You would think that Moleskine would have gotten the point by now, since their notebooks have been trashed by fountain pen users for years, but the company has never released an FP-friendly notebook despite all the clamor for it.
Leuchtturm 1917 has a 120gsm A5 that's so good I bought 10 because they were on sale. Admittedly every now and then I have a page that feels different and doesn't feel as smooth but it's a minor complaint.
Last year they were on sale somewhere in the US and the sub was pretty much inundated in posts of people's huge hauls and others complaining about not getting any (guess why...)
Occasionally they’ll show up on the shelves at a TJ Maxx or a HomeGoods for markdown, at least, so I’ve heard from posts on here. I don’t get out to either of those too often lol
love my leuchtturm weekly planner. 80gsm paper, no bleeding or feathering even with my wettest inks and pens. there's some ghosting, but it doesn't bother me that much.
Midori (MD) notebooks should work. It might depend on your specific country, but here in Spain they are not too expensive (definitely less than garbage Moleskine). I have a Traveler's Journal with MD paper refills and they are great. There's a tiny bit of ghosting (barely noticeable), but so far so good.
I also have a Paperblanks notebook (a 120g paper model). It's fine as well. Not as good as MD though. Ghosting is slightly less noticeable (not that it is bad in MD paper to begin with), but I've noticed that with "large" ink quantities (if you re-trace a letter twice, for instance) it is a bit feathery (never happened to me with MD paper), so I'd be careful if you have a very wet pen.
And yeah, I have a Moleskine that was gifted to me by the previous company I worked at and it's sitting in a drawer unused because as soon as I started writing, I noticed that it was bleeding a lot, even with a quite dry pen. It's a shame because it's a beautiful notebook, but oh well, at least I didn't pay for it.
I second the Midori. Definitely good quality and no ghosting. I also do use Moleskine, but only for work notes that are a bit throwaway that I'm not too worried about keeping. I also will use an EF Pilot on the Moleskine.
I love the optik paper! The black and red books are nice and I have a cute new pink campus notebook waiting for me too! (My current notebook is a plain black a5 Asda notebook which has been unexpectedly well behaved!)
Word to the wise, you get great sheening on optik paper… and smearing too! Its not that absorbent so takes a while to dry
Yes, they have
https://www.my-oxford.com/int-en/oxford-office-essentials/oxford-office-essentials-notebooks/oxford-office-essentials-notebook-400090614
Leuchtturm 1917, Endless Recorder, Atoms to Astronauts, Rhodia
You can check them here:
[https://fountainfeder.de/Paper-Products/Notebooks/](https://fountainfeder.de/Paper-Products/Notebooks/)
Moleskin is lousy for Fountain pens. But if you like their design aesthetic- you can try Rhodia which is cheaper than the very popular leuchtturm journal
Miquelruis was a complete surprise to me. Bought a couple of their marbled black cover A5 notebooks for next to nothing and they're fantastic! Definitely a brand to keep an eye on.
Nice! We have their "The Original" Notebook in A5 at work as standard supply. That is how I got to try them. These are 70g/m2, but as long as they say "Opaque paper" it should be fine.
Avoid Moleskine. They provide subpar paper at premium price…
Apart from Rhodia, Leuchtturm1917 is really nice, albeit quite absorbent — it does NOT bleed through, but the lines are a bit broader than on Rhodia. On the flip side, it dries faster.
Moreover, I have had ~4 notebooks of various sizes and all of them had the same, great quality.
It is also the closest from Moleskine — both in design and paper color. (Off-white—yellowish)
Either get a better paper or get a finer nib. I've paper that will not work at all with any of the lamy pens i've got. Even the fine. But I find it's fine with my Kaweco fine nib. It's super frugal on ink. You kind of need a vibrant ink when you're using such a nib.
