Rant: Bought a $45 'special' bullet journal pen set that smears like crazy

The ads made it look perfect for my journal, but the ink just won't dry on my Leuchtturm paper. I've ruined three weekly spreads trying to fix smudges. What pens actually work on that paper without needing to wait five minutes?

4 comments

4 Comments

grayh601mo ago

Classic case of fancy pens being total garbage.

barbaraschmidt1mo ago

Remember my friend had the same issue with those pens and her expensive journal. Grayh60 is right about fancy pens sometimes being garbage, so she switched to basic gel pens from the drugstore. They dry fast and never smear on that paper.

the_lisa1mo ago

Got to disagree a little on the fancy pens being garbage. In my experience, some are just a bad match for certain paper. My Leuchtturm works great with a specific archival ink pen, but smears with others.

taylor_mitchell801mo ago

Read an article once that said it's all about the paper coating. Some notebooks have a coating that repels certain inks. Makes the ink sit on top and smear. Others let it soak in a little. So a pen that's trash on one paper can be perfect on another. It's not always the pen's fault. Just a bad combo.