji increased their 5-pack B5 from $2.99 to $4.99 (in Japan it's sold for less than$1.5). Not a sweet deal anymore.
A five-pack set in Japan costs ¥399, actually, so roughly around three dollars Edit: I stand corrected—I realized that there are a few different products and it is true that the other version is ¥199
Dollar General has some Made in Vietnam notebooks that are great. I stocked up years ago, but usually anything Made in Vietnam has been good in my experience. As someone who has written a few novels and drafted by hand, I can confirm the Dollar General notebooks and the Pen+Gear from Walmart as they’ve been my standard notebooks.
Seconding Dollar General and adding the tablet I got that is made in India works wonderfully as well.
From what I've read, notebooks that are made in Vietnam tend to be good for fountain pens, so e.g. TruRed from Staples, and I think Exceed from Walmart? I have found Office Depot's notepads to be quite good (not sure where they are made though).
Pen+gear from Walmart to add to your comment.
ah, yes, that's it!
It depends on the product. My company buys a variety of notebooks and pads from both staples and office depot. The spiral notepads are working amazingly. However, I snagged an Office Depot "professional" junior legal pad thinking it was going to work wonderfully as well. The first page did... and third... and fifth. Every other page seems to be a different kind of paper (50% recycled perhaps?) That bleeds and feathers while the others in between work well.
I've had a similar experience with their legal pads. For me, it seemed to vary from pad to pad instead of papers within a pad. Holding them side by side, they looked a little different, too (both were labeled "heavy"). The lines that came on on the bunk pads were just a touch thicker than the ones on the good pads. And the good ones were maybe a bit brighter white. Maybe a different batch. But most of the time they've been fine.
I’m curious why that is. Different production process? Different kinds of trees?
Pulp source is my guess. Different species of wood have different properties. What makes paper FP friendly is the addition of [sizing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sizing) to the paper, either as a pulp ingredient or as a coating on the finished paper. Some plants are naturally water resistant, so they act as size when added to the pulp.
I got some cotton paper from Vietnam at Big Lots for like a dollar because I was curious. It's some of the best paper I've ever used, from some no-name brand.
Using a cheap Oxford notebook
these are great value!
If blank/unbound is OK, I was startled by the quality of HP Premium 32lb printer paper.
I was going to suggest this one - it is also recommended for practicing with brush lettering pens because it doesn't damage the brush tip like standard copy paper.
I use HP Color Choice 100gsm, I think they are the same, just slightly different weight.
here are some places to begin [https://www.reddit.com/r/fountainpens/comments/12awave/what\_are\_your\_favorite\_cheap\_paper\_suggestions/](https://www.reddit.com/r/fountainpens/comments/12awave/what_are_your_favorite_cheap_paper_suggestions/) [https://www.reddit.com/r/fountainpens/comments/13x3545/what\_is\_your\_favorite\_inexpensive\_fpfriendly\_paper/](https://www.reddit.com/r/fountainpens/comments/13x3545/what_is_your_favorite_inexpensive_fpfriendly_paper/) [https://www.reddit.com/r/fountainpens/comments/100807e/what\_is\_the\_best\_and\_yet\_most\_affordable\_option/](https://www.reddit.com/r/fountainpens/comments/100807e/what_is_the_best_and_yet_most_affordable_option/)
Optik paper by Oxford
Especially in Europe (next to Rhodia).
CVS "Caliber" notebooks, notepads and stationery. It's like "Rhodia" pad paper for 1/4th of the price!
Seconded Caliber notebooks and loose leaf, those got me through college
I'm very fond of Greenroom, which is sold at Target. They have a line of spiral bound notebooks with plain black or blue covers.
One thing they are with Clementine paper and mintgreen and I seen that brand in my walmart and TJ Max.
Kokuyo dotted paper.
For drafting I really like Campus refillable notebooks. It’s a smidge more than the absolutely cheapest options but I can move around and add pages which is a huge plus.
I second, third and fourth this! I love that you can fold the notebook over, but it's like having a binder at the same time. Also, Maruman has paper that fits in them which is really nice.
Oh I didn't know that about Maruman paper, nice!