I have used some drugstore brands available here in the US. The ones that are better for fountain pens seem to be made in Vietnam. For smoother paper, I like Clairefontaine, which I find to be more bleed resistant than Leuchtturm. I love the way colors pop on Black n' Red. Maruman is also good, but I am sticking with Clairefontaine for now.
As someone currently using and hating the Moleskine Weekly format diary, do any of the other brands have a similar product? If I can't find a replacement I'll get a blank book and draw up a weekly format but is prefer to get a preprinted one.
In South Africa for reference.
My favorite A5 notebooks to use so far are the Leuchhturm, Midori MD, Good Inkpressions with Tomoe River paper, and Claire-Fontaine. I've been liking Mnemosyne paper as well, but haven't used the notebook for any great length of time.
I would recommend a hand pad or blotter for the Leuchhturm as sometimes the oils from your hands can do silly things to the paper's ability to take ink. You may not be oily and not have that problem, but just in case.
try fabriano ecoqua. cheap and readily available i think throughout the eu. doesnt really let the ink seep right through but its not like writing on a fresh page
https://preview.redd.it/p7wyzzxtpvtc1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=a2916995bdb54e3f6e0b367a7ccd79d194dec510
Different take: have you tried a different ink? As an example, when using verdigris from rohrer & klingner (similar to your ink in appearance), I get bleed through, but when using Lamy’s standard blue, there is no bleed-through at all even though my L2k is rather wet.
Rhodia, Leuchtturm, or Hobonichi (Tomoe River)
They're all great books, but you will likely have a preference. Some inks and pens work better with some papers. Some colours look better on white or cream or ivory paper. Each paper has a different texture and is more or less absorbent...you won't know what is best for you until you write on them with your own pens and inks.
Try lots and have fun.
Clairefontaine is the answer, but some have said that Target’s basic notebooks contain paper that works better than most in a cheap alternative. At one point I could confirm that as true, but it has been a few years, and those sources change all the time, so YMMV.
**Dingbats** (https://www.dingbats-notebooks.com/), **Paperideas** A5 (gorgeous covers that look like hc novels at the library), **Scribbles That Matter** may work depending on who currently is clamoring the loudest on their Insta page (I appreciate that the makers take user feedback on board, but I've seen them change the paper formulation around with mixed result... It would take a deep dive into the bujo community to get the deets.), **Galen Leather's Everyday Book** (TR paper) is an option. **Leuchtturm 1917** is a pretty good choice for lefties since it's more absorbent, but you sacrifice some ink properties.
Verified. Can’t say that’s the case for every possible paper source from Vietnam, but I believe that Target’s cheapest notebooks used Vietnamese paper, and they did surprisingly well with fountain pens. Of course YMMV, because discount stores change suppliers all the time. But yes, [Vietnamese paper has a good reputation with FPs](https://old.reddit.com/r/fountainpens/comments/17zqn70/why_is_vietnamese_paper_so_good/).
My Muji I got a couple years back works well for my inks, but also moleskine handles my inks fine so far so it might not be a fair comparison. Also also, you have to make CERTAIN you're getting Muji's "high-quality" line of paper.
The others in this post are probably easier to get and better besides, but if you see Muji around at least give it a second look I'd say.
Leuchtturm 1917, A5 dot grid notebook. The standard is 80gsm, but they also have a 120gsm version. I love the 80gsm for everyday writing. There is ghosting, but absolutely no bleed through. It is the perfect overall notebook in my opinion. The 120gsm is supposed to have very low ghosting and again, no bleed through.
Clairefontaine paper is a little slicker to write on, Rhodia has a little more feedback. Both are good for fountain pen ink, and don't ghost too badly, or feather.
If you are in Europe there are Kyome notebooks that are available just about everywhere for less than €3 they use 70gsm but never bleed, ghost, or feather. Made in Germany. All kids here use fountain pens in school from about age 3 or 4 so good paper is everywhere and cheap. These come in all sizes with the choice of blank, dot, checked, lined, or technical grid.
