Hp Premium 32 - Terrible

[Runnin_Ute]

I just bought a ream a week ago. HP Premium32 red packaging: 32 lb, 100 Brightness, 163 Whiteness

 

So far, so good. I was just doodling on it this evening - Eco with a 1.1 and Edelstein Sapphire, 580 B Stub Lamy Pacific, Pelikan 140 F Pelikan 4001 Blue Black, and Pelikan M400 White Tortoise B Diamine Sherwood Green.

 

Lines nice and crisp, no show through or feathering. At all.

 

The shading etc doesn't pop like it does on some other papers but that's ok. Especially when Tomoe River is anywhere from $12.95-$14.95 per 100 A4 sheets at Goulet. I paid $19.03 per 500 letter sheets plus 1.38 sales tax at Office Depot. (.1295/sheet versus .03806/sheet)

 

I'll live with any differences. But like I said, so far I haven't had any issues.

[challer61]

Using the same nib, my results are completely different - works fine.

 

 

Attached is a picture of an EF Ti Bock nib. I applied slight pressure toward the end of some of the strokes, and you can see the feathering. I wasn't actually trying to induce feathering, I was just scribbling when I got the paper.

 

To be fair, EF Ti Bock nibs can deposit a fair amount of ink if you want to. So I tried some medium, fine and EF nibs in a variety of pens.

 

*Montblanc Season's Greetings

*PenBBS Beijing

*Diamine Majestic Blue

*Monteverde Black

 

The one ink that didn't seem to feather much was PenBBS Strawberry Milkshake, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it's a pigment based ink because of how incredibly water resistant it is.

[Intensity]

There must be different paper batches with different properties, all sold under the same brand name. I don't know how else to explain the differences we're seeing. My ream is one of the bad batches that causes feathering with most inks (some is very subtle in fine nibs, but I can still see it when compared to other, better paper). I'm only using it for nicer print-outs now and not at all for any writing. I won't be trying more for the purpose of using with fountain pens either, as it seems to be a complete gamble in regards to what one gets. I'm pretty much married to Japanese loose leaf paper (preferably in B5 size) now after trying out a bunch on my recent trip in Japan and will be ordering more in bulk from rakuten when my current packs run out.

Edited July 9, 2019 by Intensity

[inkstainedruth]

 

Intensity,

I stopped by the Fed Ex Store today and bought a ream of the Tree Zero Sugarcane Paper for $6.99. Even though I have not had the problems others have with the HP32...this Tree Zero Paper is not bad. The HP32 has been my go to for years. I might have to switch...The HP32 is a more substantial paper and clients like it however it weighs more so my Fed Ex Bill is more...costs 40-50% less than HP32...plus I like the tooth of the paper...I do get a broader line with the Tree Zero versus the HP32...however no feathering on either. I have a decision to make.

Thanks : )

David

 

I bought a ream of the sugarcane paper from FedEx a while back, based on some reviews on here, but haven't really tried it yet. It was, to be sure, a LOT more expensive (I guess the sale the original poster mentioned was over by then. And of course I tend not to go into the FedEx store by me in general.

I do really miss the relatively cheap sugarcane paper I used to be able to get in the stationery section at Walgreens, but they stopped carrying it.

When I'm writing, I prefer the loose sheets over a composition book (although I do have a bunch of those from when there are sales (especially during "back to school" season). But I never really liked them for fiction (for poetry they're okay, because you're working in discrete chunks). But for fiction I preferred copy paper because it's unruled and has no margin lines, because I can get a lot on a page (I write small) and because if I get into the flow, it's all there. I then can go back and put in all sorts of editorial comments (I forget stuff and then have arrows back and forth). And it's all on one or two 8-1/2 by 11 pages (for that use I only write on one side of the sheet), and I don't have to flip back and forth.

I do like composition books for stuff like keeping track of what inks do well in which pens.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[CoolBreeze]

Are there a lot of options for sugarcane paper? I know Staples Sustainable earth and Franklin Christoph. What are the other options and how do they compare?

[someguyhere]

I decided to dig out that pile of paper and try it again. Initially I thought "hey this isn't as bad as I thought" but it turns out it was. I decided just to write some random words and figured out the performance even differed in the same piece of paper. In the picture, you can see the writing on top was from the front half of the page, writing on bottom was from the bottom half of the page. It's from the same piece of paper!

[inkstainedruth]

Are there a lot of options for sugarcane paper? I know Staples Sustainable earth and Franklin Christoph. What are the other options and how do they compare?

 

Walgreens used to carry reams of sugarcane paper that I really liked (don't remember the brand name offhand) but they stopped carrying it.

I was able to get sugarcane paper most recently at my local FedEx store (again, don't remember the brand, sorry). Someone on FPN tipped people off to it about a year ago, IIRC. Haven't tried it yet. I still have some (but not a lot) of the stuff from Walgreens, which was pretty nice, IMO. And way cheaper than anywhere else that I've found so far.