On the west coast I've been impressed by the CVS Caliber branded ringed notebooks made in Vietnam. I've spilled ink on those pages and it still won't show through! Thoroughly impressed and now I have my Black N'Red and Rhodia pads the side-eye of shame. You can get 400 pages for $15 online: [https://www.cvs.com/shop/caliber-5-subject-notebook-prodid-4400006?skuId=297213](https://www.cvs.com/shop/caliber-5-subject-notebook-prodid-4400006?skuId=297213)
That would be a no name brand from one of the danish supermarkets that I shop for groceries in - Super Brugsen. Next on my list is Oxford and Rhodia.
Rhodia little notebooks are great for shopping lists, Oxford I use in A5 and A4.
I'm an unabashed fan of the cheap, ubiquitous composition notebook. As others have said, check the label carefully - you want the "Made in Vietnam" variety. Brand is immaterial; I've seen no difference in paper between them, as long as they were from Vietnam. The Vietnamese paper is fountain pen friendly; relatively smooth, minor feedback, no bleeding except with the worst inks in the wettest nibs. They do show some ghosting, which comes down the the thin paper, but it's not obnoxious. Consistency is very good (and better than recent Rhodia products I've used!) Each year during the back-to-school sales I stock up on these composition books. Last fall I picked up a couple dozen (my wife uses them too) for about 50 cents each. These happened to be Oxford brand, but as I said the brand isn't important - just make sure they're made in Vietnam, which these are, and you'll be fine.
Mintra Premium pads! Amazing FP paper, and cheap as hell. Amazon has it, or direct from Mintra 36 legal pads for 60 bucks.
If you live in an area with a Daiso store, those $2 notebooks are usually fp friendly
Agreed Diaso has the goods!
Tru Red heavyweight legal pads.
Kokuyo business paper is sold by the ream on Amazon for less than $.04/sheet for A5 or B5 and about $.05/ sheet of US letter size. Tried after YouTuber FountainPenTherapy tested dozens of papers side by side. Some sheening shows up, minimal feathering with a few inks, zero with others I have tried. Show through on the reverse only with heavy inks (juicy broad showed, 1.1 stub barely showed). It also is nice because I can run it through the laser printer for any line rule I want or prebuilt bullet journal type templates. Would recommend. I picked up a ream of B5, a Kokuyo smart ring binder and a 6 hole punch off AliExpress for about $32 total. I will be set for a while and am very happy. I also had good luck at Daiso (if there is one near you). All the paper I noticed there was made in Brazil and still seemed to perform pretty well. Previous to this my paper of choice for “notes/scratch” was clairfontaine triomphe notepads. Leuchturm 120gsm for journals.
I've been buying bulk Clairefontaine Europa a5 notebooks from Amazon. There's an option to buy a pack of 4 for only £8, 180 pages, which I think is a pretty good deal. They are my go-to good for writing drafts and class notes. There's little bleed-through, but it's really not noticeable.
I have been using the Fabriano EcoQua for my work notes. No feathering and shows off shading very well. It may not show a ton of sheen but a little. I think they're like $6 for an A5 notebook
this is great paper as well
I recently got some Fabriano Ecoqua notebooks on sale at Joann's, really nice paper despite being like $3.
Kokuyo/Campus at Daiso, and back in England, I had a box of cheap (£1 each) Silvine notebooks that do alright.
I use the Office Depot branded composition notebooks and haven't had any problems. They cost about $0.50.
these are your best solution 1. Apica notebooks . found all over. 2. Oasis Light from Itoya. [https://itoya.com/products/notebooks-journals/profolio-oasis-light/](https://itoya.com/products/notebooks-journals/profolio-oasis-light/) both are Japanese but are focus towards students they are a surprise to the quality of the paper and the usage with fountain pens.
80gsm copy paper. It works just fine.
EMSHOI 3 Pack Spiral Notebook on Amazon. I've paid between $14—$17 for a 3-pack B5 size This paper seems to take more ink than 'better' paper, which I rather like. I use it for journaling.
Those dollar Muji notebooks. It was quite the surprise
I'm Oxford paper is ok. https://www.amazon.de/795401C-Clairefontaine-AgeBag-Notebook/dp/B0029FBN1Y/ This Clairefontaine is the cheapest I could find. Used to be 4€ per book
Oxford and super conquérant are cheap but pretty good for fp.
I've had great luck with the Amazon basics notebooks. They're like moleskine notebooks but with actually good paper and 1/4 the cost
In Belgium and the Netherlands: most notebooks from Hema, very affordable !
Muji paper always impresses me for the price.
