Preventing Skipping Due To Trace Oils On Paper?

[Josey]

I use Tomoe River paper exclusively for my journaling. I love how thin and smooth it is! However, I have difficulty writing on it for long periods of time with my Pilot Falcon SF. The nib glides smoothly over the paper, but it skips quite often. (Note: I do not try to flex it at all; I just love the touch of "bounce.") I haven't had a problem with any of my steel-nibbed pens (which run from a Western fine to a Japanese extra-fine).

 

From what I've read, the skipping is likely due to trace oils from my fingers. I use scrap paper to "shield" the TR paper as I write, but that doesn't prevent all of the skipping.

 

I was wondering if there's another solution? I've heard something about the use of dish detergant but I'm naturally disinclined to experiment without knowing more.

 

Your help/input is most appreciated!

[Wolverine1]

Some people use a clear sheet of plastic under their writing hand so that their bare skin never touches the paper surface. I use this because I have to use medicated lotion on my hands, and my hands stay oily/greasy even after I have washed off the lotion.

[Witsius]

If you aren't getting skipping with your other pens, your problem most likely isn't from oil traces left on the paper.

 

Skipping can be due to a number of variables, but a nib with baby's bottom is the most common cause in my experience.

 

Try allowing the pen to draw a line using only it's own weight. If it doesn't draw a line immediately and consistently, your problem is probably from the nib itself.

 

If you have a loupe, look at the nib and see if you can see the ink in the nib slit as compared to the writing surface of the nib. If the ink looks like it's being held down in a little ravine, then the ink can't consistently make its way to the paper, and it most likely has a case of baby's bottom.

 

Oil traces usually don't result in skipping per se. Oil traces left on the paper tends to cause the ink to flow in a strange inconsistent way, almost like ink is coming out of the nib, but it won't take to the paper properly.

[PAKMAN]

I had the same problem with my Falcon sf and never did get it fixed to my satisfaction.

[Josey]

Hm. I may be using the wrong terminology. My Falcon writes just fine on other papers. Your description of the effect of oil sounds close to what I'm experiancing. At any rate, it seems, from what I've observed, that the trouble my Falcon is experiancing is due in part to the nib's flexibility paired with the surface of the TR paper. Unfortunately, while a "paper guard" helps, it doesn't eliminate the problem because I simply can't consistantly keep the pages of the journal pristeen as I write.

[Witsius]

Then perhaps oils are the issue. It could be the particular ink you're using. Some inks are more sensitive to residual oil on paper than others. In my experience, brown inks seem particulalrly so. Have you tried a different ink to see if that makes a difference?

[Sasha Royale]

Oily skin. My wife's close friend has always been plagued by oily skin. She makes a paper sleeve, usually from two sheets of 8 x 11. She inserts the page of stationery into the sleeve, and advances the page out of the sleeve, line by line, as her writing progresses. Moving the paper "upward" , instead of moving the writing hand "downward" is less convenient, but only slightly, after one becomes accustomed to the procedure.

 

Sometimes, I write outside, on the patio. On hot summer days, my hand perspires. The paper sleeve works for sweaty hands, as well.

[gryphon1911]

Perhaps a writing glove of some kind?

[tinta]

My skin is very oily. Before I write, I wash my hands but soon they will revert to their natural oily state. If I wipe my brow, touch my nose, scratch my ear, the game's over. If I then touch my sheet of writing, skipping can occur.

 

To mask my fingers from touching the paper as I proceed down a page, I place a slightly different coloured writing paper cross-wise on the page to rest the bottom of my writing hand. This paper mask gets shifted down as I go down the page. For me, this has worked.

I have tried using a piece of blotter paper (J Herbin or nibs.com) as the mask, but found that there was too much of a drop-off from the blotter to the page I'm writing on. It didn't feel comfortable.

 

Of course, if you write with your whole arm, as some folk can do & advise, there would be less potential contact between your writing paper & your skin. I have not been able to achieve this skill, though I've tried.

[Erik Dalton]

I use a paper towel folded in half, the long way. My hand and forearm never touch the paper now. It's helped me a lot. I came to suspect that sliding plastic over the paper was making it slick. So I tried the paper towel thing, and never went back.

The other thing I noticed is that some inks do better on 'Hard surface' paper than others.

Right now I'm on a sailor ink kick. Never skips, It sticks to just about everything..😉

[Tintafuego]

Sadly, I've never used TR. However, I can say this: I live in Chile and good paper is very hard to find, and when you find it you have to treasure it because it costs a fortune. To the point: what I use to keep my paper free of any oils is an elastic cloth (quite smooth) that I bought in a store of medical supplies. My awesome granny helped me to make it glove like, with a hole for the thumb and the index and middle fingers to be free, while keeping the ring and the pinky covered (I made it long so it goes well beyond my wrist). I think you should be able to find something like this in an art supplies store, in case you want to skip the sewing.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Pool hall talc???

Some folks liked that and it don't have the chemicals that might be bad for you pen, like baby talc.

Baby talc is not recommended for re-sacking pens.

 

Hummm....for those with baby's do check the price between clean pool hall talc and doctored with something store bought.

[tamiya]

Don't be too liberal with talc especially where it can be inhaled. That stuff is crushed rock and it won't biodegrade inside your lungs, it just accumulates in there.

[Safari_Camo]

@Tintafuego

 

Are you using the brazilian peper brand "Chamex"? I've tried the 80gr. and works fine
We have here the Xerox brand but only in 75gr.

Saludos

[drjmb]

Don't know enough to opine but in my experience the ink may be the culprit. While there are many other causes, if it starts to skip only after about 4-5 inches of writing, it's safe to assume that it's the oil from your hand resting on the paper. I only noticed this type of skipping when I used Monterverde ITF ink (in turquoise). Different pen, different ink, not a problem. ITF ink in another pen, problem. Same pen, different ink, no problem. Another big variable, of course, is the paper.