Fountain Pen Paper reviews from Reddit
Summary
We analyzed 180 Reddit reviews across 5 subreddits and 26 posts to rank the best Fountain Pen Paper brands recommended by redditors, including communities like r/fountainpens, r/Calligraphy, r/stationery, r/bookbinding, r/pens. Top-rated brands include Rhodia (4.4/5), Midori (4.5/5), HP (3.9/5).
Stats
Reviews180
Subreddits5
Posts26
Brands77
Products62
180 reviews from
and
By Brand
/By Product
#1
Rhodia
4.4
(15)
"Clairefontaine, Rhodia, Tomoe River 52, Hobonichi Techo, HP Premium 32."
"Clairefontaine or Rhodia"
"Clairfontaine and Rhodia have both been excellent for me."
"Seconding clairefontaine/rhodia, but when you're ready to upgrade and want to dump a LOT of watercolour ink or FP ink (eg. in a Pilot Parallel), go for watercolour paper eg. Baohong, Acquarello, Arches, Canson."
"I've had good results on Rhodia paper with all the inks I have."
"They love Rhodia the most"
"Rhodia is a bit cheaper to begin with."
"Rhodia paper"
"Usually Rhodia and Optik paper show sheen very well."
"Rhodia paper always works quite nicely for me in terms of making inks sheen."
#2
Midori
4.5
(14)
"My favorite is Midori MD"
"Midori MD and Apica are my favorites."
"Midori MD & Iroful,"
"Midori, Tomoe River, and Maruman Mnemosyne are my favs."
"IMO, Midori MD and Tomoe River Paper are the best."
"Cotton paper Midori MD or any other good brand."
"Midori MD is my favorite paper but it's kind of costly."
"Midori is very thin and very bleed resistant."
"Midori MD kills some ink colors, because it's ivory and some inks look very pale on it. But it's great for technical drawings."
"My personal favorite is Midori MD. I like the texture it has more"
#3
HP
3.9
(14)
"Can you get HP 32lb Premium LaserJet? It is great for FP."
"HP 32 is unreal good paper!"
"I just got a ream of HP Premium 32; great paper to write on."
"The HP 32 is my standard. I think it's average $10 for a team of 500. Very thick paper though."
"HP Premium 32lb is $11.40 with free shipping if you have Prime from Amazon"
"They work pretty well."
"It's much better and much cheaper."
"Is pretty cheap, and is fountain pen friendly."
"I prefer 24lb HP Laserjet paper."
"You can get HP 32lb paper, print lines on them and hole punch them."
#4
Kokuyo
4.5
(12)
"Another strong vote for anything by Kokuyo who make Campus!"
"I love the bright white paper so much."
"I really like using Kokuyo's Campus line of notebooks with my fountain pens for taking notes."
"Kokuyo and Maruman are my everyday paper. But Clairefontaine Rhodia and Legendary original Tomoe river are good too."
"Kokoyu even had US letter size if you don’t want A4."
"I love Kokuyo Campus paper."
"Campus has a really good rep"
"I used campus and stalogy."
"Shout out to Kokuyo Campus, which is quite affordable."
"Kokuyo and Maruman have nice stuff I'm told..."
#5
Tomoe River
5.0
(10)
"Clairefontaine, Rhodia, Tomoe River 52, Hobonichi Techo, HP Premium 32."
"My favorite paper right now is Tomoe River 52gsm."
"Tomoe River is my favourite: it's very thin but holds inks extremely well."
"My favorite for years has been TRP, the original of course."
"My favorite paper is Tomoe River 52gsm."
"When you are more practised, you might want to try Tomoe River paper. It's lovely, but expensive for practising on."
"Tomoe River 52 g/m2 is amazing and top-rated for use with fountain pens. I love it for Calligraphy."
"Tomoe River, It's expensive per sheet, very thin and delicate..."
"Tomoe River is my favorite."
"In my experience: Tomoe River..."
