Sugarcane Paper at Staples

[JohnS-MI]

After reading several of the entries about this Staples paper, I made a trip this afternoon to our local Staples and, lo and behold, yes, there it was (actually I had to get help to find it--and the clerks looked at me as if I had descended from Mars when I said I was looking for "sugarcane paper" but then one of them said, "Oh, Eco-friendly paper" and off he went and found it for me).

 

Yes, from an FPN point of view, the branding is confusing:

*The clerks mostly don't recognize bagasse or sugar cane, only eco-friendly

*Not all eco-friendly is made from bagasse. The copy paper is just high recycled content

*Some product is mixed with similar content, some is off on endcaps or special areas.

 

It is hard to determine what all kinds of bagasse paper prodycts they stock. You first have to find all the eco-friendly in the store, then figure out what it is made of.

 

[Treecat]

I tried the composition book and love it. The paper is very smooth and makes one of my toothier pens very happy. I like the look of the heavy brown covers. They're modestly professional and no-nonsense enough to be taken to places I wouldn't carry the usual composition book with black/white marble covers. The soft white paper is easy on the eyes, and the faint brown lines join together the color of the paper and the rough brown of the cover. Most of it, for the quality, I like the price. At $2.49, this is a book I can scribble away in without counting the cost of each used and turned page. Apica CD-15s are still my notebook of choice, but since I started buying them, the price has risen from $3.29 to $4.29 or perhaps a bit more. Particularly now, cost counts, and the Staples notebook may replace the Apica for a lot of what I use notebooks for. I also plan to pick up some of the 8 l/2 x 11 legal pads at Staples this evening.

 

I have a review of the Staples composition book here: Staples eco-easy composition books, along with a writing sample.

 

Wow, I think I just did my first FPN review.

[FavePen]

Like the rest of the people here, I ran off to my Staples and got some of this paper. It's wonderful!! I marvel at how my other paper from Staples makes the same pen and ink feather and on this it doesn't at all. I don't know how it works, but it really is nice.

 

The price is right and the thinness is nice too.

 

Thanks for recommending it. It's a find!

[welch]

Went on a business trip after finishing off my Levenger's notebook. Took a Mead Comp book ("100 sheets, 200 pages" etc, wide ruled, black marble cover. Spent about 10 hours with the customers...one of those "all day plus" meetings since we try not to travel as much.

 

SO...after ten minutes, I started shuffling though my briefcase for pens that might make take to the Mead "paper".

 

Writing in a Mead comp book is like walking through a foot of unshovelled snow.

 

The Eco-friendly notebook is not "business-handsome", but the paper certainly writes well for an "under $5" notebook! Argh, I wanted the Levenger or some humble Stables Eco paper!

 

Wish list for Eco:

 

- fix the cover so the composition book doesn't curl back

 

- produce a version that has about five faint vertical lines. Why? Not to replace serious graph paper, but as indentation marks. We used paer like that at GE: good for writing to an outline: Topic 1 has sub-topics (a), (, ©, for instance. Also good for writing code-snippets if you're a programmer. Otherwise, use 4-to-the-inch graph paper. (Tiny boxes make for "fine-line" writing.

 

I like the Eco paper; now make it better and better!

 

 

[jmw19]

I just sent Staples an email praising these papers and asking for more variety. Specifically, I requested a gridded notebook and blank and/or unpunched sheets. Something tells me this would work well with an inkjet printer - I'd print my own grids if I could.

 

 

[MCR]

I bought some based on this thread. The paper works great. However, I wish the ruled lines weren't so hydrophobic. It looks bad to me for the lines to disrupt the ink so much.

[OboeJuan]

I have found that I really like how thin the paper is. I use a Ren Art Folder Holder and once I get 10 or so subjects going in it, regular paper gets really heavy. This is nice and light and thin and doesn't cause too much weight or bulk. Cool.

 

 

Me, too!

 

Kathryn

 

Edited to add: I am stupid. I just agreed with my own post! I will leave it up as a cautionary post and a reminder to always check to see if you are talking to yourself.

Edited March 18, 2009 by OboeJuan

[savarez]

Like the rest of the people here, I ran off to my Staples and got some of this paper. It's wonderful!! I marvel at how my other paper from Staples makes the same pen and ink feather and on this it doesn't at all. I don't know how it works, but it really is nice.

 

Ditto!

 

I have been using HP32lb Premium Choice for over a year now, and, just as a curiosity picked up some of the Staples Legal Pads to test out.

 

Like everyone else here, I find the paper amazingly smooth and perfect for FP's. I was dubious at first... any paper that thin and cheap has to feather and bleed-through. I must admit I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised.

 

This would be my every-day paper if it were just a little thicker. I punch all of my papers and store them in Circa/Rollabind notebooks, and the thinness of the paper simply does not lend itself to this format.

 

 

[Russ]

I tried the bagasse paper also, and liked it very much. However, two points.

 

1. I wonder whether it will stand the test of time. Will it change color, become brittle, and / or flake apart? Will it withstand 50 years in a file cabinet? 100 years?

 

2. It was more expensive than Gold Fibre pads. 50 sheets (2 pads) of bagasse @ 2.49 = $.049 per sheet. 300 sheets (6 pads, college ruled) of Gold Fibre @ $5.00 = $.016 per sheet.

 

I stocked up on Gold Fibre. I'll buy more bagasse later.

