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The Quest Is Over. I've Found The Perfect Paper


TassoBarbasso

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I've been looking for the Perfect Paper for the last 10 years at least. I've tried all of the most likely candidates for "best paper ever", starting from Rhodia, Clairefontaine, Oxford, Leuchtrum, Tomoe River Paper, Monsieur, Life Notebook, Ciak, QuoVadis Habana, Moleskine, and the like. Along the way I must have tried hundreds of other less-famous types of paper that turned out to be rubbish.

 

For a while I thought Rhodia was the best, but ink colours look generally dull, and bleedthrough is often an issues with saturated inks. Then I jumped on the Tomoe River bandwagon, and while I really appreciate the paper, its thinness has the undeniable downside of making the paper unmanageable: unless you bind it in a notebook, you won't be able to hold more than 1 sheet together: try holding a few pages of notes together, and you'll see that they fold, mis-align, and are generally speaking a nightmare. It's the same feeling of trying to hold straight a piece of damp cloth.

 

Now, my quest is over: I've found the perfect paper, and it's Midori MD, which since 2017 is apparently available in writings pads of A5 and A4 format. I got a few pads from Misc Store in the Netherlands to try it out, and loved it so much that I bought fifteen more writing pads right away! I expect it will last for a few years :)

 

Midori MD gives the exact same performance of Tomoe River Paper in terms of bleedthrough and feathering (i.e., none whatsoever), coupled however with a far superior colour performance: while Tomoe is pretty good with ink colours, brilliancy and shading, it still fails to bring out the best from quirky inks like De Atramentis Document Dark Blue, or Pilot Blue Black, or many of the Noodler's permanent line, whose colour is often "dulled down".

 

Midori MD on the other hand is just perfect: even De Atramentis Document Dark Blue shines on the paper, with its dark purple/dark grey hues emerging in all their glory on the page. This is by far the most "difficult" ink I've ever had, appearing dull and uninteresting in 99% of the papers available on the market (including Tomoe, and with the bizarre and unexpected exception of the humble Metsa paper, another amazing paper), and bleeding through most of the paper known to mankind, but Midori MD handles it brilliantly, both in terms of colour and bleedthrough. The same is true of all the other inks I've tried (The only one I haven't yet tried it with is Noodler's Baystate Blue: even Tomoe fails to prevent feathering and bleedthrough with it, but I expect Midori MD would perform a bit better as it's slightly thicker).

 

Midori MD Paper also beats Tomoe in two hugely important aspects: manageability/usability, and feedback/texture: as I mentioned above, Tomoe is really annoying when used in loose sheets, because you just can't hold them without them folding over and slipping everywhere with their slippery surface. This doesn't happen with Midori MD, which in this sense is rather "rigid", despite being thinner than most writing paper out there.

 

In terms of texture, a caveat is in order: I hate super-smooth paper (Clairefontaine is a no-go for me). I like papers that are smooth and sufficiently textured to provide a little bit of feedback when you write. I like to feel the pleasure of the paper's pattern under the nib, and the sense of control you get on such a paper. This is something really hard to achieve: in this sense, Tomoe fails (though not as clumsily as Clairefontaine): there is a little bit of texture with Tomoe, but no enough to be pleasant. Other papers, like most cotton-made papers, fail in the opposite sense: waaaay too much feedback, writing becomes unpleasant. Midori MD is exactly at the right point of balance between smoothness and texture. I don't know how they did it, but it's amazing.

 

The price is comparable (if not lower, in some shops) than Tomoe.

 

If I were to rank some of the most commonly-used premium papers, giving them a mark from 0 (horrible) to 10 (perfect), with 5 being the minimum sufficiency threshold, I would say:

  • Midori MD Paper: 10/10. The Gold Standard, and for me, the Perfect Paper.
  • Tomoe River, Metsa paper: 6.5/10. Very distant seconds; they fail for different reasons, but they are both far from the standard of Midori MD.
  • Life Notebook, Monsieur: 6/10
  • Rhodia, Oxford, Clairefontaine: 3/10
  • Leuchtrum: 1.5/10
  • Moleskine: 0.5/10

I have no affiliation with Midori or Misc Store, just a happy customer :) Heck, I wish I had some affiliation: I would get some paper for free! :D

 

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Thank you for the tip. :) I haven't bought any so far, but have received letters written on Midori paper. It is excellent. :) I must check which UK sellers stock it. :)

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Midori MD paper was sold in pads a few years ago, but for some reason was discontinued. I found a stockist in Japan & bought enough to keep me going. I'm very pleased Midori have brought it back & it's easy to find now.

 

I still prefer Tomoegawa, especially the 52gsm. I only use loose sheeets, and don't have the slippage problems you experience. I use a shitajiki, with the slightly "tacky" surface, but even when I use a line template it doesn't seem to slip. I love Tomoegawa with watercolours, as I tend to illustrate or decorate my letters.

 

One of my top papers for fountain pens is Elias. It's a heavier paper, from the Philippines, ivory/cream, with just the perfect amount of surface texture.

I too dislike super-smooth paper. I really don't like Rhodia.

Verba volant, scripta manent

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Thanks for the tip. It sounds really interesting. But. it seems there are no notebooks of this paper (or I haven't found any yet), and I do like my paper bound in notebooks. Preferably hand-stitched, flat-lying luxury notebooks with a good, hard cover.

Forgive your enemies. Nothing annoys them so much. - Oscar Wilde.

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I can only find Midori MD in notebooks. Is it also available in writing pads where you can detach sheets as you write? Can anyone provide a link?

