Found a weird detail about old blueprint paper while cleaning the shop

I was sorting through a box of my grandpa's old drafting stuff from the 70s and found a roll of sepia paper. The label said it was made with a 2% linen fiber mix to stop it from getting brittle. I always thought that was just a feel thing, but it was actually a fix for a real problem with early copies. My modern plotter paper feels like cardboard next to it. Has anyone else run into this kind of old school material spec?

3 comments

3 Comments

grant4652mo ago

Was the linen just for brittleness or did it help the ink take better too?

hugow302mo ago

My buddy tried it and said the ink stuck way better, not just less cracking.

paul_morgan2mo ago

My buddy Dave swears by linen paper for his fountain pens too. But honestly, how much better can it really be? We're talking about ink on paper, not a space shuttle heat shield. I've used cheap notebooks for years and never had a page fall apart. It feels like solving a problem most people don't actually have.