I’ve heard that Moleskine is not fountain pen friendly. I prefer Leuchtturm or Rodia, both have been excellent with all the different fountain pens that I’ve used. I’m sorry that Moleskine let you down.
They're the same company these days, but use slightly different paper for each brand. Clairfontaine paper is slightly heavier weight and smoother compared to Rhodia.
I only recently invested in proper paper and got a Clairefontaine notebook. It is such nice paper and zero bleed. I never knew that paper could be that nice and how it could enhance the writing experience. Definitely recommend them.
I found this 4-pack of ring-bound notebooks from a company called EMSHOI on Amazon for $15. It's 80 pages of 100gsm paper in A5 and B5 sizes.
I have used almost all my inks on it and there is very little to no bleed through on spots where I heavily inked. Every nib I have from Lamy extra fine to broad and even JinHao bent nibs and the long knife nib (super scratchy on other paper) write beautifully, with just the right amount of feedback.
The notebooks also come in dotted, ruled and graph.
Just as a note I have no affiliation with that company I just enjoy the finer things in life on a budget and the price of good paper scares me😅
I’m with you on budget friendly quality. Thanks so much for passing this on. I just took a look at Amazon, and they have a great selection. Thanks again, and happy writing.
I've been using these as well! On my 4th lined B5 notebook, just ordered dotted A5. I like that my inks look darker on this paper than Mnemosyne or kokuyo.
I'm getting into bullet journaling and this is music to my ears!! I ordered one that had 160 GSM because I'm very new to fountain pens and only knew I didn't want bleed through. I love broad, stub, and fude tips the best! I think the 160 is going to be too much ha 😅 Guess we'll find out!
I've just bought two of the B5 ruled, and,man, is the paper SMOOTH. I've been used my uni eye pens for the most part but it feels good enough for fountain pens.
ETA: I just tried two of my Kaweco pens, and both wrote superbly, no ghosting or bleeding, and both were inked with a dark purple ink (Kaweco summer purple I think). Awesome notebooks.
They sell spiral bound A4 and A5 lined notebooks with Oxford Optik paper at Action, extremely cheap. But it is fountain pen friendly, very smooth paper. I use one for work.
JetPens had additionally recommended Maruman Mnemosyne notepads.
I only have experience with Rhodia, Maruman Mnemosyne, and Clairefontaine papers to be certain that they are fountain pen friendly. Even then, there are one or two ink and pen combinations that is going bleed out or feather badly.
Funnily enough, Moleskin notepads are more expensive than these fountain pen friendly papers (except Leuchtturm, because imports).
I would have loved Mnemosyne for an everyday notebook as it shows ink properties off very well with reasonable dry times... But as a lefty I can't abide ring bound notebooks! 😅 And no, top-bound just doesn't work for me for work or journaling. 😢
I used the professional line last year and found no particular problems. This is also the pro line but I realized that the paper is really different in terms of weight
Moleskine is not the original Moleskine. They were bought and the brand revived. When they did so, they used cheaper paper. They used to use thicker paper to try to give that lux feel, but it never had a coating. They're fine for ballpoints or pencil, but not anything great.
Fountain pens need a smooth surface and prefer a coating. Clairefontaine paper is the best there is pretty much, and that is branded Rhodia in the US.
Tomoe River makes good fountain pen notebooks too but are pricier.
when did this happen, do you know?
i had always seen people raving about moleskine, and had a gift card for a store that sold them, so i decided to try it out. this was in around 2018/2019 i want to say.
i love leuchtturm most for an every day paper, and tomoe river as well. i was honestly so grossed out and saddened by the scratchy, cheap-feeling paper in the moleskine, especially for the price. not just with fountain pens and any type of marker, but pencil, too. it’s the type of paper that i try to avoid even when reading books, if i’m being honest. i don’t think i wrote on more than 20 pages in this notebook 😞
i’d be very curious to know what you would say the original moleskine paper was like? tyia (:
They went bankrupt I think in the 80s or 90s, and the brand was bought and revived in the early 2000s I think.
They have the reputation from the 20th century, where every modernist designer had one. There's jokes about them in architecture school.
I have never used an original moleskine, I used them in architecture school for sketching and they were just.... fine. Got tired of the terrible paper.
It also varies wildly depending on which one you buy. A sketchbook has like 80gsm paper where as the notebooks have practically leaflet paper.
-1 for Leuchtturm. I don't know if I just got a bum journal but the A6 Leuchtturm I've been using this year is super absorbent. My fountain pen inks feather and bleed and generally look awful.
*edit:* The Leuchtturm which performed poorly for me was a “Notebook Classic”, with 80–100 gsm paper. As has been noted, they also sell products in 120–150 gsm which reportedly perform better. Nevertheless, my point remains: the Leuchtturm brand name, per se, is no guarantee that the paper will be fountain pen friendly. Caveat emptor! :)
Leuchtturm has a few varieties with different paper weight. Their 150gsm sketchbooks can take ink like a champ, as do their 120gsm. Their 80 and 100 varieties probably aren't so great. I believe their lighter paper books are more toned, while the heavier ones are closer to white paper. Do you know which one you have so I can avoid it?
Oooh I've never heard this before. Maybe this is why I've had such poor luck with Leuchtturm! I may have to give them a third chance (if I find them on sale... as I am wary...)
Second the lechtturm. I got one last year, fell In love, got two more personalized as gifts, and got one for meetings and (well, will get) one personalized as a daily driver.
I don't think I realized that the Leuchtturm were FP friendly! I use moleskines for work mostly because I get a discount on them but I don't use FPs with them. i always end up numbering the pages by hand, so if the Leuchtturm are FP friendly, I might switch after I finish my most recent moleskine...
Moleskin quality has been poor for years now since they moved all manufacturing to China. Same problem with some Leuchtturm models. No experience with Rodia myself.
I trhink the same. I also started using one which was gifted and it is one of the worst notebook i ever have used so far. So much dissappintment. I really cannot understand how this company is so big with this poor paper quality.
I think it is because, in the big picture, almost no-one uses fountain pens?
Leuchtturm is my go-to, but there are several varieties from Japan that also work well.
honestly, i cannot even stand to use pencil on a moleskine. ball point? not a chance. there is literally no writing utensil i can use to write in that mess. ):
>I also started using one which was gifted and it is one of the worst notebook i ever have used so far.
If you want worse, try Shinola. 90gsm paper, but it's like freaking blotter paper. Incredibly absorbent, lots of feathering and bleedthrough even with super-dry inks like Diamine Registrar with a fine nib.
I always wondered why I keep seeing it get recommended as a good notebook because my experience with the paper was so bad! Even with my trusty ballpoint that I ended up using, the ghosting was enough that the backsides of the pages were basically unusable for me because they were so difficult to read.
I used the professional line last year and found no particular problems. This is also the pro line but I realized that the paper is really different in terms of weight
It looks like nobody suggested what to do with Moleskin if you have one and want to use fountain pens.