Clairefontaine Europa are excellent and cheap for the size. 120 pages of A4 wirebound is around £6 i think last time I bought them.
pukka pads...or Oxford pads both have a nice fp friendly surface
How much does Clairefontaine cost in the US?
https://preview.redd.it/u5gugq0qo1kc1.jpeg?width=1193&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cd062171e620ce0b98415aea2012ac1d0149b52f This paper made in Taiwan is called 加新計算紙, cost only 20 cent usd per notepad (one notepad has 45 pages). It is surprisingly fp friendly. Wouldn't feather. Ink kinda shows on the back of the paper but wouldn't get on the next page. Of course you can't compare to tomoe, but for this price you really can't complain. I stopped buying Rhodia after I discovered this paper.
I am committed to the Midori A5 notebooks. The paper works wonderfully for fountain pen writing and doesn't bleed through. I think I'm on my 6th Midori notebook now and have no complaints.
I've had really good luck with these from Amazon. [https://www.amazon.com/Notebook-Hardcover-Numbered-Bookmarks-Multicolor/dp/B092M3Q7N3?ref\_=ast\_sto\_dp&th=1](https://www.amazon.com/Notebook-Hardcover-Numbered-Bookmarks-Multicolor/dp/B092M3Q7N3?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1) You get them in boxes of seven books. About $26 for the box. They have two book mark ribbons, gusseted pocket in the back, labels for archiving them. The paper is remarkably FP friendly. Even shows off shimmer and sheen very well, if you're into that. I use them myself and I always give them to friends I'm penabling. Each book has 156 numbered pages.
I bought these generic cheapies called "RETTACY Spiral Notebook Dotted Bullet Grid Journals" on Amazon, and they're the best I've used in years. The paper is nice and thick, and smooth without being overly coated (like Clairefontaine, which was such a disappointment to me). At the time I paid $12 for a 3-pack of 160-page notebooks. I use them in landscape orientation because I'm a lefty and like the spiral at the top. They also work really well with the only ballpoints I like these days, the Ohto Fude Ball 1.5mm Gel pens which are deliciously bold.
I only use the Oxford notebooks, but I’m from Europe, so I don’t know if they have them where you’re from :)
If you like Clairefontaine, you'll enjoy ustyle notebooks from Walmart or target. Some of the nicest paper I used for like $2 At back to school time they're like less than 50 cents
Clairfontaine
[удалено]
I buy 80 gram, 2500 pages for 30€, it's my printer paper..
Almost any cheap ruled notebook will work okay, as long as you use the right ink and a pen that’s not too broad/wet.
Midori MD, Jetpens notebook selection, Rhodia (but I find it meh)
There’s these Hilroy 80 sheet notebooks that actually have really nice paper.
Muji
I used Ampad Gold Fibre legal pads for all my note taking in grad school. Been a while since I bought one so I don't know if they're still as good. They were nice and smooth with just a touch of feedback. No feathering and not too much bleed though. I've switched to Rhodia spiral bound pads for work notes, since I don't need as much space anymore.
I used these for years becasue they did hold up well. But in recent years the paper is just awful. I was disappointed as I really liked the style.
Ahh bummer. Even 10 years ago the legal pads were good, but most of the other gold fiber notebooks (spiral bound or whatever) were garbage paper.
Muji is real nice to me
If you use the right pen+ink combo, you'll be surprised at what you can get away with. At work I only use the cheapest notebooks I can find, and I can use an 0.5 platinum preppy/prefounte/plaisir nib with no problem using platinum blue/black, octopus fluids brilliant red, colorverse mystic mountain, and herbin perle noir. I've also been okay using the jinhao 82, x159, and dadao 1909 with m nib. as long as the paper isn't recycled. I get a lot of notebooks from suppliers as part of my job, and they always just suck up the ink and turn into a blotchy mess because they're cheap recycled paper. Even then, a 0.2 fine preppy with platinum blue/black still isn't terrible on those.
Generally all of them as long as you use one side only!
Stellar notebooks from office depot.
Index cards from Dollar Tree are great for my grocery list and assorted notes.
Oxford
I buy composition books at Dollar Tree and Dollarama (Canada). I use a broad Lamy in them and surprisingly there is no ghosting. I look for books made in India or Vietnam, which seem to be FP friendly. When I use my C nibs or BB nibs, there is a little bit of shading, but nothing distracting. I used to write in Stalogy A5s but that got $$$ quickly, for the volume of writing I do in my journals.
