I have been using fountain pens these days to reduce the pressure on my hand, as I hand-write quite frequently, both for work (for problem solving and work journaling) and for personal (journaling, planning, common-placing, etc.).
But as someone who needs to apply moisturize the hands often due to skin issues, the lotion, cream, or oil on my hand often get in the way of fountain pen inks! The inks would skip or feather on paper, and it can be distracting or frustrating sometimes.
So, in this post I’ll be listing down what inks and papers I found to be least sensitive, or least affected by hand cream or hand oil when writing with fountain pen ink. Just note that what works for me may or may not apply to you because of varying factors, including the type of lotion, cream, or oil we’re dealing with.
Fountain pen ink that hold up well against hand oils:
List of specific inks:
- Platinum Carbon Black
It doesn’t budge as I write on lotion-smeared MD Paper. Based on experience with this ink in a LAMY Safari EF, there’s no skipping or feathering at all. Currently the most reliable fountain pen ink to me when writing with lotiony hands! - Sailor Seiboku
When writing with a Sailor HighAce Neo F or a Sailor Profit Jr. F on a sheet of MD paper, there was barely noticeable skipping of ink, with no observed feathering. - Pilot Iroshizuku inks:
I have observed minimal feathering with no skipping on MD paper as I wrote with these specific inks:- Tsuki Yo
- Kon Peki
- Yama Guri
- Yama Budo
Fountain pen-friendly paper that I find “less sensitive” to hand oils:
- Rhodia
- Traveler’s Notebook refills
- Dot Grid
- Lightweight Paper
Comparison notes:
- Rhodia paper vs MD Paper “Cream”
Rhodia paper seems to be less susceptible to skipping inks and feathering inks, compared to the MD Paper. Rhodia absorbs the ink I wrote with faster, unlike in MD Paper where the ink seems to sit there longer before it dries. - Traveler’s Notebook refill papers
- 013 MD Paper Cream – The surface of this paper is smooth to the touch, as if it is finished with a coating. It takes longer for inks to dry here, from my experience, compared to the “Dot Grid” MD Paper and Lightweight Paper.
- 014 Dot Grid – They call the paper used in here an “MD Paper”, and from my understanding, the only difference should be the color (this is white) plus the dot grids, of course. But to me, the “Dot Grid” MD Paper is rougher to the touch, and absorbs my fountain pen inks better than the “MD Paper Cream” one.
- 005 Lightweight Paper – Like the Dot Grid notebook’s paper, this one absorbs ink better than MD Paper Cream. However, I feel that it absorbs a bit too much ink that there’s tendency to feather. I like sticking to extra fine nibs when writing or drawing on this lightweight paper. Although not mentioned in the official website, people say that the paper in “Lightweight Paper” inserts of Traveler’s Notebooks is Tomoe River paper.
My go-to paper is still MD Paper Cream despite not being very tolerant of hand oils. 😅 I just really like how easy it is on the eyes to gaze at that cream-colored paper, during moments when I ponder what I should write on my journal. To avoid frustration from skipping or feathering inks caused by my inkzema* hands while using MD Paper Cream notebooks, I simply reach for the inks I listed under “Fountain pen ink that hold up well against hand oils”, or use a pencil board for my hand to rest on while writing. Pencil boards are also known as shitajiki, underlay, or writing mat.
Bonus: Non-fountain pens whose inks don’t seem affected by hand oils
When I don’t want to bother with fountain pens, often when problem-solving at work, I reach out for:
- Zebra Sarasa 0.5 in black
* Ink on hands + eczema on hands = inkzema on hands, so now I use inkzemic instead of eczemic. Makes no sense? That’s fine, pay me no mind. 😌