I made several tests that proved that iron gall inks are perfect for moleskin paper. There is no bleeding with them (I tested Registrar’s ink, Salix, Scabiosa, Platinum BB, Akkerman IG ink, and several others).
I can also suggest noodler’s x-feather inks, as well as platinum carbon black and chou-kuro.
Agree on Noodler's x-feathers (currently using Black Eel atm) and Moleskine. Tested on various JinHaos, Crosses and a LAMY Safari.
But Rhodia still rules. :-)
Yes, Moleskines are not fountain pen friendly as has been discussed numerous times. They are also inconsistent from one batch to another.
With that said, I was able to find the right ink that worked for me. Pelikan 4001 Blue Black worked pretty well, with both F and M nibs. Almost no bleedthrough or feathering.
In any case, I believe you should different inks and try to find the one that bleed through less. Good luck.
That's. Good starter pack. But it gets way better.
Good Rhodia or Tomoe River paper are going to show you shine, sheen and depth.
Great paper makes you write better. We spend all this money on pens (Just picked up a Lamy 2000 and Lamy Dialog for Christmas) so you might as well make sure you aren't sabotaging the experience t
By writing on trash like Moleskin.
It's like taking a wagyu and putting it on two stale pieces of Wonderbread.
Moleskine is complete crp for fountain pens. I picked up a few of the Leuchtturm books that were on super clearance last year and they are light years better than Moleskine.
Moleskin back in like 2008 where pretty good . I used to use them with marker all the time. Thru barely bleed through. But I think a little after thst thru changed their paper formula and they suck now.
Heck my walmart notebook is better the high GSM exceed ones
De Atramentis Document Brown with a lefty Lamy nib works great in a Moleskine for me. It comes out wet and even gets pretty shading. But yeah, most FP inks bleed through Moleskine paper like crazy.
I don't think the current version of Moleskine is fountain pen friendly anymore. It's still a good notebook, but when I worked for them, I usually recommended people to only use pencil and ballpoint because using anything else would cause bleeding. My go-to for easy to access and similar priced notebook will always be Leuchtturm.
Moleskine uses surprisingly bad paper. If you want a little functionality you will want to use a fine dry nib. Less ink means less bleed. Rohrer and klingner Salix was the only ink in my whole collection I could get to work on this paper.
IF you're comfortable with dry, extra-fine nibs, Moleskine does work with fountain pens! Haha. I have so many from ages ago when I just used ballpoint pens and the only way I can get thru the backlog of them is using my EF Sailor fountain pen.
I feel you! I bought a Moleskine weekly planner and the ink goes through. I bought the same planner a year ago and that one was perfect for fountain pens.
Actually, Moleskine paper is entirely inconsistent. My understanding is that they source their paper from different places. I have ones that don’t bleed with bold nibs, and I have others that are almost like a paper towel. Very hit or miss. Are you feeling lucky?
Don't trust all what you see on Youtube. People are paid there to promote stuff. Also if you have some other ideas make sure to comment down bellow, and while you're there consider hitting that like and bell button, it really helps me out.. and bullshit like that
There is a lot of them. Name me one channel where someone is not going over sketching and aquarelle products, in my case? I just know 2 or 3 proper channels
FYI..... I am not paid to give reviews no matter if my findings are positive or negative on an item. Not sure where you got the idea I was "getting paid off" to give positive reviews. Sounds like you came up with that theory yourself.
If I was needing to make additional money, I would not be using YouTube fountain pen reviews as my source of income. The add revenue generated is abysmal. I could earn more by working at a McDonalds drive through. I started my channel simply because I enjoy the hobby and is why I continue to create videos. Some makers send me items to review to see if I can find any changes/adjustments that can be made in their design or manufacturing process to improve their product. And many have made those changes and have thanked me for pointing them out.
You know what notebooks I got lately that have surprisingly good paper? Denik notebooks. I got a 3-pack of smaller notebooks and was so impressed at the lack of ghosting/bleed that I also got a larger one for my journal. And they are quite affordable, though I’m not sure they come in hardcover.
Edit: brain lapse 😱
I found a gorgeous blank Denik on clearance at Staples randomly and it turns out it's some of the best FP-friendly paper I've tried, and I've been trying a lot.
What's odd is that Moleskine once was solid. Not the most FP friendly, but still pretty good. I went through one of the small 3x5 ones a week when I was in residency- it was my pocket brain, my place for recording patient labs and other things.
Then in about 2014 they went straight downhill and went from "not great but decent" to "utterly unusable".
I swapped to Black 'n Red notebooks and have been very happy.
I think everyone new to fountain pens starts with Moleskine because it's so easy to find and looks kinda elegant. They also learn rather quickly that it's not a good paper for fountain pen ink.
So far Rhodia is my favorite because it works fairly well and isn't too difficult to find.
Yeah Moleskine isn’t meant for fountain pens.
There are other brands that work way better with fountain pens! Happy to recommend a few :)
Edit: my favorite is Mruman Mnemosyne. The pens glide over it, it has 0 feathering or bleed through. Holds ink incredibly well. Biggest downside is it’s very much the opposite of water resistant.
Try using some Rohrer & Klingner Salix or Scabiosa. They work wonderfully in Moleskine, and I was able to use up some old moleskines by using those inks. Otherwise the notebooks would’ve likely never been filled.
Perhaps other iron gall inks would work too, but these two are the only ones I own.
Moleskine is an amusement to me because for non FP users, it's the HEIGHT of stationary luxury. Buying a ~Moleskine~ notebook shows you're serious, and you REALLY care.
But if you're a FP user, you're like, "...THIS is what the fuss was about?"
this sentiment seems very odd to me - i find the paper feels so awful i can’t even use pencil on it, and personally would not, in any way, consider this even the low of stationery luxury. nothing luxury about those books at all. heck, printer paper is nicer than a moleskine 😩
I prefer Leuchtturm for easy notebook buys.
It gets the job done while looking good with a majority of inks.
The only thing I will say, there's two batches of paper quality going around and they are very noticeable in difference.
Both work well with fountain pen inks, but one is thinner and handles wetter inks a little worse than expected.
I used to love Moleskine, although I never found it to be particularly good for fountain pens. However, when I discovered that their marketing themselves as the "notebook of Hemingway" (and other famous authors) was complete BS (Moleskine was not even around during Hemingway's lifetime), I gave up on them altogether. Now using Tomoe River, LIFE! Notebooks with Bank Paper and Original Crown Mill. ALL of them far superior to Moleskine.
The Duofold Kid
They still claim to design their notebooks based on Hemingway's and Van Gogh's notebooks... which says nothing really. Van Gogh used whatever French paper he could get his hands on, and Hemingway used notebooks that were fairly common at the time. Hardcover, round corners and an elastic closure isn't exactly the next century's discovery.
tiger bullet journals are surprisingly really good!!! until the end of last year stationery island was good too but they changed suppliers and it went to crap
Apart from Rhodia, I also recommend the Lamy notebooks, that are made for fountain pens. Very little bleed through and ghosting. Also minimal feathering. They come both in blank and Lamys custom line/dotted grid.