#6
Clairefontaine
4.5
(11)
"Clairefontaine, Rhodia, Tomoe River 52, Hobonichi Techo, HP Premium 32."
"Clairefontaine or Rhodia"
"I'm very partial to Clairefontaine."
"Clairfontaine and Rhodia have both been excellent for me."
"Clairefontaine is my personal favourite. Lots of people swear by Midori MD. Rhodia is also very good. Tomoe River had a great reputation."
"Seconding clairefontaine/rhodia, but when you're ready to upgrade and want to dump a LOT of watercolour ink or FP ink (eg. in a Pilot Parallel), go for watercolour paper eg. Baohong, Acquarello, Arches, Canson."
"Haven't tried the clairefountain yet, but did try the iroful and OMG, IT IS AMAZING."
"I get plenty of shimmer from Diamine inks even with fine nibs on Clairefontaine."
"Might be worth trying Life (bit toothier), Rhodia, Clairefontaine..."
"I usually use Clairefontaine at school for when I need lines..."
#7
Oxford
4.5
(8)
"I also recommend Oxford and their Optik Paper!"
"I LOVE Oxford Optik."
"My go to is Oxford Optik notebooks."
"Oxford paper is excellent."
"Oxford Optik is my favourite"
"Oxford brand notebooks are good with FP and very reasonably priced."
"I especially like the spiral bound Campus pads."
#8
Iroful
4.9
(7)
"I've tested a lot of papers, and my personal top 5 are: 4. Iroful"
"Midori MD & Iroful,"
"Iroful and OMG, IT IS AMAZING. The sheen is beautiful."
"Iroful has the best sheening I've found. I like it better than Clair Fontaine."
"My top 3:
- Iroful"
"Another vote for Iroful: it’s also heavier than TR, which is a good thing for a letter"
"Iroful is my favorite for showing color and sheen."
#9
Maruman
4.5
(4)
"I've tested a lot of papers, and my personal top 5 are: 3. Maruman Mnemosyne"
"My personal favorite is maruman paper, but rhodia and midori are also great choices."
"Maruman Mnemosyne Take a Note Planner Oasis"
"Kokuyo and Maruman have nice stuff I'm told..."
#10
Muji
3.8
(4)
"Muji has some affordable notebooks with fp friendly paper in them"
"I like Muji A4 grid paper."
"Muji paper comes in both A5 and B5."
"Muji have some usable paper for FPs."
#11
JetPens
4.3
(3)
"When it comes down to using just one, Jetpens is really all I need."
"For paper I prefer JetPens - good prices, lots of options, and fast shipping."
"I personally order from jetpens or yoseka stationary since they carry a lot of Japanese brands that I like."
#12
Midori MD
4.3
(3)
"IMO Midori MD paper is the best fountain pen friendly paper for all nib sizes."
"I think midori md is best but its expensive."
"Midori MD is pretty good and accessible."
#13
Leuchtturm
4.3
(3)
"I use the 120G series with my fountain pens all the time."
"I've tested a lot of papers, and my personal top 5 are: 5. Leuchterm 120g"
"I prefer Leuchtturm paper for my Pilots pens inked with Iroshizuku."
#14
Apica
4.0
(3)
"Midori MD and Apica are my favorites."
"Apica."
"I'm partial to Apica's notebooks..."
#15
Life
5.0
(2)
"I've tested a lot of papers, and my personal top 5 are: 1. Life Noble Note"
"I've tested a lot of papers, and my personal top 5 are: 2. Life L. Writing Paper"
#16
Tomoe
4.5
(2)
"Tomoe is great, as others have said..."
"Tomoe is the best, but Iroful is wonderful and less expensive."
#17
Maruman Mnemosyne
4.5
(2)
"I'm a hardcore Maruman Mnemosyne fan."
"In my experience: Maruman Mnemosyne..."
#18
Strathmore
4.5
(2)
"Strathmore 400 Series Drawing paper handles fountain pen inks amazingly well."