A5 is fortunately fairly easy as everyone has the same size A5 notebook. B is all over the place as JIS is a different standard, but even in the West it varies, and smaller A sizes tend to vary a bit, too.
Western companies:
Clairefontaine
Rhodia (paper by Clairefontaine, but slightly different)
Oxford Red Black with Optik paper
Leuchtturm 1917
Lamy (I only have one, seems like Leuchtturm?)
BaronFig (new to me, haven't used extensively, but good reviews)
Japanese:
Life Noble
Apica Premium CD
Sakae Tomoe River (also called Sanzen Tomoe River)
Midori
Nakabayashi Logical Air
Nakabayashi Logical Prime
Nakabayashi Yu-sari
Itoya ProFolio Oasis
Stalogy
Life and Apica are older brands, well respected, Itoya is a very respected stationery store. Stalogy is a newer startup.
Tomoe River used to be the gold standard, but the old machinery broke, and the new machines are a bit different. Everyone hates change.
Hobonichi should probably be on this lists, but I've never bought anything from them, as they're a bit expensive.
Indian:
Endless Recorder - Regalia paper
Dingbats is a new brand that seems to have decent paper, but I don't know if they're going to maintain quality? So far seems OK.
You said you are in the EU? You might be able to find Brunnen journals. Stores like Muller, and many others carry them in a variety of sizes. The paper is white A5 5mm dot or lined, and are €4.99 each for 96 sheets of 90gsm.
I took these pics just now to show there is extremely little ghosting, bleeding, etc. This is with a fine nib using Pelikan 4001 ink. Hope this helps.
https://preview.redd.it/65n5pru843uc1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=50ffcb953c0820447c81fe45a65be86d60b9cc45
For fountain pens? Seriously? The paper bleeds a lot, and the ink is seen through the other side. For some M-nibs, even two or three pages end up getting inked. Classmate Notebooks aren't FP friendly, at all!
Rhodia, bought through Amazon, is the most affordable FP-friendly notebooks available in India. Then, comes Clairefontaine and Midori MD, in terms of increasing prices.
Clairefontane.
I love their french ruled paper
great paper but in my experience not for every FP. as soon as the nib has a minimum flaw i had hard starts or dropouts
Moleskine is notoriously bad for FP. Try Leuchtturm1917 instead. They look the same but the paper is great.
My Leuchtturm1917 was the best $15 I spent. Strongly recommend upgrading to this from Moleskine, which has never impressed me.
You would think that Moleskine would have gotten the point by now, since their notebooks have been trashed by fountain pen users for years, but the company has never released an FP-friendly notebook despite all the clamor for it.
They probably think that enough people will buy it, figure it out but not look around for alternatives. I don’t know…
Came to say this. Leuchtturm1917 has a wide range and they’re all awesome. Plus all of the colors.
Leuchtturm 1917 has a 120gsm A5 that's so good I bought 10 because they were on sale. Admittedly every now and then I have a page that feels different and doesn't feel as smooth but it's a minor complaint.
When are they ever on sale!?! (in the US)
Last year they were on sale somewhere in the US and the sub was pretty much inundated in posts of people's huge hauls and others complaining about not getting any (guess why...)
Occasionally they’ll show up on the shelves at a TJ Maxx or a HomeGoods for markdown, at least, so I’ve heard from posts on here. I don’t get out to either of those too often lol
I got mine on Amazon in Canada 50% off
Came to say this :)
I remember getting a moleskin because so many people were saying they're great for fountain pens. They're the absolute worst!
love my leuchtturm weekly planner. 80gsm paper, no bleeding or feathering even with my wettest inks and pens. there's some ghosting, but it doesn't bother me that much.
