A Plethora of Paper (review - lots of pics)

Hi,
Thought I'd do a little review of some of the stationery I have.
With the exception of one these are all readily available at big box stores or on-line.


From left to right:
Southworth, Basildon Bond, Strathmere, Rhodia Premium, Rhodia and Hallmark


First up Southworth.
Readily available at Walmart.


It comes packaged loose, meaning no binding, with 80 pages shrinkwrapped.


This is a very good paper. It takes all inks I have tried on it very well. No feathering nor bleed through. But with dark inks you can see shadows of writing if you write on the back side of the paper. ML finds this paper scratchy and does not use it. I like it very much. Letter recipients have noted the parchment like quality of the paper and like it.

Next up is Basildon Bond. This was gifted to me by Freddy.


It has a wonderful watermark.


This paper is packaged as a tablet of 50 sheets glued at the top. It came with a lined guide sheet that you put under the piece you are writing on. The lines show through and guide your writing. There was also a page of blotting paper should you need it.

This paper is perfect. My all time favorite. NO bleed, no feathering, no smearing. Unfortunately this is the ONE paper that is hard to get. I see smaller tablets on ebay but have not yet found the A4 or letter size. Letter recipients have commented on the niceness of this paper.

Strathmere Parchment.
Available at Michael's or AC Moore. Comes as an 50 sheet tablet glued at the top.


The paper is stiff and heavy with a nice mottled appearance as parchment should be. There are multiple muted pastel colors


I like this paper. it was the first nice paper we tried. It was ML's brilliant idea. There is no feathering nor bleed through at all. However some inks stay wet a long time on this and can smear if you are a lefty. You can use both sides of the sheet no problem. The recipients of letters written on parchment all comment on the elegance of the paper.

Rhodia Premium
Per Goulet this is the same as the Clairefont Triomphe paper. I purchased the Rhodia version because it is available micro-perfed as opposed to glue top. This came as a micro-perfed tablet of 70 pages. The cover is crimped so it folds back completely. Handy for note taking.


I prefer the unlined version.


ML gave me this for Christmas. I have tested it with 7 different inks. One of them smeared. The rest had no feathering and no bleed through. This is a very smooth paper. Almost has a plastic feel to it. Some inks can stay wet on the surface. Overall this is an excellent paper to write on. Letter recipients have not commented on the quality of the paper.

Rhodia
Comes as a micro-perfed tablet of 80 sheets. The cover is similar to the premium.


I picked up the line version as that was all the store had in stock.


I will not by lined paper again. My penmanship is poor. The lines force me to write small which makes my handwriting even more illegible.

But the paper is good. No feathering nor bleed through.This paper causes more smearing on my part than any of the others and I am not sure why. It does not cause excessively wet lines but nonetheless it smears.

Hallmark stationery
Available at Walmart or Hallmark stores. A set of 80 sheets and 40 envelopes.


Comes in 5 bright colors. The sheets are 4X8.


This set is inexpensive. But the paper performs fine. No feathering and the occasional bleed through. Smearing has not been a problem.

Lastly a spread sheet of purchase place, cost, cost per sheet and the weight of the paper to see everything at a glance.





Hope this was helpful.

Phil