I currently have a Life writing pad for letter writing. I like it, but I would like to try some other loose leaf paper. Does anyone have recommendations? I would prefer lined, but unlined is ok if the paper is thin enough to use a guide sheet underneath.
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Clairefontaine Triomphe - it comes in lined, but for 90g paper it’s surprisingly translucent - enough so that the guide sheet they include is clearly visible.
Wow, I will have to add this one to the list. I didn’t expect Clairefontaine to ever work with a guide sheet!
Me neither! I bought some, printed a guide, then opened the pack and found an included guide sheet. It works great though, still my choice
If you’re in the UK, John Lewis sells some great own-brand loose sheets and envelopes. I used them a few years ago for a calligraphy commission. They were slightly textured but not enough to disrupt the strokes of a dip pen so they should be fine with a foundation pen. No bleeding, see through enough for a bold guide sheet. I’ll see if I can find a link.
Unfortunately, I’m not in the UK, but I night be willing to see if they ship if I can find enough to make a big order. The slight texture sounds interesting.
I’m not sure it’s special enough for that. But if you can’t find anything better I could buy it for you and send it personally if you like? You wouldn’t need to order too much that way. Send me a DM if you’d like me to help 🙂
I’m a big fan of Tamoe River. It’s a light weight paper that plays great with fountain pens. It should be sheer enough for a guide sheet.
I use TR68 regularly, but I’ve been hesitant to use TR52 for letters because of the ghosting as I’m a fan of wet nibs, dark inks, and conserving paper by using both sides. I guess I should just buy a few sheets and try it at the very least. I just wish I could find a good source of 68gsm loose leaf in Canada.
Yes, ghosting can be an issue with TR. Have you looked at Rhodia or Clairefontaine? Both have a good feel and play nice with fountain pens, but I don’t know if they sell lined loose leaf.
Rhodia only sells in pads and small notebooks unfortunately. It’s a shame because I like their paper as a jack of all trades paper. Clairefontaine does looseleaf. I have used their notebook paper and liked it a lot. I put an order in for their Triomphe paper yesterday. I’m not sure if it’s the same paper that they use in the notebooks. I will find out soon! I finally found some CAL looseleaf and ordered that too. I’ve used it in notebook format and loved it. I’m waiting to put in an order for Midori pads and will probably toss the TR52gsm in the cart while I’m at it now that you’ve given me the nudge. Have you used G. Lalo? It is a bit pricy, so I’m not sure if it’s worth trying.
I have not tried G. Lalo. Once I found tomoe river planners, I stopped experimenting with paper. I mostly integrated fountain pens into my day-to-day workflow and don’t do anything particularly special with them anymore.
I purchased a ream of HP Premium32 printer paper in 2020 and found a couple of sites that offer ruled paper templates. I use the templates to print my own writing paper on a black and white laser printer.
It isn’t Clairefontaine, but it is very nice to write on. I highly recommend it.
Oh that’s a great idea. I have a ream of coated paper designed for ink jets I could try!
This is what I do as well. It works. It doesn’t show the shading like some papers but it’s perfect for everything else.
You can find templates online for putting a dot grid on the paper, lines, or a true grid.
I’ve got one of Midori’s MD letter pads (and matching envelopes) and I love it.
I’ve used Midori MD notebooks before and liked the paper. I had no idea they came in writing pads. Definitely getting added to my paper order!
It seems like the only company I can reliably find lined paper from is Rhodia. That said their paper is very good, and though it comes in tablets, the pages tear out easily and cleanly so you can pull them out and use them as loose leaf. I’m really surprised how difficult it is to find lined paper from companies like Tomoe River, Clair Fontaine, etc over here where I am. (SE US.) I have to basically import everything, so I’m at the whims of what I can get from places like Goulet, Jet Pens, and Amazon.
Oh that’s a good idea. Rhodia is pretty cheap around here. I completely forgot it comes in anything but dot grid! Something new to add to my cart, thanks.