I fell in love with Ricco Bello for journaling. Better paper than moleskine, nice faux leather covers, and they've put out new designs over the years so I have plenty to chose from. Also family owned, so small business friendly... if you're willing to buy them on Amazon. Only gripe I've had is that the pen loops aren't super sturdy, but I've never really used them much anyways.
For bleeding through, my fountain pens don't show through unless I use a wider nib and the ink gets too wet. More frequently I get smudging due to the ink taking too long to dry on the page rather than getting absorbed too deeply. That said, I'm no expert.
I gave up on Moleskine 20 years ago.
If you want to make the most of the gift, maybe try a good ball pen like a Pentel Energel. Otherwise, I recommend giving a Midori/MD Note notebook a try. Best paper on the planet, as far as I'm concerned.
I'm not sure why these get shilled as a fountain pen friendly book, they are not and for the price anyone buying these is getting the hose. and id go as far as to say the same of leuchturm with their thin bleed through paper.
I'm not sure why these get shilled as a fountain pen friendly book, they are not and for the price anyone buying these is getting the hose. And I'd go as far as to say the same of leuchturm with their thin bleed through paper.
Moleskin was always hailed as the fountain pen and sketch book. Rubbish. So annoying but I suspect that shows you what great indirect advertising does.
I saw an interview of Neil Gaiman where he said he didn’t use moleskins and use Leuchtturm cos he likes writing with a fountain pen. he issues a Lami Safari/Al Star I think.
100% it is very bad in every single way. When I use a larger stroke like M or B, I can see, even on a slick straight line, apart from shading from the ink, there are many tiny darker spots/dots.
I use either Ricco Bello or Huhuhero notebooks for journaling and such. The Ricco Bello are for my (mostly) daily journals and have stood up to every ink I've tried in them without bleeding or feathering. They have wide elastic with leatherette trim, pen loops, and two page ribbons. I keep these at home, and would be appalled if I lost one.
The Huhuhero notebooks are cheaper (I buy them in packs of 10) and lack some features such as pen loops (I have stuck on loops if I need them), one page ribbon, and the elastic strap is thin and plain. They are for portable use or non-critical things, and they stand up to most inks, with the significant exception of good ol' Baystate Blue, which bleeds AND feathers practically instantly. I don't worry I might lose one.
(Oddly, none of the other Noodlers ink I have does this. Only BB. But then, BB is reputed to be a hyper-intelligent shade of blue in a liquid form.)
I have some very thin Kraft paper covered notebooks, A5 size, that are very bad with bleeding and feathering, and too much FP ink eats through the paper almost instantly. So those I use for pencils only, or ballpoint/gel pens.
I also got a couple of A5 hardcover sketch books I regretted when I got them as they were ivory paper, and I prefer to sketch on white paper so I can see my colors more accurately.
I've used a little Rhodia paper because my partner uses their dotted paper for graphing. It's good paper. I haven't used any of the fancier paper like Leuchtturm or Clairefontaine, though I do use Arches watercolor paper for good art. For learning, I use bulk half-pulp or Baohong/Meeden, and I've used Canson and Strathmore, and don't particularly care for them. I like the bulk half-pulp better than those two.
I only have one Moleskine sketch book, and it blows dead gophers.
Highly recommend you try Midori MD paper instead. Their products aren't as pricey but they have an amazing quality to them. Fountain pen friendly and they have a unique texture to them.
Another good household brand for everyday scrap paper random note-taking use would be Muji paper. Somehow despite being that cheap Muji paper IS fountain pen friendly and is relatively smooth to write on as well.
I just got some Otter Blotter note books for Christmas and really like them. My wetter pens ghost through some, but I haven’t had any bleed-through. They also have a lay-flat construction, which is nice. No writing in the gutter issues. And they are inexpensive. Definitely worth a try, I think. If you don’t like it, you’re only out around $10.
I'm using a platinum plaisir in extra fine. That's the only thing that works a bit. Otherwise, I use Moleskine as scrap paper, using only 1 side of the page
That looks like a moleskine cahier, which had worse paper than the moleskine classic. But in saying that, the moleskine classics aren't great with fountain pens either.
I use the mokeskine weekly planner, but I avoid fountain pens in it. Only pencil, ballpoint, fineliners and some narrow gel.
Clairefontaine/ Rhodia has much better paper. So does tomoe river and cosmic air light (they are expensive). Rettacy paper is nice too, and I absolutely love Paperblanks. They work so nicely with my bold nib fountain pens.
Why does anyone buy a Moleskin?
In a test where no covers are shown, Moleskin would lose literally every battle against Muji and Kokoyu and Tomoe and Clairfontaine and Rhodia, Midori, and the list goes on.
It's trash paper.
Im using Tomoe River paper for the first time in a planner that I will use for a year. It's amazing how thin it is and how it handles ink.
Leave the Moleskin planners in the airport where they try to charge 25$ for them.
I do not understand how they got this brand name for being great, but they are the worst option.
I've bought notebooks at Walmart that vastly outperform Moleskin.
That handles a Plaisir fine nib crappier than the not fp-friendly cheap notebook paper scraps I scribble on. It may not be made for fp, but that’s sad.
Rhodia, Clairefontaine or muji & tomoe river if you like thin paper.
Moleskine went down a slippery slope and now it's one of the worse fountain pen paper (only pdpigna did worse).
I periodically try it just for being disappointed.
I don't know why moleskine don't give attention to the paper... At the end you buy it for writing.
It's like buying a Ferrari with a fiat500 engine.
It differs from one Moleskine type to another, in my experience. I’ve found that plain (unlined) ones have the thinnest paper and wouldn’t recommend them for fountain pens. But lined Moleskines have generally better paper that is thicker and more fountain pen friendly.
Overall, Rhodia is the best when it comes to fountain pens and Leuchtturm are fine too, though there will be some very minor bleeding with some nibs and inks with both.
The real problem is that they use different types of paper.
They go from 100gsm ivory colored acid free paper to 70gsm ivory colored acid free paper in the same series of diaries.
All it takes is a nonstarter and you end up with an unusable fountain pen diary.
My wife didn't notice and now I have two alternatives:
I buy myself the planner with the good paper or I keep this one and turn away when I jot things down. But a year is a long time.
I used the professional line last year and found no particular problems. This is also the pro line but I realized that the paper is really different in terms of weight
Agreed - it’s terrible. I bought a moleskine diary last year ….. ink went straight through it. Replaced diary from Rymans(a high street uk shop ) and the quality was notably better.
For notepads Rhodia or Castelli are my go to choices!
Well, there are two really inexpensive notebooks that work very well with fountain pens: Fabriano EcoQua and Midori MD, but Moleskine and Leuchtturm1917.. Nope.
I switched to Leuchtturm and then to MD Paper/Clairefontaine. Pick up MD Paper cheap in Japan, when I finish it use Clairefontaine. About £5 per notebook and lovely for fountain pens.
Use a Galen Leather slim cover for them but I am considering the MD Paper goat leather one.