"The cheapest 100% cotton I like is Strathmore’s mixed media Visual Journal"
#19
Exceed
4.0
(2)
"I've had decent luck with the 'Exceed' brand. I wasn't expecting much, as I got it at a craft store. But it actually works pretty well."
"I have very good results with Exceed notebooks from Walmart."
#20
Brunnen
4.0
(2)
"Brunnen Briefblock is good."
"Actually the brand is Brunnen. Kieserblock is the name of the writing blocks, but they have more products."
#21
Stillman & Birns
5.0
(1)
"I’ve enjoyed all of the different Stillman & Birns options I’ve tried - Zeta, Nova Grey & Tan, and just swatched out my palette on the Delta."
#22
Nakabayashi
5.0
(1)
"Love this."
#23
Staples
5.0
(1)
"Staples recycled paper notebooks made from Sugarcane fibre (bagasse). Been using it for 15 years."
#24
Canson
5.0
(1)
"Canson Pen & Ink notebooks are my absolute favorite. They're unlined, bright white, and good thickness."
#25
Kieserblock
5.0
(1)
"Kieserblock paper is awesome."
#26
Wanderings
5.0
(1)
"I can wholeheartedly recommend Wanderings paper they use in their notebooks."
#27
Oxford Red 'n Black
5.0
(1)
"Oxford Red ‘n Black makes very good fountain pen friendly notebooks."
#28
Staples Arc
5.0
(1)
"It's not cheap but the Staples Arc brand disk binder paper is excellent for fountain pens."
#29
Stillman & Birn
5.0
(1)
"Stillman & Birn Beta (heavyweight white paper), Delta (Ivory version of Beta), and Epsilon (lightweight version of Beta) would all fit the bill."
#30
Reflex
5.0
(1)
"Reflex art paper is hands down the best you will find in terms of balancing performance as well as quality for money."
#31
Wonderland222
5.0
(1)
"This is my friend’s company. Best paper I have ever used. Wonderland222."
#32
Epsilon
5.0
(1)
"Epsilon paper as being a dream for fountain pens."
#33
Kokuyo and Maruman
5.0
(1)
"Kokuyo and maruman. buy 5 stacks of b5 100 sheets for $20 and ignore the rest of these people."
#34
Vietnam Made Paper
5.0
(1)
"Look for paper/notebooks made from Vietnam in the dollar store or Walmart. It was like tomoe river quality but at a higher gsm. No feathering, showed inks off very well, no bleed."
#35
TNPL
5.0
(1)
"Just buy TNPL 80 gsm copy paper, you will forget all."
#36
CultPens
5.0
(1)
"If you want to invest in a good amount of paper cultpens is hard to beat plus they ship fast to the USA."
#37
Sakae TP
5.0
(1)
"Sakae TP makes Tomoe River paper, and they offer both loose-leaf and a few notebooks."
#38
Yamamoto
5.0
(1)
"I love any paper done by Yamamota."
#39
Cosmo Air Light
5.0
(1)
"Cosmo air light will do color and sheen like tomoe."
#40
Tomoegawa
5.0
(1)
"Tomoegawa is the best paper for me..."
#41
Life Stationery
5.0
(1)
"My personal preference is for Life Stationery..."
#42
Pen and Gear
4.0
(1)
"Composition books on Amazon just make sure the paper is made in Vietnam. Vietnamese paper really shows sheening ink well and handles the extra ink from flex nibs."
#43
No-Name
4.0
(1)
"I can attest to the no-name Vietnam-made pads from Walgreens/CVS being surprisingly FP-friendly."
#44
Hobonichi
4.0
(1)
"Clairefontaine, Rhodia, Tomoe River 52, Hobonichi Techo, HP Premium 32."
#45
Luxor
4.0
(1)
"If you are in India you can go for luxor spiral notebooks, they are okay and you will see minimal bleeding/ghosting/feathering with EF, F or M nibs."
