A few weeks ago I was browsing through JetPens and came across a notebook I hadn’t tried. I’m always up for testing new paper so I ordered a Sakae TP Iroful Notebook ($9.75).
This slim volume is composed of 96 pages of 75 gsm white paper with a 5mm dot grid in Indigo (it also comes in plain and graph if you’re interested). The cover is cardstock, and the binding is held together with thread and glue. The name Iroful is a playful combination of “colorful” and “iro,” the Japanese word for color, and the paper promises to be wonderful with all different kinds of inks!
I have to say – I’m suitably impressed. The paper said it would work well with alcohol inks, and I tried both a Sharpie and a silver paint pen and neither bled through or feathered. That never happens!
Fountain pen inks performed well (no surprise) and even swatching ink with a q-tip directly on the paper didn’t bleed through. The paper is a bit wrinkled, so I wouldn’t say it’s perfect for multi-media (painting) use, but it still holds up. It does feel like maybe the ink sits on top of the paper, rather than absorbing in. And according to my colleague Tina, it also handles sheen quite nicely!
Overall I’d say this is a fun, affordable paper to add to your collection – whether in notebook or loose leaf form!
DISCLAIMER: Some of the items included in this review were provided to us free of charge for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.
At one point TR was perhaps going nowhere. And then CAL was discontinued. I think this paper was intended over here to compete in this space. Fortunately it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.