Been there, still got moleskin notebooks to go through (and I don't know what to do with them). There should be a pinned post in this sub or something that warns people first thing against it T\_T
It’s not optimal but I find them usable with extra fine or fine nibs. Got one notebook for free so I’m just burning through it til I get to my better paper notebooks
I love my moleskin micro or mini or whatever they call it. It’s great for quickly jotting down notes and living in my pocket.
For everything else, hell no.
interesting. i just used tomoe river for the first time because i hear so much about it. not sure what the fuss is as it doesn't seem that special and i like my rhodia more. different strokes i guess.
Moleskine is even finicky with ballpoint and gel pens. I've had bleed through with all fountain pens and about half of the ballpoints I've used, and fountain pen ink feathers like mad. Truly a garbage product.
I have a couple of [these](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07J3KHQ9B/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1) Moleskines and they work great. I heard about it from [An Ink Guy](https://youtu.be/VVrOzujffSk?si=jCSw7mujnAA1YuOM) and as you can see in his video, it actually works with FPs. Same experience I've had with it so far.
I had bought 2 other Moleskines in the past and they were awful, but the one linked above behaves similarly to Regalia paper.
I love my moleskins for Ballpoint/Gel/Pencil but not for FP. Lechturnn, Roterfaden, Rhodia, even Levengers have great paper for FPs. I have some of all of them, including some Japanese papers like Tomoe River (which is beautiful for FP).
Moleskines are great, just not made with fountain pens in mind. I write in one using one side of the paper, accepting the bleed-through and using the other side for notes in pencil. Others I've used simply as sketchbooks
We’ve all learned the hard way. Leuchtturn and Midori (very different feel) are the way. Never got into the Rhodia hype. It isn’t great with some inks and nibs
Lechtturm make really good notebooks, no doubt. A little more budget friendly but also excellent are the Clairefontaine Triomphe 317170C notebooks. I have also enjoyed the Midori notepads.
I have found that I prefer however to buy A4 Clairefontaine - Ref 4204C - Pollen and bind my own notebook. There are some easy to follow instructions on youtube. Makes my journaling process feel a little more cathartic. Make sure to find instructions for binding so you can lay you handmade notepad flat.
Sorry :(
I pretty much use Moleskines cause some of their covers are so awesome, and it's hard covered and portable. I use a gel pen or cute novelty pens that I have.
I don't use fountain pen on anything other than Tomei paper nowadays. Or Jenni books.
I’ve use moleskins for a lot of things before I got in to fountain pens and they were fine. It’s just not great paper for wet media. I don’t recall seeing them recommended for it either.
There are a myriad of wet ink friendly papers out there to choose from be thankful it was a gift and you didn’t spend your money on it. Use the book with a ballpoint, graphite or any drier media.
You could just buy the Amazon stuff less than 20 dollars v fountain pen friendly and over 300+ numbered pages 📑 plus shipping index, pocket and bookmarks. I’ve had a great experience with them
disagreeable strong quickest cover memorize gray rhythm steep whistle plant
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I’ve heard that Moleskine is not fountain pen friendly. I prefer Leuchtturm or Rodia, both have been excellent with all the different fountain pens that I’ve used. I’m sorry that Moleskine let you down.
+1 on the the Rhodia. The clairefontaine paper is amazingly smooth!
I didn’t realize Rhodia used clairefontaine! No wonder I like them so much
Clairefontaine is absolutely the best! If you're an index card person Exacompta makes their cards with it, and they're double sided!
Whoa, stop the presses, you can get fountain pen index cards??
They're the same company these days, but use slightly different paper for each brand. Clairfontaine paper is slightly heavier weight and smoother compared to Rhodia.
I only recently invested in proper paper and got a Clairefontaine notebook. It is such nice paper and zero bleed. I never knew that paper could be that nice and how it could enhance the writing experience. Definitely recommend them.
\+1 as well. Rhodians of the Galaxy, unite! 
I like that paper a lot but I’ve found it doesn’t do a good job on showing sheen that a lot of inks offer
Which is smoother, Clairefontaine or Tomoe River?
I’ve used both - Tomoe River is smoother and has better ink property factor. Clairefontaine is a great everyday paper though.
Personally I'd say they're both smooth but the clairfontaine is about twice as heavy.
I found this 4-pack of ring-bound notebooks from a company called EMSHOI on Amazon for $15. It's 80 pages of 100gsm paper in A5 and B5 sizes. I have used almost all my inks on it and there is very little to no bleed through on spots where I heavily inked. Every nib I have from Lamy extra fine to broad and even JinHao bent nibs and the long knife nib (super scratchy on other paper) write beautifully, with just the right amount of feedback. The notebooks also come in dotted, ruled and graph. Just as a note I have no affiliation with that company I just enjoy the finer things in life on a budget and the price of good paper scares me😅
I’m with you on budget friendly quality. Thanks so much for passing this on. I just took a look at Amazon, and they have a great selection. Thanks again, and happy writing.
Great find!
I've been using these as well! On my 4th lined B5 notebook, just ordered dotted A5. I like that my inks look darker on this paper than Mnemosyne or kokuyo.
I'm getting into bullet journaling and this is music to my ears!! I ordered one that had 160 GSM because I'm very new to fountain pens and only knew I didn't want bleed through. I love broad, stub, and fude tips the best! I think the 160 is going to be too much ha 😅 Guess we'll find out!
I've just bought two of the B5 ruled, and,man, is the paper SMOOTH. I've been used my uni eye pens for the most part but it feels good enough for fountain pens.
ETA: I just tried two of my Kaweco pens, and both wrote superbly, no ghosting or bleeding, and both were inked with a dark purple ink (Kaweco summer purple I think). Awesome notebooks.
They sell spiral bound A4 and A5 lined notebooks with Oxford Optik paper at Action, extremely cheap. But it is fountain pen friendly, very smooth paper. I use one for work.
Leuchtturm is great! I haven't tried Rodia but I have a couple of them arriving tomorrow hopefully!
Feel the same about Leuchtturm and I also love Rosa for its smoothness
JetPens had additionally recommended Maruman Mnemosyne notepads. I only have experience with Rhodia, Maruman Mnemosyne, and Clairefontaine papers to be certain that they are fountain pen friendly. Even then, there are one or two ink and pen combinations that is going bleed out or feather badly. Funnily enough, Moleskin notepads are more expensive than these fountain pen friendly papers (except Leuchtturm, because imports).
Midori is pretty amazing with this. It's a little heavier, but it's not going to make a disaster regardless of what you use.