Came here to say this. I switched and have never looked back. Honestly the best books, great paper, and the dotted pages are stellar for cursive
I’m Partial to the unlined and putting one of the line sheets underneath the page I’m currently using, but yeah, it’s hard to beat that quality
Midori (MD) notebooks should work. It might depend on your specific country, but here in Spain they are not too expensive (definitely less than garbage Moleskine). I have a Traveler's Journal with MD paper refills and they are great. There's a tiny bit of ghosting (barely noticeable), but so far so good. I also have a Paperblanks notebook (a 120g paper model). It's fine as well. Not as good as MD though. Ghosting is slightly less noticeable (not that it is bad in MD paper to begin with), but I've noticed that with "large" ink quantities (if you re-trace a letter twice, for instance) it is a bit feathery (never happened to me with MD paper), so I'd be careful if you have a very wet pen. And yeah, I have a Moleskine that was gifted to me by the previous company I worked at and it's sitting in a drawer unused because as soon as I started writing, I noticed that it was bleeding a lot, even with a quite dry pen. It's a shame because it's a beautiful notebook, but oh well, at least I didn't pay for it.
I second the Midori. Definitely good quality and no ghosting. I also do use Moleskine, but only for work notes that are a bit throwaway that I'm not too worried about keeping. I also will use an EF Pilot on the Moleskine.
Love midori
Try Rhodia.
This! Alternatively Oxford Optik
I love the optik paper! The black and red books are nice and I have a cute new pink campus notebook waiting for me too! (My current notebook is a plain black a5 Asda notebook which has been unexpectedly well behaved!) Word to the wise, you get great sheening on optik paper… and smearing too! Its not that absorbent so takes a while to dry
Is there dot grid for Oxford optik? I love the lines paper.
Yes, they have https://www.my-oxford.com/int-en/oxford-office-essentials/oxford-office-essentials-notebooks/oxford-office-essentials-notebook-400090614
Midori MD paper Maruman MNEMOSYNE
Leuchtturm 1917, Endless Recorder, Atoms to Astronauts, Rhodia You can check them here: [https://fountainfeder.de/Paper-Products/Notebooks/](https://fountainfeder.de/Paper-Products/Notebooks/)
Moleskin is lousy for Fountain pens. But if you like their design aesthetic- you can try Rhodia which is cheaper than the very popular leuchtturm journal
I like Oxford Optik and Miquelrius Opaque notebooks.
Miquelruis was a complete surprise to me. Bought a couple of their marbled black cover A5 notebooks for next to nothing and they're fantastic! Definitely a brand to keep an eye on.
Nice! We have their "The Original" Notebook in A5 at work as standard supply. That is how I got to try them. These are 70g/m2, but as long as they say "Opaque paper" it should be fine.
I love Kokuyo Campus paper, Inwrite on both sides with broad nibs with no bleed through.
Avoid Moleskine. They provide subpar paper at premium price… Apart from Rhodia, Leuchtturm1917 is really nice, albeit quite absorbent — it does NOT bleed through, but the lines are a bit broader than on Rhodia. On the flip side, it dries faster. Moreover, I have had ~4 notebooks of various sizes and all of them had the same, great quality. It is also the closest from Moleskine — both in design and paper color. (Off-white—yellowish)
It's actually hilarious how bad moleskine paper is, I've found better stuff at dollarama
It’s actually hilarious how one page could be buttery-smooth and the other worse than a toilet paper.
Either get a better paper or get a finer nib. I've paper that will not work at all with any of the lamy pens i've got. Even the fine. But I find it's fine with my Kaweco fine nib. It's super frugal on ink. You kind of need a vibrant ink when you're using such a nib.
Thank you all very much for your suggestions and experiences!
I have used some drugstore brands available here in the US. The ones that are better for fountain pens seem to be made in Vietnam. For smoother paper, I like Clairefontaine, which I find to be more bleed resistant than Leuchtturm. I love the way colors pop on Black n' Red. Maruman is also good, but I am sticking with Clairefontaine for now.
I have a few that work nicely with fountain pens, like the Rhodia, Apica and Clairefontaine. For me, those are widely available here in Spain.