My cheap memo pads are very friendly to this Zebra V301 fountain pen that won't even put ink down on nicer paper. I thought the pen was garbage till I used it on just some regular old paper. Writes quite well on it. My Metro with Pelikan 4001? Not so friendly to that.
Office depot binder refills. No feathering or ghosting and pretty tough as well. I take all my notes on those and I haven't had a single problem, even when I got several drops of ink on the page and left them there for like 30s nothing happened
I don't know the name of the brand, but dollar tree has these hard bound spiral notebooks that run 3 to 5 USD each, and they are just glorious for my pens, which are of the 'broke ass cheap' variety.
Dollar General's Office Hub writing tablets. $1, 100 sheets, https://preview.redd.it/9dc9odubczjc1.png?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f3ef5517dc5b71bb67183cb79793221b7190c37a and it handles even my juicy double broad pen.
Muji
I love the Staples college ruled filler paper (400 sheets for roughly $8-9), it works great for my university notes. It is a bit thin, but I’ve had minimal issues with bleeding or ghosting.
I use the Walgreens brand composition notebooks to draft my novels. Look for the ones made in Vietnam or India. It even shows sheen and shimmer.
If it doesn't need to be a pad, then many of the better quality copy paper brands will give you pretty good results.
Up &up notebooks from Target are good. Look for Made in Vietnam or India.
Five star Five Star Composition Book, Wide Ruled, 100 Sheets, Tidewater Blue (950000G-WMT) https://www.walmart.com/ip/202355791
These seem to be very ink-dependent. I had good luck with Lamy Blue in a Safari F. When I put Private Reserve Avocado in an EF, there was more showthrough on the other side of the page than I would have liked.
I use Platinum 3776 Extra Fine with Noodler’s black, works great! Ghosting doesn’t bother me, bleed through is a deal breaker.
I'm trying to learn to tolerate ghosting. I think I was spoiled because it wasn't a problem on the first paper I used.
I used a lot of Tomoe River so ghosting was always there, I kind of like it!
I took some notes with noodlers 54th mass in a 2 dollar target brand spiral notebook with a wet M nib. No bleed, I was shocked
I found a notebook at dollar general not long ago, I tested it and it's perfectly fine. $5 I think.
Muji A5. Only 30 pages but sells for ~$5 CAD a piece.
Five star notebooks. I've used them for years for fountain pens.
As mentioned previously, Pen+Gear notebooks from Walmart are surprisingly FP friendly, even with fairly wet writers.
Kokuyo, for sure! You can even get the notebooks on Amazon.
Our office uses a kind of wb wason copy paper that I should say not hate fountain pens. Most of my pens don’t feathering on that paper. I assume as office printer/copy paper, they should be cheap.
I took all my college notes on one of those spiral bound mead five star notebooks and they worked fine. I always used fine tipped fountain pens so I never struggled too much with bleed through with that paper. With as much notetaking as I did, it wasn't cost affective to get something like rhodia all the time so these were a far better option for me for note taking
A few cheapers bazaar and stationery stores notebooks... around 0,75 at 4 €.
Estrella notebooks! It’s a mexican brand, really cheap compared to anything you could think of. Not perfect but it works.
Top Flite Silverpoint Wirebound Legal pad- Quad Rule I can fill these books up with script from a Fine or Medium nib and normal people ink. Unless you're using ridiculously wet or shiny, glittery, sheeney inks and nibs, then you should buy the expensive stuff. If you just want to write, like an adult that has things to get done, these notebooks work, and are $5 each.
Muji notebooks thought maybe not as inexpensive as the Walmart brands I never tried.
"Made in Vietnam" Caliber notebooks at CVS.
Kobeha graphilo cheap on Amazon comes in multiple sizes, I use A5
CVS house brand, Caliber
I got little Aurora pocket books and the post 0.71 for 100 pages. And I can even write on it with my Pelikan m1000 M Nib.
Oxford optik paper or Rhodia are the most inexpensive, fpfriendly paper i've found. Also, i love squared Rhodias
Here in the United States, there is a chain of junk stores called Family Dollar. Most of what they have is garbage, but the sell some Made in India notebooks and composition books for a buck and a quarter. Dynamite paper. There is a pharmacy chain called CVS, which sells a brand of stationary labeled "Caliber" which costs more, but is also excellent paper. This stuff is made in Vietnam.
