Tag Archives: staples

Staples Paper Review

I decided that I would do some testing of the new Staples brand paper, which I have from a reliable source is manufactured for them by a major paper brand. (I’ll do a post on that soon.)
So I tested the 3 papers I wrote about in my previous post here.

The first paper I tested was Staples brand 65lb coverstock. It’s thick, stiff and smooth. It’s quite enjoyable to write on, accepts all inks well without noticeable feathering or strikethrough.



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The next paper was the Staples brand 5 squares per inch graph paper. As much as I don’t like to sew it up into a book I was surprised at how much I liked writing on it. The paper is very lightweight, very smooth and takes ink well. I noticed a little feathering with the fountain pen and the Staedtler liquid point. There was also a lot of strike through with most pens, however the following pens showed little to no strike through- Uniball Jetstream- all colors and the space pen. The thicker pens with more liquid ink had more strikethrough.


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The next paper was the Staples brand 20lb paper in cream. I found little strike through on the paper with the exception of a red liquid ink pen in .7mm. I should check it out with a thicker fountain pen and see what happens. Again I was pleasantly surprised at how nice this paper was to write on. While not the same experience as a Strathmore 100% cotton it as a very nice feeling paper with all the pens. The fountain pen ran smoothly over the surface and the more fluid inks didn’t feather, with the exception of the red ink, which gives even the thickest of papers trouble.

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I was pleasantly surprised at the quality and enjoyability of the Staples brand paper. I found the coverstock to be more pleasant than some of the other cardstock I’ve used for hedgehogs. All papers were listed as acid free on the package.

3X5 cards/GTD/ Wausau and Staples

This one is for all you GTD addicts and Hipster
PDA
users. I was at staples today and I found Hipster PDA 3×5 card wallets,
completely ripped off from the Levenger’s pocket briefcase. Featuring black and
brown leather and a seemingly decent quality. They also have business card
wallets that I couldn’t resist.

I can’t find a link to the Staples version of the 3X5 card case but trust me, it looks JUST like the Levenger case. Probably a lesser quality but still very nice. It retails for $14.99. They had a bunch of other snazzy accessories, notebooks and portfolios. All coordinated in colors and designed to look good on any desk.

*warning Paper geekiness below!

In bookbinding news, Staples has discontinued Wausau’s pastels paper in favor of their own line of paper. The Staples paper is also acid free BUT it only comes in at 20lb, Wausau’s paper was and is 24lb. But Staples now has acid free pastel colored cardstock @ 110lb and wonderfully coverstock @ 65lb. Here’s my one issue with the I would be fine with the change if the Staples brand was in a comparable weight but its 4lbs less, which makes one hell of a difference when writing with a fountain pen.I bought a package to test out and see what it’s like but I’m not holding my breath. What I am excited about is the coverstock. I’ve been looking for a decent coverstock for age that was both cream in color and acid free most brands do not make it. Usually it’s bright white and not acid free. I would suggest that thus far the range of papers they are introducing isn’t comparable to Wausau but Hammermill and because of the acid free labeling on the Staples paper I"d say thus far they are beating them out.

Have I mentioned how much I dislike change?
* a quick check online shows that the Wausau paper is available online, in the colors I use (IVORY) even cheaper than I had been buying it in the stores. So I’m wondering if they are getting rid of all their stock and I’ll never find it again.