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Thanks for the tip. It sounds really interesting. But. it seems there are no notebooks of this paper (or I haven't found any yet), and I do like my paper bound in notebooks. Preferably hand-stitched, flat-lying luxury notebooks with a good, hard cover.

Yes there are Midori MD notebooks. Actually, they are easier to find than the writing paper pads. As an example (picked because I buy from them): https://www.thejournalshop.com/brands/midori/md-notebooks-md-paper-products

Verba volant, scripta manent

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I just received a TRAVELER'S Notebook; it contained the starter journal, which uses this paper & I was amazed @ the feel & performance of it, with an Omas Stub nibbed pen that writes WET & Broad! I use a dark ink in the pen & despite it being wet enough to require a blotter paper, there was indeed NO bleed through. This is truly "good stuff," & I can see why you are so excited. I cannot imagine there being an ink or pen that wouldn't agree with this paper & I am also happy to have "made it's acquaintance."

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Midori paper is very nice albeit a little toothy (I don't mind that). But must admit I'm a Clairefontaine devotee - just love the stuff. Excellent review. Just shows that 'one man's meat is another man's poison'.

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I just ordered this from Amazon last night. Midori MD Notebook - A5 Grid Paper $9.74

 

I also found Midori MD notebooks on Amazon.com. :)

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Thanks for the tip. It sounds really interesting. But. it seems there are no notebooks of this paper (or I haven't found any yet), and I do like my paper bound in notebooks. Preferably hand-stitched, flat-lying luxury notebooks with a good, hard cover.

 

There are, actually :) if you browse Misc Store's page, you should be able to find them. It's not a very user-friendly website, but they have everything.

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I just received a TRAVELER'S Notebook; it contained the starter journal, which uses this paper & I was amazed @ the feel & performance of it, with an Omas Stub nibbed pen that writes WET & Broad! I use a dark ink in the pen & despite it being wet enough to require a blotter paper, there was indeed NO bleed through. This is truly "good stuff," & I can see why you are so excited. I cannot imagine there being an ink or pen that wouldn't agree with this paper & I am also happy to have "made it's acquaintance."

 

glad to hear you share my view! :) Enjoy your Traveler's notebook. I've been dreaming of getting one for quite some time, but the leather cover is a bit too expensive.

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I can only find Midori MD in notebooks. Is it also available in writing pads where you can detach sheets as you write? Can anyone provide a link?

 

I don't know about US sellers, but you can check Misc Store at https://misc-store.com/, they have it. They have a really lovely customer care service, too.

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I love Midori paper, though I use Rhodia pads since they are so sturdy, not so much for any great love of the paper, which is ok, but too slick for me (Clairfontaine is even worse, with a waxiness that makes my skin crawl, even though I love the sturdiness of the pads and notebooks).

 

I bought 3 of the A4 notebooks for about $20 from Rakutan several years ago. I didn't know Midori made pads. I will look out for them. I want pads that have a hard back and that don't fall apart. What are the Midori pad covers like?

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I bought 3 of the A4 notebooks for about $20 from Rakutan several years ago. I didn't know Midori made pads. I will look out for them. I want pads that have a hard back and that don't fall apart. What are the Midori pad covers like?

Fairly standard card covers, with a sturdy cardboard back. But slightly unusually the paper is glued on two sides (top & r/h long edge). This means the individual sheets are held securely & the pads don't come apart easily. The glue is good & doesn't stick to the sheets on removal.

Verba volant, scripta manent

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glad to hear you share my view! :) Enjoy your Traveler's notebook. I've been dreaming of getting one for quite some time, but the leather cover is a bit too expensive.

It is indeed the drawback to the notebook, which made me resist purchase for the past several years. BUT, this year they made the olive green, special edition one & I found a Seller that was more reasonable than others; I wanted it because one of my favorite pens has the same colors & I keep it filled with ink of the same shade. "Resistance was futile!"

 

I today ordered two of the A5 notebooks from a US Seller & look forward to larger writing space, with them.

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Thanks for the review! You don't say anything about ghosting or if you write on both sides of the page. Lots of fountain pen folks don't write on both sides but that's a requirement for me.

 

I agree with you about the smoothness of Oxford but there is absolutely zero ghosting. Zero. I'm curious how this measures up on that axis.

 

Mike

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Thanks for the review! You don't say anything about ghosting or if you write on both sides of the page. Lots of fountain pen folks don't write on both sides but that's a requirement for me.

 

I agree with you about the smoothness of Oxford but there is absolutely zero ghosting. Zero. I'm curious how this measures up on that axis.

 

Mike

 

Ghosting is a very subjective matter, probably even more than anything else: we can sort of measure feathering, for example, but what is intolerable ghosting for someone may be perfectly acceptable for others. I personally don't find ghosting to be annoying at all. If anything, I actually tend to enjoy a little bit of it. For me even Tomoe's ghosting is not a problem, but I realize most people find this to be Tomoe's most serious drawback.

 

If you really can't stand this phenomenon, bear in mind that Midori MD is somewhere halfway between the absolute lack of it registered of an Oxford notebook, and the amount of ghosting most people would find unbearable on a Tomoe River Paper sheet. Probably closer to the Oxford paper. You will however see a little bit of ghosting, that's for sure. Whether this is within what you consider an acceptable limit, it's unfortunately something I can't tell you. You need to try the thing :)

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Also have you tried it with any of the Iroshizuku inks?

 

Mike

 

Nope, those are beyond my range. Breathtakingly beautiful, breathtakingly expensive :D Moreover, I tend to write at my desk with mugs of coffee and glasses of water hanging around, so water resistance is an absolute must for me.

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