I did really like the sugarcane paper notebooks from Staples, but that's now only available on line these days.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Intensity]

The brand at FedEx is TreeZero. It's periodically on sale for around $6 + tax per ream. It's thinner but very fountain pen-friendly.

http://treezero.com/products/

Edited February 12, 2020 by Intensity

[Estycollector]

Well, I was looking/considering this paper for using the Esterbrook dip pen nibs. I might as well suffer through what I have even if it does bleed through.

Edited February 12, 2020 by Estycollector

[Intensity]

Life's too short for crappy paper, is my motto. You can always use the HP paper for actual printing. It looks quite professionally thick and glossy for that.

[pararis]

I ordered a ream from the big A almost a year ago. It's been a great paper. I use both sides, and I've used fountain pens, ball points, rollerballs, marker pens, dip pens.... The only minor issue I've ever had is sometimes a feeling that the coating is hindering the ink from being absorbed as it's being applied. But that never amounts to anything. Dry times are fine. What I most like is the contrast of the ink against the very bright whiteness of the paper. I haven't had any ink bleed through, and it's thick enough that echo isn't an issue.

 

My experience has been: What's not to like?

[someguyhere]

I ordered a ream from the big A almost a year ago. It's been a great paper. I use both sides, and I've used fountain pens, ball points, rollerballs, marker pens, dip pens.... The only minor issue I've ever had is sometimes a feeling that the coating is hindering the ink from being absorbed as it's being applied. But that never amounts to anything. Dry times are fine. What I most like is the contrast of the ink against the very bright whiteness of the paper. I haven't had any ink bleed through, and it's thick enough that echo isn't an issue.

 

My experience has been: What's not to like?

 

Well I had a 24 lbs paper from HP awhile ago I thought was fine. And I bought it because at the time I couldn't find the 32 lbs version. However, what surprises me is how poorly the 32 lbs paper performs, with its performance variable across the same piece of paper. I'll just be using it as printer paper (as I suppose the paper was intended) though I usually don't need to have this thick of paper stock.

[pararis]

Life's too short for crappy paper, is my motto.

This is something very important to remember. I have stacks of notebooks with great paper, yet I keep using lousy paper in order to "save" the good stuff.

 

If I started writing all day, every day right now, I'd never run out of the good stuff!! And it's the lovely experience of putting fine ink on fine paper that's the whole point anyway!

 

Thanks.

[Dr.X]

my HP32 paper is a disappointment. Bought at Staples in Boston.

 

 

Same experience here - bought at Staples in Norwood, MA (close to Boston).

[Intensity]

Curiously mine was purchased in Boston Staples as well--also from the disappointing batch. I had read about the older version of this paper (98 brightness on the packaging) vs. newer version (100 brightness on the packaging), and some people preferred the older 98 brightness for fountain pen use. Still decided to take a chance and try it out, since it was on a sale at the time last year. Mine is 100 brightness and exhibits noticeable feathering with any inks I've used so far. I did not notice the top/bottom of the page variation with my paper, it was all feathering regardless of location on the page. Since the paper still looks good for printing, that's how I'm using up my ream. It's a gamble to purchase it again, because it's not a guarantee to get the good version, if such still exists with the most recently produced batches. I am seeing one of the recent reviews talk about inconsistent performance with fountain pens for individual sheets in their ream: the first sheets feathered badly even with a Japanese EF nib, and the later pages worked better. Then there are some recent good reviews too. Some get more or less lucky with their reams.

 

Basically this paper used to be consistently good for a long time and has developed excellent reputation for fountain pen use.

 

More recently, there have been changes made to this paper, either due to different factories making it, or different ingredients, or different processes. Sometime around the transition from 98 brightness to 100 brightness-marked packaging.

 

The current available stock appears to vary in quality and may or may not feather with fountain pens. The only way to be sure is to actually test each ream.

Edited February 14, 2020 by Intensity

[deeptime]

I joined FPN fairly recently and this my first post.
A few days ago I ordered HP Premium 32 for the first time so I thought I would share my experience with my fairly limited variety of pens and inks. Attached image is scanned at 600 DPI.
My initial reaction is favorable. I don't see any feathering and there so far I have experienced absolutely no bleedthrough.

The image I tried to attach is smaller than the 1.95MB limit, but no luck. Will try again later.

Edited March 10, 2020 by deeptime

[mulrich]

I joined FPN fairly recently and this my first post.

A few days ago I ordered HP Premium 32 for the first time so I thought I would share my experience with my fairly limited variety of pens and inks. Attached image is scanned at 600 DPI.

My initial reaction is favorable. I don't see any feathering and there so far I have experienced absolutely no bleedthrough.

 

The image I tried to attach is smaller than the 1.95MB limit, but no luck. Will try again later.

 

Learning how to post pictures on FPN moves you into the advanced stage of the FP hobby.

[BaronWulfraed]

 

The image I tried to attach is smaller than the 1.95MB limit, but no luck. Will try again later.

You may have to accumulate something like 10 posts before you can do images....

[Estycollector]

The 20# copy paper I've had since the mid 2000's is fine and I only use it for practicing. When I write a letter I use the good stuff and it takes the ancient Esterbrook nibs just fine.

[deeptime]

You may have to accumulate something like 10 posts before you can do images....

Thank you.