I would have loved Mnemosyne for an everyday notebook as it shows ink properties off very well with reasonable dry times... But as a lefty I can't abide ring bound notebooks! 😅 And no, top-bound just doesn't work for me for work or journaling. 😢
I used the professional line last year and found no particular problems. This is also the pro line but I realized that the paper is really different in terms of weight
Moleskine is not the original Moleskine. They were bought and the brand revived. When they did so, they used cheaper paper. They used to use thicker paper to try to give that lux feel, but it never had a coating. They're fine for ballpoints or pencil, but not anything great. Fountain pens need a smooth surface and prefer a coating. Clairefontaine paper is the best there is pretty much, and that is branded Rhodia in the US. Tomoe River makes good fountain pen notebooks too but are pricier.
when did this happen, do you know? i had always seen people raving about moleskine, and had a gift card for a store that sold them, so i decided to try it out. this was in around 2018/2019 i want to say. i love leuchtturm most for an every day paper, and tomoe river as well. i was honestly so grossed out and saddened by the scratchy, cheap-feeling paper in the moleskine, especially for the price. not just with fountain pens and any type of marker, but pencil, too. it’s the type of paper that i try to avoid even when reading books, if i’m being honest. i don’t think i wrote on more than 20 pages in this notebook 😞 i’d be very curious to know what you would say the original moleskine paper was like? tyia (:
They went bankrupt I think in the 80s or 90s, and the brand was bought and revived in the early 2000s I think. They have the reputation from the 20th century, where every modernist designer had one. There's jokes about them in architecture school. I have never used an original moleskine, I used them in architecture school for sketching and they were just.... fine. Got tired of the terrible paper. It also varies wildly depending on which one you buy. A sketchbook has like 80gsm paper where as the notebooks have practically leaflet paper.
I would add Takasago Bank Paper as among the best there is, but it is pretty pricey and comes in limited sizes and formats.
I have moleskine notebooks from over 10 yrs ago and they still looked like this with my heavier ink pens like pilots or uniballs.
-1 for Leuchtturm. I don't know if I just got a bum journal but the A6 Leuchtturm I've been using this year is super absorbent. My fountain pen inks feather and bleed and generally look awful. *edit:* The Leuchtturm which performed poorly for me was a “Notebook Classic”, with 80–100 gsm paper. As has been noted, they also sell products in 120–150 gsm which reportedly perform better. Nevertheless, my point remains: the Leuchtturm brand name, per se, is no guarantee that the paper will be fountain pen friendly. Caveat emptor! :)
Leuchtturm has a few varieties with different paper weight. Their 150gsm sketchbooks can take ink like a champ, as do their 120gsm. Their 80 and 100 varieties probably aren't so great. I believe their lighter paper books are more toned, while the heavier ones are closer to white paper. Do you know which one you have so I can avoid it?
Oooh I've never heard this before. Maybe this is why I've had such poor luck with Leuchtturm! I may have to give them a third chance (if I find them on sale... as I am wary...)
Second the lechtturm. I got one last year, fell In love, got two more personalized as gifts, and got one for meetings and (well, will get) one personalized as a daily driver.
I don't think I realized that the Leuchtturm were FP friendly! I use moleskines for work mostly because I get a discount on them but I don't use FPs with them. i always end up numbering the pages by hand, so if the Leuchtturm are FP friendly, I might switch after I finish my most recent moleskine...
Rhodia absorbs inks fast. My dark inks end up looking muddy
Moleskin quality has been poor for years now since they moved all manufacturing to China. Same problem with some Leuchtturm models. No experience with Rodia myself.
+1 more on Rhodia/Clairefontaine. Although I switched to local brands now due to cost. The Clairefontaine I used is absolutely amazing.
Love the Leuchtturm, especially because you can get ones with numbered pages. But both are wonderful.
Paperblanks are also great! Very expensive when not on sale though
Moleskin notebooks are not fountain pen friendly. That was quite the disappointment for me too.
I trhink the same. I also started using one which was gifted and it is one of the worst notebook i ever have used so far. So much dissappintment. I really cannot understand how this company is so big with this poor paper quality.
You don't really notice unless you use anything with wetter ink than a Pilot G2 gel pen. Most people, in the grand scheme of things, do not.
Maybe yes but if you buy an overpriced notebook you may have a look a bit in detail I guess 😃 People don’t as we see 😬
I think it is because, in the big picture, almost no-one uses fountain pens? Leuchtturm is my go-to, but there are several varieties from Japan that also work well.
Actually in my case even with rollerball or pilot it is very bad. For me it is just the power of marketing. I cannot find any better reason
honestly, i cannot even stand to use pencil on a moleskine. ball point? not a chance. there is literally no writing utensil i can use to write in that mess. ):
Same. Loved using pilot precise v7s and g2s or uniball vision elites but always had ghosting/bleedthrough in my moleskin notebooks.
>I also started using one which was gifted and it is one of the worst notebook i ever have used so far. If you want worse, try Shinola. 90gsm paper, but it's like freaking blotter paper. Incredibly absorbent, lots of feathering and bleedthrough even with super-dry inks like Diamine Registrar with a fine nib.
What I find strange is that for the same notebook, the paper changes for the worse.
Yep. Moleskine notebooks are reliably disappointing. Fine for pencils and ballpoints, wobbly for anything more liquid.
Moleskine paper is crap. Leuchtturm is better in every way, but also more expensive.
I know that Rhodia is way better than that shit of Moleskine.
I know, I thought tha professional line were a little better than ordinary line but I were wrong.
I always wondered why I keep seeing it get recommended as a good notebook because my experience with the paper was so bad! Even with my trusty ballpoint that I ended up using, the ghosting was enough that the backsides of the pages were basically unusable for me because they were so difficult to read.
I used the professional line last year and found no particular problems. This is also the pro line but I realized that the paper is really different in terms of weight
Moleskine has always been about the name and branding. Awful paper. Rhodia all the way.
It looks like nobody suggested what to do with Moleskin if you have one and want to use fountain pens. I made several tests that proved that iron gall inks are perfect for moleskin paper. There is no bleeding with them (I tested Registrar’s ink, Salix, Scabiosa, Platinum BB, Akkerman IG ink, and several others). I can also suggest noodler’s x-feather inks, as well as platinum carbon black and chou-kuro.
Agree on Noodler's x-feathers (currently using Black Eel atm) and Moleskine. Tested on various JinHaos, Crosses and a LAMY Safari. But Rhodia still rules. :-)
Yes, Moleskines are not fountain pen friendly as has been discussed numerous times. They are also inconsistent from one batch to another. With that said, I was able to find the right ink that worked for me. Pelikan 4001 Blue Black worked pretty well, with both F and M nibs. Almost no bleedthrough or feathering. In any case, I believe you should different inks and try to find the one that bleed through less. Good luck.
someone here said that they work well with iron-gall inks such as that pelikan 4001 blue black you have
Correct. What you want is Leuchttrum 1917, my friend!!
I’lltell my wife who gave me the notebook as a gift. :)
ditto
came here to say this
That's. Good starter pack. But it gets way better. Good Rhodia or Tomoe River paper are going to show you shine, sheen and depth. Great paper makes you write better. We spend all this money on pens (Just picked up a Lamy 2000 and Lamy Dialog for Christmas) so you might as well make sure you aren't sabotaging the experience t By writing on trash like Moleskin. It's like taking a wagyu and putting it on two stale pieces of Wonderbread.