[JohnS-MI]

2. It was more expensive than Gold Fibre pads. 50 sheets (2 pads) of bagasse @ 2.49 = $.049 per sheet. 300 sheets (6 pads, college ruled) of Gold Fibre @ $5.00 = $.016 per sheet.

 

I stocked up on Gold Fibre. I'll buy more bagasse later.

 

You got hosed. My Staples has a pack of 8 pads (400 sheets) for $5.99, $0.015 per sheet.

 

I would also like to know how the paper holds up long term.

[JHeels]

2. It was more expensive than Gold Fibre pads. 50 sheets (2 pads) of bagasse @ 2.49 = $.049 per sheet. 300 sheets (6 pads, college ruled) of Gold Fibre @ $5.00 = $.016 per sheet.

 

I stocked up on Gold Fibre. I'll buy more bagasse later.

 

You got hosed. My Staples has a pack of 8 pads (400 sheets) for $5.99, $0.015 per sheet.

 

 

+1

 

I just bought an 8 pack for $5.99 two days ago at Staples, based on the reviews that people have given in this thread. I love it! It's so light, with so little bleed through and no feathering.

[jmw19]

This would be my every-day paper if it were just a little thicker. I punch all of my papers and store them in Circa/Rollabind notebooks, and the thinness of the paper simply does not lend itself to this format.

 

I had the same thought, but after punching some sheets and trying them in a Rollabind, I'm pleasantly surprised by how well they stay in place. The paper is thin, but seems to be very "hard" (as opposed to a soft paper, like newsprint).

 

I have to agree with some other posters, this doesn't feel like archival paper, but it's very good for daily use, especially for the price. THe fact that it uses fewer trees to produce is icing on the cake.

[gregkoos]

I'm going out on a limb here, but it is my understanding that modern papers are pretty much ph neutral.This is part of the environmental clean up work of the paper industry.

[winknut]

Wow.

 

i exhausted my supply of pads last week and on advice from this thread grabbed a 2 pack @ $1.99 to give this stuff a whirl.

 

granted i also picked up an 8 pack of my standard fare (college ruled 9x14 yellow legals...) just in case...

 

this bagasse paper is super. it seems like it was designed for FPs.

 

i will be doing some more tests, but on friday night i grabbed my M pilot knight and noodlers polar and did some rough sketches. usually normal pad papers will bleed through when you go over the same spot multiple like when you are drawing. not this. the ink stayed put on the front of the paper. no bleed through, no feathering, not bit of pulp clogging up the nib ball as the paper disintegrates under too much ink.

 

if only it were available in other than wide ruled... where i bought it...

Edited April 20, 2009 by winknut

[nparik1]

Like many I too could not resist the temptation of going to Staples and picking up a composition book. Loved the paper, as reported by many no feathering but you cannot use both sides of the paper. I tried my 1911 (Fine) and Opera (Medium) with different Noodlers ink both show up on the flip side. Another note is dry time, it does take a few seconds to dry.

 

Niket

[NotPiffany]

I picked up 100 sheets of college ruled filler paper at my Staples yesterday for a little under $2 with tax. Lovely stuff, I hope they expand the options. I'd really like to get quad ruled composition books with this paper. As it is, I think I'll be getting some of the college ruled spiral notebooks to use for school.

 

The item number for the college ruled filler paper is 730893, but it doesn't show up on Staples.com for some reason. It must be new.

[bardharlock]

I picked up 100 sheets of college ruled filler paper at my Staples yesterday for a little under $2 with tax. Lovely stuff, I hope they expand the options. I'd really like to get quad ruled composition books with this paper. As it is, I think I'll be getting some of the college ruled spiral notebooks to use for school.

 

The item number for the college ruled filler paper is 730893, but it doesn't show up on Staples.com for some reason. It must be new.

It's not new. For some reason, Staples.com is not listing it for some darn reason. Which is to me, living in a town without a Staples, rather frustrating. Fortunately, I go to a larger city at least several times a year, so I can find a Staples, pop in and buy the stuff. I have 8 of the loose leaf packages now as well as a dozen legal pads and 5 of the spiral-bounds.

 

I am glad you resurrected this thread. I suppose now may be a good time to ask the folks that have been using this a year or more how the paper is holding up? I am not that concerned about the longevity of this paper. It is my scratch, rough draft and disposable notes paper. My journal, notebooks, General Conference diaries (it's a Mormon thing), and weekly planner are all on paper that should last a couple of lifetimes at least, and many more with care.

[JohnNicholas]

I happened to be near a Staples store so I picked up a spiral bound notebook with the microperf paper. Yup, everything said about this paper is true. It is really nifty.

Longevity is still an unknown, but will be vastly better than newsprint for sure and probably as good as your common sufite bond notebook stuff. I have 35 year old spiral bound notebooks from college that are still in pretty great shape. I doubt If I will ever write anything that needs to outlast me anyway.

 

This sugar-cane paper does demand brown ink though; dont have any; must get some.

 

JohnNicholas

[PatientType]

This is another reason that FPN is such a great place. Randomly browsing I came across this thread and tomorrow I'll be off to Staples to purchase some quality paper at amazing prices.

 

Thanks to everyone that discovered and tested this product!

 

[TheProf]

I purchased some of the sugar cane paper in loose leaf form and in a spiral bound notebook.

 

Its true that the paper is fountain pen friendly, but its thin. Almost an onion skin. Consequently there's quite a bit of bleed-through.