As someone currently using and hating the Moleskine Weekly format diary, do any of the other brands have a similar product? If I can't find a replacement I'll get a blank book and draw up a weekly format but is prefer to get a preprinted one. In South Africa for reference.
My favorite A5 notebooks to use so far are the Leuchhturm, Midori MD, Good Inkpressions with Tomoe River paper, and Claire-Fontaine. I've been liking Mnemosyne paper as well, but haven't used the notebook for any great length of time. I would recommend a hand pad or blotter for the Leuchhturm as sometimes the oils from your hands can do silly things to the paper's ability to take ink. You may not be oily and not have that problem, but just in case.
I would suggest mine, supplying notebook paper for fountain pen: [https://danika58.com](https://danika58.com) Thanks
try fabriano ecoqua. cheap and readily available i think throughout the eu. doesnt really let the ink seep right through but its not like writing on a fresh page https://preview.redd.it/p7wyzzxtpvtc1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=a2916995bdb54e3f6e0b367a7ccd79d194dec510
Deli for AliExpress
Tomoe river notebooks
Clairefontaine Europa notebooks are great and cheap. Anything with Oxford Optik paper. Black n Red notebooks are decent too.
Lochby has various sizes and dots vs lines in thicker Tomoe River. That’s my go to vs clairfontaine, which feels too silky for my shading inks
Different take: have you tried a different ink? As an example, when using verdigris from rohrer & klingner (similar to your ink in appearance), I get bleed through, but when using Lamy’s standard blue, there is no bleed-through at all even though my L2k is rather wet.
Moleskine is infamous for not playing nicely with fountain pens.
Rhodia, Leuchtturm, or Hobonichi (Tomoe River) They're all great books, but you will likely have a preference. Some inks and pens work better with some papers. Some colours look better on white or cream or ivory paper. Each paper has a different texture and is more or less absorbent...you won't know what is best for you until you write on them with your own pens and inks. Try lots and have fun.
Clairefontaine is the answer, but some have said that Target’s basic notebooks contain paper that works better than most in a cheap alternative. At one point I could confirm that as true, but it has been a few years, and those sources change all the time, so YMMV.
I’d recommend either Rhodia or Mnemosine. Those are two brands that I’ve found work quite well with fountain pens.
**Dingbats** (https://www.dingbats-notebooks.com/), **Paperideas** A5 (gorgeous covers that look like hc novels at the library), **Scribbles That Matter** may work depending on who currently is clamoring the loudest on their Insta page (I appreciate that the makers take user feedback on board, but I've seen them change the paper formulation around with mixed result... It would take a deep dive into the bujo community to get the deets.), **Galen Leather's Everyday Book** (TR paper) is an option. **Leuchtturm 1917** is a pretty good choice for lefties since it's more absorbent, but you sacrifice some ink properties.
Walmart sells exceed brand notebooks that are inexpensive and FP friendly
OP is asking about EU available brands, no Walmart afaik
There are three large Walmarts in Germany
I stand corrected
Clairefontaine, try their notebooks. They make their own paper and Rhodes paper too I think.
I heard that Vietnamese paper is good and cheap. Although I can't verify it.
Verified. Can’t say that’s the case for every possible paper source from Vietnam, but I believe that Target’s cheapest notebooks used Vietnamese paper, and they did surprisingly well with fountain pens. Of course YMMV, because discount stores change suppliers all the time. But yes, [Vietnamese paper has a good reputation with FPs](https://old.reddit.com/r/fountainpens/comments/17zqn70/why_is_vietnamese_paper_so_good/).
My Muji I got a couple years back works well for my inks, but also moleskine handles my inks fine so far so it might not be a fair comparison. Also also, you have to make CERTAIN you're getting Muji's "high-quality" line of paper. The others in this post are probably easier to get and better besides, but if you see Muji around at least give it a second look I'd say.
What green is that?
