I got a package of paper samples in today, various Strathmore and Mohawk papers in #24 weights and either cream or ivory color which I will be reviewing shortly.

This paper has a light laid texture - horizontal lines along the short dimension - that can barely be felt when writing with a fountain pen just gliding over the surface of the paper. It actually feels interesting to to write on as I'm used to writing on plate finish papers for the most part. The texture is not anywhere near something like a cold press watercolor paper, rather it's more like a hint of texture that is just noticeable.

As you can see in the attached scans, there is no feathering that I can see - the letters are quite crisp and clean (please disregard my penmanship). I used the three inks that I have on hand at this time with both fine and medium nibs, and found the paper wonderfully nice to write on with both nibs. I especially like the way this paper responds to a medium nib, which I find is often too wide of a line. There is no bleed through at all, and there is no reason why both sides of the paper could not be used. I can only tell the other side of the paper was used if I hold it up to the light.

When held up to the light, there is a distinct pattern to this paper, as well as a watermark, which reads "Strathmore Writing %25 Cotton" in two lines. The pattern shows the laid texture in horizontal lines (along the short dimension) and quite thicker vertical lines (along the long dimension). When viewed without back lighting the paper shows a faint but noticeable laid texture that looks very nice to my eye (but is difficult to photograph!).

While less useful than specific information, I have to say that I very much liked this paper and will likely order some to put into use as correspondence paper.

- R

EDIT: I just looked up the specs on this paper and found that it is a carbon neutral product.