Found Some Good, Cheap Paper

[andreasn]

here in Finland at least, I find it more a case of what to avoid than what to get. Most normal paper seems to work fine for everyday writing. Even the cheapest made in china stuff. Then there is of course the ones that perform terribly, but they seem to be in the minority. Then again, I don't use broad or stub nibs very much, and if I do, it's with dip pens and then I can use less picky ink.

[Sasha Royale]

Last year, I shopped the Wal-mart back-to-school sale. Vietnam, India, Columbia, USA, and Brazil.

I picked out all the composition notebooks from Brazil, (about 30) at 25¢ each. I still have half of them. I look forward to going again this August.

[C-town]

The best paper I've ever tried (this stuff is really good) is the composition books sold at Target for only $.50 I can only find good things to say about them. No bleed through, feathering even when I REALLY load ink onto the page.

[Zookie]

I've been using paper made in Brazil for a long time now, so far, no problems. Can't seem to find a made in the US paper that even comes close. I wonder why?

[Sailor Kenshin]

Changes in market, and manufacturing? Look for vintage US paper. It's almost always great for fountain pens.

[Zookie]

I do collect a lot of vintage stationery at yard sales and such, and when it isn't yellowed with age it's fun to use.

However, I found, and use, some pads of US made lined paper from the 80s, but only use it with pencils or rollerball pens. It's not fountain pen friendly at all.

I think it was Norcross paper.

Edited July 24, 2016 by Zookie

[Sailor Kenshin]

Same here, but it was Mead.

 

I don't count 80s as vintage. I stop at the 1970s, inclusive. Any and all of my papers and journals from the 60s and 70s (don't ask!) are very FP-capable.

[pencrazed]

The best paper I've ever tried (this stuff is really good) is the composition books sold at Target for only $.50 I can only find good things to say about them. No bleed through, feathering even when I REALLY load ink onto the page.

That sounds like tremendous bang-per-buck. Do you mind telling us what brand of composition books you bought at Target (or even the link to the product itself)? Was it Target's in-house Up & Up brand?

[OCArt]

The CVS house branded composition book is also very good paper but around $5.

 

(edited because autocorrect wasn't correct at all)

Edited March 1, 2019 by OCArt

[Restored]

That sounds like tremendous bang-per-buck. Do you mind telling us what brand of composition books you bought at Target (or even the link to the product itself)? Was it Target's in-house Up & Up brand?

The post was made in 2016 so they may have changed vendors.

[pencrazed]

The post was made in 2016 so they may have changed vendors.

 

That's unfortunate. I've been searching for cheap, yet decent, filler papers everywhere. The best so far is Staples' filler paper. Office Depot's close behind, but has some bleed-through for wetter inks.

 

Interestingly, for Norcom papers, their quality can fluctuate dramatically. I've had better luck with Norcom bought at Target than at Walmart. The latter can be downright horrible and rough to write on, but you do get some decent sheets in the entire stack. As for the former, the quality's more consistent and does behave better, but it is still below Staples' quality. However, they are even cheaper than Staples!