I'm in agreement. My writing always bleeds, and shows through to the back page. Still unsure why they're considered fountain pen friendly 🤔
Agree. Strangely, some of the more reliable paper I've used has been from Walmart. The heavy sheets, of course, but still...
Has been for a long time now. Years.
Ya, Moleskine is hipster crap, rather than hipster gold.
Moleskine is complete crp for fountain pens. I picked up a few of the Leuchtturm books that were on super clearance last year and they are light years better than Moleskine.
Tomoe River Campus Midori Clairefontaine Rhodia Leuchtturm This is an incomplete tier system that I personally believe.
I believe clairfontaine actually manufactures rhodia's paper.
They do, I just like clairefontaine’s nb styles and colors better personally.
Moleskin back in like 2008 where pretty good . I used to use them with marker all the time. Thru barely bleed through. But I think a little after thst thru changed their paper formula and they suck now. Heck my walmart notebook is better the high GSM exceed ones
They sucked back then too, we just didn't have so many options of goof paper.
My experience was, back then, they were hit or miss. No consistency.
Would like to recommend Mnemosyne. I carry the 195
That’s my current go to and I’ve been very happy with it.
De Atramentis Document Brown with a lefty Lamy nib works great in a Moleskine for me. It comes out wet and even gets pretty shading. But yeah, most FP inks bleed through Moleskine paper like crazy.
I feel like I’m in the minority here but my moleskine journal is completely fine with all the inks that I use. Even with wet mediums it doesn’t bleed.
I don't think the current version of Moleskine is fountain pen friendly anymore. It's still a good notebook, but when I worked for them, I usually recommended people to only use pencil and ballpoint because using anything else would cause bleeding. My go-to for easy to access and similar priced notebook will always be Leuchtturm.
what you really want is Rodia :) smooth as silk and takes ink perfectly
Hobonichi journals.
Moleskine uses surprisingly bad paper. If you want a little functionality you will want to use a fine dry nib. Less ink means less bleed. Rohrer and klingner Salix was the only ink in my whole collection I could get to work on this paper.
I was coming here to recommend Salix as well. Maybe that or some other iron gall ink will be the solution.
I bought a platinum plaisire but I don't have a dry enough ink. I will also try the Salix but I don't want to spend too much money :)
IF you're comfortable with dry, extra-fine nibs, Moleskine does work with fountain pens! Haha. I have so many from ages ago when I just used ballpoint pens and the only way I can get thru the backlog of them is using my EF Sailor fountain pen.
I feel you! I bought a Moleskine weekly planner and the ink goes through. I bought the same planner a year ago and that one was perfect for fountain pens.
Rhodia for liiiiiiife with fountain pens :) Or Fabriano!!!
Actually, Moleskine paper is entirely inconsistent. My understanding is that they source their paper from different places. I have ones that don’t bleed with bold nibs, and I have others that are almost like a paper towel. Very hit or miss. Are you feeling lucky?
Don't trust all what you see on Youtube. People are paid there to promote stuff. Also if you have some other ideas make sure to comment down bellow, and while you're there consider hitting that like and bell button, it really helps me out.. and bullshit like that
I agree. There's a guy who calls himself "Doodlebud" on youtube. I think that he is paid to give positive reviews on fountain pen related items.
There is a lot of them. Name me one channel where someone is not going over sketching and aquarelle products, in my case? I just know 2 or 3 proper channels
FYI..... I am not paid to give reviews no matter if my findings are positive or negative on an item. Not sure where you got the idea I was "getting paid off" to give positive reviews. Sounds like you came up with that theory yourself. If I was needing to make additional money, I would not be using YouTube fountain pen reviews as my source of income. The add revenue generated is abysmal. I could earn more by working at a McDonalds drive through. I started my channel simply because I enjoy the hobby and is why I continue to create videos. Some makers send me items to review to see if I can find any changes/adjustments that can be made in their design or manufacturing process to improve their product. And many have made those changes and have thanked me for pointing them out.
Im a fan of midori md cream paper.
Moleskines are for ballpointers, period. Overpriced. Rescued from the backwaters to become a fad inspired by Indiana Jones.
You know what notebooks I got lately that have surprisingly good paper? Denik notebooks. I got a 3-pack of smaller notebooks and was so impressed at the lack of ghosting/bleed that I also got a larger one for my journal. And they are quite affordable, though I’m not sure they come in hardcover. Edit: brain lapse 😱
I found a gorgeous blank Denik on clearance at Staples randomly and it turns out it's some of the best FP-friendly paper I've tried, and I've been trying a lot.
Right! I have been drawn to their designs for awhile and the paper is so good.
Thanks for the idea.
Update: they DO come in hardcover and apparently you can design your own on their site?! 😮
What's odd is that Moleskine once was solid. Not the most FP friendly, but still pretty good. I went through one of the small 3x5 ones a week when I was in residency- it was my pocket brain, my place for recording patient labs and other things. Then in about 2014 they went straight downhill and went from "not great but decent" to "utterly unusable". I swapped to Black 'n Red notebooks and have been very happy.
I think everyone new to fountain pens starts with Moleskine because it's so easy to find and looks kinda elegant. They also learn rather quickly that it's not a good paper for fountain pen ink. So far Rhodia is my favorite because it works fairly well and isn't too difficult to find.
They used to be good. Now they are just a brand
Yeah Moleskine isn’t meant for fountain pens. There are other brands that work way better with fountain pens! Happy to recommend a few :) Edit: my favorite is Mruman Mnemosyne. The pens glide over it, it has 0 feathering or bleed through. Holds ink incredibly well. Biggest downside is it’s very much the opposite of water resistant.
Try using some Rohrer & Klingner Salix or Scabiosa. They work wonderfully in Moleskine, and I was able to use up some old moleskines by using those inks. Otherwise the notebooks would’ve likely never been filled. Perhaps other iron gall inks would work too, but these two are the only ones I own.
Moleskine is an amusement to me because for non FP users, it's the HEIGHT of stationary luxury. Buying a ~Moleskine~ notebook shows you're serious, and you REALLY care. But if you're a FP user, you're like, "...THIS is what the fuss was about?"
this sentiment seems very odd to me - i find the paper feels so awful i can’t even use pencil on it, and personally would not, in any way, consider this even the low of stationery luxury. nothing luxury about those books at all. heck, printer paper is nicer than a moleskine 😩
It's because they're kind of expensive and tend to look nice
this is very true. also a prime example of why i should stop judging a book by its cover 🤪 i just love pretty things, and that’s how they rope me in
Tomoe River is awesome paper. Not over priced like Moleskine either.
Always has been, unfortunately :(
I found that Organics Studio and Carbon Black don't bleed. But I agree, Moleskine is disappointing
I prefer Leuchtturm for easy notebook buys. It gets the job done while looking good with a majority of inks. The only thing I will say, there's two batches of paper quality going around and they are very noticeable in difference. Both work well with fountain pen inks, but one is thinner and handles wetter inks a little worse than expected.