#46
Family Dollar
4.0
(1)
"Family Dollar stores carry spiral bound notebooks "Made in Korea" with UNICORNS on the cover - cheap! the paper used Is fountain pen friendly."
#47
CRENA
4.0
(1)
"CRENA Spark paper, for one."
#48
Office Depot
4.0
(1)
"For my everyday writing, I really like Office Depot Professional notepads (legal and the half size ones). NOT RECYCLED, NOT COLORED."
#49
Doane Paper
4.0
(1)
"Right now i'm using doane paper notebooks, because i like the notebook. the paper is good enough for fountain pen ink."
#50
Daiso
4.0
(1)
"Daiso's got loads of notebooks that are FP friendly. Look for the ones that say Made in Japan."
#51
Think Ink
4.0
(1)
"I have a Think Ink notebook - both Walmart (and available in Canada)."
#52
Herlitz
4.0
(1)
"My.book flex by herlitz is surprisingly good!"
#53
Dollar Store Paper
4.0
(1)
"Someone recently told me paper from the dollar store made in Vietnam works well."
#54
Threshold
4.0
(1)
"Target’s Threshold brand has some really decent moleskine-style journals with Vietnamese paper for like $7."
#55
Roaring Spring
4.0
(1)
"Roaring Spring Engineering Pad is fountain pen friendly."
#56
Flying Tiger
4.0
(1)
"I found the bullet journal from flying tiger, a small cheap gift shop in europe, to be fountain pen friendly!"
#57
Kunst & Papier
4.0
(1)
"I use Kunst & Papier. Astonishing notebooks but really hard to find."
#58
Leuchtturm1917
4.0
(1)
"Leuchtturm1917 120g hardcover, or illo XL sketchbook (180gsm)"
#59
Walmart
4.0
(1)
"These $1 notebooks from Walmart are excellent. They have Vietnamese paper that works fantastic with all of my pens."
#61
Zeta
4.0
(1)
"Seconding the Zeta. I haven't tried the others, but I'm using a Zeta right now for Inktober and it works pretty well."
#62
Bee Paper Company
4.0
(1)
"Bee paper is a bit sturdier for sure!!"
#63
Handbook Journal Co.
4.0
(1)
"Handbook Journal Co. or Bee Paper Company i find are nice for their value!"
#64
Emshoi
4.0
(1)
"I like Emshoi from Amazon. No, it's not fancy paper, but I journal daily and go through paper fast."
#65
ClassMate
4.0
(1)
"Maybe you should check out a Vietnam brand named ClassMate, I’ve 3 of them, pretty cheap, they show ink’s properties very well, especially sheening!"
#66
Wearingeul
4.0
(1)
"Wearingeul is great too, I think the ring binder formats, texture of the paper and the no feathering is perfect."
#67
Mead
4.0
(1)
"Check the cover to make sure it’s made in Vietnam."
#68
Pen+Gear
4.0
(1)
"Made in Vietnam specifically."
#69
Mnemosyne
4.0
(1)
"I still end up using Mnemosyne a lot though since it works better in the notebook cover"
#70
Optik
4.0
(1)
"I find optik paper and clairefontaine paper very good."
#71
Oxford Optik
4.0
(1)
"Oxford optik paper is great and most importantly inexpensive."
#72
Luxor Converge Notebooks
4.0
(1)
"I use Luxor converge notebooks."
#73
Ayush Paper
4.0
(1)
"Ayush paper."
#74
Tops
3.0
(1)
"It’s actually a Tops pad that I’m using."
#75
Judessashop
3.0
(1)
"Judessashop on shopee has a cream/ivory bulk option (250 sheets), and advertises their smooth finish as being good for fountain pens."
#76
AmazonBasics
3.0
(1)
"I use AmazonBasics yellow paper pads, I like to rip the pages off and throw away."
#77
Moleskine
1.0
(1)
"They also hate Moleskine and for a reason - the paper feels like napkin when you use a fountain pen on it."
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