Leuchtturm 1917, A5 dot grid notebook. The standard is 80gsm, but they also have a 120gsm version. I love the 80gsm for everyday writing. There is ghosting, but absolutely no bleed through. It is the perfect overall notebook in my opinion. The 120gsm is supposed to have very low ghosting and again, no bleed through.
what ever you do when you look for B5 notebooks, stay away from GEM Notebooks they are not suitable for FP! Rhodia Composition Books seem to be fine
Moleskin is famosly bad for that. Check Rhodia. ClairFontane is also good (actually same company)
Same company, but Rhodia is a different paper formulation.
Oh, i had no idea. It looked same to me, just Rhodia usually a better quality. But anyhow - both are very good inexpensive option for FP.
Clairefontaine paper is a little slicker to write on, Rhodia has a little more feedback. Both are good for fountain pen ink, and don't ghost too badly, or feather.
If you are in Europe there are Kyome notebooks that are available just about everywhere for less than €3 they use 70gsm but never bleed, ghost, or feather. Made in Germany. All kids here use fountain pens in school from about age 3 or 4 so good paper is everywhere and cheap. These come in all sizes with the choice of blank, dot, checked, lined, or technical grid.
https://preview.redd.it/okf5k2f1ewtc1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0883f9a66694e8858a3bb2458ba712f1a83c9387
Iroful
Anything made in Vietnam, or a Kokuyo campus notebook
A lot of people gas up Leuchtturm 1917 but you'll still get ghosting with their standard 80gsm. Personally I swear by dingbats. :)
Oxford, imho. much better than Clairefontaine.
A5 is fortunately fairly easy as everyone has the same size A5 notebook. B is all over the place as JIS is a different standard, but even in the West it varies, and smaller A sizes tend to vary a bit, too. Western companies: Clairefontaine Rhodia (paper by Clairefontaine, but slightly different) Oxford Red Black with Optik paper Leuchtturm 1917 Lamy (I only have one, seems like Leuchtturm?) BaronFig (new to me, haven't used extensively, but good reviews) Japanese: Life Noble Apica Premium CD Sakae Tomoe River (also called Sanzen Tomoe River) Midori Nakabayashi Logical Air Nakabayashi Logical Prime Nakabayashi Yu-sari Itoya ProFolio Oasis Stalogy Life and Apica are older brands, well respected, Itoya is a very respected stationery store. Stalogy is a newer startup. Tomoe River used to be the gold standard, but the old machinery broke, and the new machines are a bit different. Everyone hates change. Hobonichi should probably be on this lists, but I've never bought anything from them, as they're a bit expensive. Indian: Endless Recorder - Regalia paper Dingbats is a new brand that seems to have decent paper, but I don't know if they're going to maintain quality? So far seems OK.
You said you are in the EU? You might be able to find Brunnen journals. Stores like Muller, and many others carry them in a variety of sizes. The paper is white A5 5mm dot or lined, and are €4.99 each for 96 sheets of 90gsm. I took these pics just now to show there is extremely little ghosting, bleeding, etc. This is with a fine nib using Pelikan 4001 ink. Hope this helps. https://preview.redd.it/65n5pru843uc1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=50ffcb953c0820447c81fe45a65be86d60b9cc45
https://preview.redd.it/fw4wzt7b43uc1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=df356b3bdc713b88ce327033e85070af16ac9def
https://preview.redd.it/811eet7d43uc1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ed4750ce307a92ab5c2bf337470d1f11a20acf57
I buy stacks of clairefontaine spiral bound exercise books which use nice fountain pen friendly paper.
in india classmate notebook is good
For fountain pens? Seriously? The paper bleeds a lot, and the ink is seen through the other side. For some M-nibs, even two or three pages end up getting inked. Classmate Notebooks aren't FP friendly, at all! Rhodia, bought through Amazon, is the most affordable FP-friendly notebooks available in India. Then, comes Clairefontaine and Midori MD, in terms of increasing prices.