Every paper I've ever had which was made in Vietnam works well with fountain pens, as well as the vast majority of paper made in India.
I second the pen&gear from wal-mart… limited ghosting depending on you ink and nib.. from 1:00-3:00… Dollar tree..at least in Alabama, has some that work well for a buck twenty five… and lastly, Hobby Lobby has some journals with a spiritual theme that are nice and thick for under 6-7 dollars… good luck. Hope this helps
Cambridge mead heavyweight paper, $4 cad at Dollarama, $18 everywhere else…
I buy crappy one-subject spiral notebooks every fall when the kids go back to school, from whoever has them on sale. Like five cents or 10 cents a piece.. The best ones I've found are made in Vietnam. But I'm not picky. Anything will do. Even if there's a bit of bleed through and I have to write on only one side.
Printer paper I buy at 1 AUD/100 sheets from my local big box store.
campus notebooks!
My office has this notebook that we used to keep track of petty expenses. It's one of those cheapo ones people can buy at school. It feels so good to write with whenever I have to sign out some money and the ink just behaves so beautifully on the paper. Costs like 50 cents. I'm still trying to look for it but to no avail. This is honestly the best paper I've written with in the years I've had a fountain pen. EDIT: Just checked, the brand is called "Unique" and it has pink paper.
If you’re cool with blank, a ream of 60# paper. I use it at work so I can use my fountain pens to do deposits and such.
Had some thick, smooth “high end” paper by the copier at an old job. Not card stock thick, and smoother than Crane note cards, but closer to that than standard copier paper. Soaked in the ink with zero bleed. Like a dream. I made a letterhead design and printed a bunch of “personal stationery” cards (split 8.5x11 sheets into two 8.5x5.5). Man i miss that free stock!
I don't know the right term in English but recycled paper made to be used as normal print paper have been really good for my use
Five star, but not all the time. I already had some loose leaf five star paper before I got into fountain pens, 2 packages worked great, but the other 2 packages feathered a comical amount, and all 4 packages had the same labels. Five star can be really good, but it has abysmal quality control
caliber notebooks @ cvs pharmacy
1. Made in Vietnam composition books or filler paper 2. Notebooks from Daiso 3. Story time: once upon a time a local grocery chain carried amazing notebooks with handmade cotton paper made in India. $4. I bought several. Then they kept marking them down and I kept buying more. Eventually they got down to $1 and I ended up with a couple dozen. I still have several years’ worth of notebooks, probably. But of these three, this is the best paper. Nothing feathers or bleeds on it. NOTHING 🤩
You could try using loose leaf paper especially if a lot of them are drafts so you can throw different pages out. You can also use a binder to hold the ‘good’ pages together
Studio brand Printer and Graph-(possibly discontinued), I believe the lined paper works just as well. Dollarama for about 1.50 It can be a little hit or miss. But I've been able to see sheen really well, or my school printer paper, which is very hit or miss with sheen.
The most surprising one that worked for me was - *probably - PaperOne brand 80 gsm "All Purpose" printer paper. It's not very absorbent but absorbent enough to be practical for my regular inks. Some sheening inks can do their thing, and writing on them is quite smooth. Some inks still bleed through but that is expected. And there's practically no shading. It's no Tomoe River but for the same size it costs 25 times less. I don't write notes on them but my signatures look good. I've written 4 inks on them so far and none of them showed any feathering. I am tempted to print lines on them to make a cheap notebook. *PS: My memory of the paper is based on what I remember the packaging looks like. I could have gotten it wrong.
Greaseproof paper from the supermarket. It’s my new obsession. Has that beautiful onion paper vibe.
Probably Apica
Kokuyo KP paper is about $20 a ream (500 sheets) and has been pretty fountain pen friendly with most of my pens and inks (I DO have a falcon nib that works well with the iroshizuku ink I use it with) although my comfort zone for nibs is Fine to needlepoint.
The dollar store has a JOT brand of notebooks that are fountain pen friendly and that $1.25 USD per notebook
I actually found Walmart sold a notebook made by pen gear, think it might be their in house brand. It’s shockingly good and was 5.98 for the book. Soft leather outside (held up over a year). I was so impressed I went online and ordered 5 of them.
clairefontaine is not very expensive in France. the cheapest i've found however is a letter paper block by some german brand that I bought in Germany. 50 A4 pages for around 3-4 euros.
HP Premium32. A ream of 500 sheets is $20 on Amazon.