Does Blotting Paper Fill Up?

[loganrah]

I bought a small pack of Herbin pink blotting paper about a year ago and have been using the same sheet in my journal since then. It is starting to get rather stained, as you can see below (as you can also see I use a lot of brown ink and rule through things a lot).

 

The question: should I replace this with a new piece? Does blotter paper's performance reduce as you use it?

 

I'm not really concerned about the cost, I've just been lazily using the same piece and sometimes when it smudges the ink a little i wonder if I should be using a fresh piece?

 

[abstract49]

It looks like you are using a rocker blotter. I have one but don't use it an awful lot, so it's hard for me to address your question directly in that regard. However:

 

I use larger sheets, like B5 or A5, inserted between pages when I finish writing a page in a journal. Or, when writing on certain papers with certain inks, as in letter writing on padded or loose paper, I place the blotter over the whole page and apply some hand pressure to ensure the ink won't smear if I touch it carelessly. I also place a sheet under my hand as I start a page to prevent contact between my hand and the paper; this avoids laying down skin oils, which often interfere with writing.

 

Now, more to the point, I generally wear out a sheet of blotter paper from handling long before it could possibly be "filled" with ink. And yet, I do have sheets that I have used for several years, have lots of ink all over, and it seems that they are still absorbent and effective. I guess you just have to observe whether your paper is effectively picking up the excess ink on the surface of the paper, doing its job. If it seems that it is not doing it so well, it's time to change.

[XYZZY]

My use is like abstract49: full sheets in my notebook. I've only been using fountain pens and blotter paper for two years, but have yet to notice a blotter sheet losing function. Some are starting to get dog-eared and might eventually be replaced if they become too flimsy. Otherwise I find that I enjoy the gradual accumulation of ink in the blotter sheets and prefer one with more splotches over the ones with fewer.

 

But I would love to hear from somebody with experience of a blotter sheet getting "full" in the sense that it had picked up too much ink.

[abstract49]

As with Rorschach tests, I sort of enjoy looking at the random accumulations of ink stains.

[Astronymus]

I think it gets filled up over time. I mean, that is how it functions. But as your example shows it can accumulate a lot of ink.

[inkypete]

I think it gets filled up over time. I mean, that is how it functions. But as your example shows it can accumulate a lot of ink.

That sums up my experience too. I use blotter sheets in all my notebooks as they also double as a bookmark. I tend to find they do hold a lot of ink. I tend to replace the sheet more when it gets tatty - don't think I have ever totally filled a piece. Looking at your pic there is plenty of life left in that sheet.

[loganrah]

Sounds like I need to work on my blotting technique. And maybe try another brand to see if that makes a difference.

 

I also note that I'm doing a lot of single sentence or note writing quickly that I need to blot so I can turn the page, rather than writing a full page and then blotting the whole thing.

[silverlifter]

Turn it over and use the other side...

[Kenlowe]

When I was at school we were given a 6" by 5" piece of blotting paper, FPs were compulsory. We had to show the blotting paper from time to time and given praise if the paper had no blots but just an even covering of blotted words, if you used the corner of the paper to absorb a spot of spilled (is that spilled or spilt?) ink then you were branded a half-wit.

 

If there was a limit as to how much ink the paper would absorb we never found it.

[PAKMAN]

I've used the same blotter for several years and it never seems to fill up completely. Still working.

[Moruk]

Great existential questions like this (as well as one asked earlier if ink is gluten-free) can only be resolved by midnight contemplation when one is unable to sleep.

[BaronWulfraed]

I don't use blotters, but...

 

I think I'd be more worried about color bleed than "filling it up". Especially if the blotter had been used with lots of darks (blues, blacks) and one now attempts to blot one of the light/bright colors (Levenger Pinkly?). The dampness of the fresh ink could reactivate some of the older blotted ink, which then transfers back to the freshly written material (only in the written line, of course).

[XYZZY]

I don't use blotters, but...

 

I think I'd be more worried about color bleed than "filling it up". Especially if the blotter had been used with lots of darks (blues, blacks) and one now attempts to blot one of the light/bright colors (Levenger Pinkly?). The dampness of the fresh ink could reactivate some of the older blotted ink, which then transfers back to the freshly written material (only in the written line, of course).

 

It would be interesting if somebody actually could describe the symptoms of a full blotter based on personal experience. What you described occurred to me as well, but I haven't experienced it yet. I would think that capillary action of the water moving from paper into the blotter would mean that ink already on the blotter would have to go against the current in order to transfer back to the paper. But there's not a lot of current and maybe if the blotter is too saturated it will happen?

[Anne-Sophie]

Sounds like I need to work on my blotting technique. And maybe try another brand to see if that makes a difference.

 

I also note that I'm doing a lot of single sentence or note writing quickly that I need to blot so I can turn the page, rather than writing a full page and then blotting the whole thing.

 

I do the same, using the blotter for one sentence before turning the page. You have to make sure to secure the blotter sheet, firmly, with one hand and press with the other.

 

Your blotter sheet still has a lot of use in it, I see a lot of the background color with no ink mark.

[BrassRatt]

A crucial -- perhaps I should say drastic -- experiment seems in order:

 

Take a sample of blotter paper, cut in half, and soak one half completely with dark ink (use an eyedropper, or dip in an ink bottle). Let it dry thoroughly. Test its blotting performance against the other half, on pale slow-drying ink, looking closely for back-transfer.

 

Will someone do this before I get around to it? (That's not a close deadline!)

 

Bonus points: find out whether cellulose-reactive ink makes a difference to the result.

[SashK]

In short, yes. But it will take a lot of ink on both sides and several years for it to happen. Supposedly a single stack of ten from J Herbin will last one person close to a lifetime.