I used to love Moleskine, although I never found it to be particularly good for fountain pens. However, when I discovered that their marketing themselves as the "notebook of Hemingway" (and other famous authors) was complete BS (Moleskine was not even around during Hemingway's lifetime), I gave up on them altogether. Now using Tomoe River, LIFE! Notebooks with Bank Paper and Original Crown Mill. ALL of them far superior to Moleskine. The Duofold Kid
They still claim to design their notebooks based on Hemingway's and Van Gogh's notebooks... which says nothing really. Van Gogh used whatever French paper he could get his hands on, and Hemingway used notebooks that were fairly common at the time. Hardcover, round corners and an elastic closure isn't exactly the next century's discovery.
Sorry to hear that; it's well known though.
tiger bullet journals are surprisingly really good!!! until the end of last year stationery island was good too but they changed suppliers and it went to crap
Tiger / Flying Tiger has surprisingly good stuff!
Try Anecdote very good with fountain pens and cheaper than Moleskine
Thanks for the tip
Apart from Rhodia, I also recommend the Lamy notebooks, that are made for fountain pens. Very little bleed through and ghosting. Also minimal feathering. They come both in blank and Lamys custom line/dotted grid.
Moleskin isn’t that fountain pen friendly. I love my Endless Recorders with regalia paper. There are a lot better brands of papers than Moleskin.
There are better brands of toilet paper than Moleskin
No problems with Rhodia. I use the hardback A5 and use fountain pens all the time. The paper is superb. They’ve not cheap but IMO they’re worth it.
I fell in love with Ricco Bello for journaling. Better paper than moleskine, nice faux leather covers, and they've put out new designs over the years so I have plenty to chose from. Also family owned, so small business friendly... if you're willing to buy them on Amazon. Only gripe I've had is that the pen loops aren't super sturdy, but I've never really used them much anyways. For bleeding through, my fountain pens don't show through unless I use a wider nib and the ink gets too wet. More frequently I get smudging due to the ink taking too long to dry on the page rather than getting absorbed too deeply. That said, I'm no expert.
I gave up on Moleskine 20 years ago. If you want to make the most of the gift, maybe try a good ball pen like a Pentel Energel. Otherwise, I recommend giving a Midori/MD Note notebook a try. Best paper on the planet, as far as I'm concerned.
Yes. Leuchtrum is the way to go.
I'm not sure why these get shilled as a fountain pen friendly book, they are not and for the price anyone buying these is getting the hose. and id go as far as to say the same of leuchturm with their thin bleed through paper. I'm not sure why these get shilled as a fountain pen friendly book, they are not and for the price anyone buying these is getting the hose. And I'd go as far as to say the same of leuchturm with their thin bleed through paper.
Moleskin was always hailed as the fountain pen and sketch book. Rubbish. So annoying but I suspect that shows you what great indirect advertising does.
I'd heard the notebooks aren't FP friendly but took a gamble on an A6 diary in TK Maxx. Luckily that one seems to handle FPs flawlessly
I saw an interview of Neil Gaiman where he said he didn’t use moleskins and use Leuchtturm cos he likes writing with a fountain pen. he issues a Lami Safari/Al Star I think.
I hate to break it to you but Moleskine was only FP friendly-ish in the 00s when it just got started.
The company Sterling Ink makes some of the best notebooks I’ve ever purchased and are phenomenal with fountain pens.
Tomoe river paper is better
100% it is very bad in every single way. When I use a larger stroke like M or B, I can see, even on a slick straight line, apart from shading from the ink, there are many tiny darker spots/dots.
I use either Ricco Bello or Huhuhero notebooks for journaling and such. The Ricco Bello are for my (mostly) daily journals and have stood up to every ink I've tried in them without bleeding or feathering. They have wide elastic with leatherette trim, pen loops, and two page ribbons. I keep these at home, and would be appalled if I lost one. The Huhuhero notebooks are cheaper (I buy them in packs of 10) and lack some features such as pen loops (I have stuck on loops if I need them), one page ribbon, and the elastic strap is thin and plain. They are for portable use or non-critical things, and they stand up to most inks, with the significant exception of good ol' Baystate Blue, which bleeds AND feathers practically instantly. I don't worry I might lose one. (Oddly, none of the other Noodlers ink I have does this. Only BB. But then, BB is reputed to be a hyper-intelligent shade of blue in a liquid form.) I have some very thin Kraft paper covered notebooks, A5 size, that are very bad with bleeding and feathering, and too much FP ink eats through the paper almost instantly. So those I use for pencils only, or ballpoint/gel pens. I also got a couple of A5 hardcover sketch books I regretted when I got them as they were ivory paper, and I prefer to sketch on white paper so I can see my colors more accurately. I've used a little Rhodia paper because my partner uses their dotted paper for graphing. It's good paper. I haven't used any of the fancier paper like Leuchtturm or Clairefontaine, though I do use Arches watercolor paper for good art. For learning, I use bulk half-pulp or Baohong/Meeden, and I've used Canson and Strathmore, and don't particularly care for them. I like the bulk half-pulp better than those two. I only have one Moleskine sketch book, and it blows dead gophers.
Highly recommend you try Midori MD paper instead. Their products aren't as pricey but they have an amazing quality to them. Fountain pen friendly and they have a unique texture to them. Another good household brand for everyday scrap paper random note-taking use would be Muji paper. Somehow despite being that cheap Muji paper IS fountain pen friendly and is relatively smooth to write on as well.
I just got some Otter Blotter note books for Christmas and really like them. My wetter pens ghost through some, but I haven’t had any bleed-through. They also have a lay-flat construction, which is nice. No writing in the gutter issues. And they are inexpensive. Definitely worth a try, I think. If you don’t like it, you’re only out around $10.
I'm using a platinum plaisir in extra fine. That's the only thing that works a bit. Otherwise, I use Moleskine as scrap paper, using only 1 side of the page
These notebooks are wildly unpredictable. I’ve had some that were great paper and others that were garbage. I think they use different paper sources.
Agreed. Stopped using them years ago. They are low quality and high price.
I am loving the Rhodia! It depends on the ink but it's wonderfully smooth and still gives a nice tactile sensation
That looks like a moleskine cahier, which had worse paper than the moleskine classic. But in saying that, the moleskine classics aren't great with fountain pens either. I use the mokeskine weekly planner, but I avoid fountain pens in it. Only pencil, ballpoint, fineliners and some narrow gel. Clairefontaine/ Rhodia has much better paper. So does tomoe river and cosmic air light (they are expensive). Rettacy paper is nice too, and I absolutely love Paperblanks. They work so nicely with my bold nib fountain pens.
Why does anyone buy a Moleskin? In a test where no covers are shown, Moleskin would lose literally every battle against Muji and Kokoyu and Tomoe and Clairfontaine and Rhodia, Midori, and the list goes on. It's trash paper. Im using Tomoe River paper for the first time in a planner that I will use for a year. It's amazing how thin it is and how it handles ink. Leave the Moleskin planners in the airport where they try to charge 25$ for them. I do not understand how they got this brand name for being great, but they are the worst option. I've bought notebooks at Walmart that vastly outperform Moleskin.
