I make a few journal notes every morning, often using a fountain pen. I just finished a Lemome notebook with blank pages. Despite that the paper in it was pretty thick (90 gsm? – not sure, I can’t find the specifications anymore, not even on the amazon page I ordered it from) the ink was bleeding through the paper. That is – when I was using pens that dispensed a lot of ink (TWSBI 580, Desiderata). For gel pens and fountain pens that dispensed less ink (Pilot Metropolitan EF nib for example) there was no problem. But I want to write with my beloved Desiderata pen, so I used the pages that was bled through to glue receipts and memorabilia on.
Strangely, the notebooks from the same brand, Lemome, that are lined, and are a bit simpler with black binding, don’t bleed through as much.
Pens used:
Desiderata fountain pen, Zebra G Nib
TWSBI 580, EF nib
Pilot metropolitan EF Nib
Inks used:
Noodler’s Heart of Darkness (feathering and bleeding a lot)
Noodler’s Black (Regular, bullet proof) (no feathering, no bleed through, but some ghosting)
Diamine Marine (bleed, but with a lot of ink)
Diamine Oxblood (no feathering, no bleed, a little ghosting. But this with little ink)
Diamine Majestic Blue (lots of bleed, no feathering)
The Cross, Midnight Blue (lots of bleed, no feathering)
Sailor Jentle Ink Shikisai Nioi Sumire (lots of bleed, no feathering)
– eg:
Noodler’s Heart of Darkness was not a good fit for this paper.
Noodler’s Black (Regular, bullet proof) was very good on this paper.
The Diamine inks, The Cross, and Sailor Jentle ink were OK as long as I was using a pen that dispensed a moderate amount of ink.
I liked that:
– the pages of the book fell flat,
– it felt good in the hand,
– the rubber band on its back that could hold a pen, and
– it had a strap for marking what page one is at, and
– it had a back pocket for loose notes.
I won’t buy it again because of the bleed-through, but it would be a good notebook for those who doesn’t use tons of ink when they write.
On the first test page:
On the back of the first test page:
The Second test page:
The back of the Second test page