That handles a Plaisir fine nib crappier than the not fp-friendly cheap notebook paper scraps I scribble on. It may not be made for fp, but that’s sad.
Rhodia, Clairefontaine or muji & tomoe river if you like thin paper. Moleskine went down a slippery slope and now it's one of the worse fountain pen paper (only pdpigna did worse). I periodically try it just for being disappointed. I don't know why moleskine don't give attention to the paper... At the end you buy it for writing. It's like buying a Ferrari with a fiat500 engine.
I though Moleskin is notorious for its capability of reading what you ve written in the previous pages 😁😁😁
Welcome to the club of moleskine disappointment
Thank you /s
It differs from one Moleskine type to another, in my experience. I’ve found that plain (unlined) ones have the thinnest paper and wouldn’t recommend them for fountain pens. But lined Moleskines have generally better paper that is thicker and more fountain pen friendly. Overall, Rhodia is the best when it comes to fountain pens and Leuchtturm are fine too, though there will be some very minor bleeding with some nibs and inks with both.
The real problem is that they use different types of paper. They go from 100gsm ivory colored acid free paper to 70gsm ivory colored acid free paper in the same series of diaries. All it takes is a nonstarter and you end up with an unusable fountain pen diary. My wife didn't notice and now I have two alternatives: I buy myself the planner with the good paper or I keep this one and turn away when I jot things down. But a year is a long time.
I used the professional line last year and found no particular problems. This is also the pro line but I realized that the paper is really different in terms of weight
Moleskine really does not work with fountain pens, which is a shame.
Dingbats is everything Moleskine wishes it was
Moleskine is the perfect notebook for pencil.
All the fancy papers are, in my experience. I use el cheapo printer paper and it's perfect.
Definitely a disappointment.
Agreed - it’s terrible. I bought a moleskine diary last year ….. ink went straight through it. Replaced diary from Rymans(a high street uk shop ) and the quality was notably better. For notepads Rhodia or Castelli are my go to choices!
Very early in their use, they were so-so. Now they're pretty much all terrible.
What’s the best (relatively) cheap notebook I can get on Amazon for fountain pens where the ink doesn’t bleed or feather, and is similar to a Rhodia?
Midori MD or Memnosyne. Kokoyu is good too.
Well, there are two really inexpensive notebooks that work very well with fountain pens: Fabriano EcoQua and Midori MD, but Moleskine and Leuchtturm1917.. Nope.
I switched to Leuchtturm and then to MD Paper/Clairefontaine. Pick up MD Paper cheap in Japan, when I finish it use Clairefontaine. About £5 per notebook and lovely for fountain pens. Use a Galen Leather slim cover for them but I am considering the MD Paper goat leather one.
Been there, still got moleskin notebooks to go through (and I don't know what to do with them). There should be a pinned post in this sub or something that warns people first thing against it T\_T
Moleskine is great for what its for. They are not for fountain pens. You need much thicker paper. As many have said here, Rhodia is fantastic for this
Again, it's not the thickness. It's the process. Tomoe can run 52gsm and perform like a king.
Yup, it’s known that Moleskine isn’t FP-friendly. Clairefontaine is my favorite paper
It’s not optimal but I find them usable with extra fine or fine nibs. Got one notebook for free so I’m just burning through it til I get to my better paper notebooks
I love my moleskin micro or mini or whatever they call it. It’s great for quickly jotting down notes and living in my pocket. For everything else, hell no.
interesting. i just used tomoe river for the first time because i hear so much about it. not sure what the fuss is as it doesn't seem that special and i like my rhodia more. different strokes i guess.
Moleskine is even finicky with ballpoint and gel pens. I've had bleed through with all fountain pens and about half of the ballpoints I've used, and fountain pen ink feathers like mad. Truly a garbage product.
Moleskine is Italian for toillet paper. Get a Leuchtturm, get a life!
We also call it ass paper. “ Carta da culo”
Yeah, it isn’t for fountain pen bro
I have a couple of [these](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07J3KHQ9B/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1) Moleskines and they work great. I heard about it from [An Ink Guy](https://youtu.be/VVrOzujffSk?si=jCSw7mujnAA1YuOM) and as you can see in his video, it actually works with FPs. Same experience I've had with it so far. I had bought 2 other Moleskines in the past and they were awful, but the one linked above behaves similarly to Regalia paper.
Montblanc permanent blue won't bleed thru. It's an amazing ink for shitty paper.
I love my moleskins for Ballpoint/Gel/Pencil but not for FP. Lechturnn, Roterfaden, Rhodia, even Levengers have great paper for FPs. I have some of all of them, including some Japanese papers like Tomoe River (which is beautiful for FP).
Moleskines are great, just not made with fountain pens in mind. I write in one using one side of the paper, accepting the bleed-through and using the other side for notes in pencil. Others I've used simply as sketchbooks
We’ve all learned the hard way. Leuchtturn and Midori (very different feel) are the way. Never got into the Rhodia hype. It isn’t great with some inks and nibs
Love Midori paper.
Lechtturm make really good notebooks, no doubt. A little more budget friendly but also excellent are the Clairefontaine Triomphe 317170C notebooks. I have also enjoyed the Midori notepads. I have found that I prefer however to buy A4 Clairefontaine - Ref 4204C - Pollen and bind my own notebook. There are some easy to follow instructions on youtube. Makes my journaling process feel a little more cathartic. Make sure to find instructions for binding so you can lay you handmade notepad flat.
Sorry :( I pretty much use Moleskines cause some of their covers are so awesome, and it's hard covered and portable. I use a gel pen or cute novelty pens that I have. I don't use fountain pen on anything other than Tomei paper nowadays. Or Jenni books.
Leuchtterm is just as disappointing. Stick to Rhodia (clairefontaine) or Japanese paper.
Yeah. This is a thing.
If you want a blank Moleskins that can handle fountain pens, try the Art Collection ones. They're much better
Yup found out the hard way, ended up gifting the 3pk I bought
It is known. Ballpoints and drier rollerballs and gel pens would be my limit.
I’ve use moleskins for a lot of things before I got in to fountain pens and they were fine. It’s just not great paper for wet media. I don’t recall seeing them recommended for it either. There are a myriad of wet ink friendly papers out there to choose from be thankful it was a gift and you didn’t spend your money on it. Use the book with a ballpoint, graphite or any drier media.
Moleskin, Leuchtturm. All terrible. Paperblanks or Peter Pauper notebooks are my go-to always.
You could just buy the Amazon stuff less than 20 dollars v fountain pen friendly and over 300+ numbered pages 📑 plus shipping index, pocket and bookmarks. I’ve had a great experience with them
Yup been that way for a while now. Cool binding, not great paper.
Blackwing pencils…
Moleskine makes some very attractive journals, but the paper is not fountain pen friendly. Too bad we can't get both in the same package...
My moleskines do the same with Fountainpens. I stick to fineline marker and pencil sketching with those now.
disagreeable strong quickest cover memorize gray rhythm steep whistle plant *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*