Pilot FriXion Erasable Pens: A Comprehensive Guide(jetpens.com)
jetpens.com
Pilot FriXion Erasable Pens: A Comprehensive Guide
https://www.jetpens.com/blog/Pilot-FriXion-Erasable-Pens-A-Comprehensive-Guide/pt/670
107 comments
If you put the "erased" paper in the freezer, all the ink will show up again.
Jetpens is where I first bought a Lamy Safari 10 years ago, and it still works perfectly.
Highly recommend Jetpens for pens, ink, paper and more (and the Lamy is a great first fountain pen).
Highly recommend Jetpens for pens, ink, paper and more (and the Lamy is a great first fountain pen).
What I want badly is a FriXion fountain pen. I would pay a really lot for such.
They're nice pens - I personally prefer the G2 gel pens - but I can't help but think of this XKCD:
https://xkcd.com/1095/
Human subcultures are nested fractally, there's no bottom.
https://xkcd.com/1095/
Human subcultures are nested fractally, there's no bottom.
If you haven't tried them, the erasure is so complete that there's no trace of the previous writing - no ugly smudge on the paper, and they rarely if ever mess up the paper surface (at least in the Leuchterm or Moleskine notebooks that I prefer).
One of those things I'd have ignored for ever if I hadn't been shown them by a fellow student on a language class. I'm a complete convert to these now.
I particularly love them for scribbling ad-hoc diagrams in my notes and then being able to move things around without redrawing everything from scratch.
One of those things I'd have ignored for ever if I hadn't been shown them by a fellow student on a language class. I'm a complete convert to these now.
I particularly love them for scribbling ad-hoc diagrams in my notes and then being able to move things around without redrawing everything from scratch.
Just make sure your notebooks don't get too hot.
I gather that one can then put them in the freezer and the ink will reappear - along with all the crossings-out of course. I've never actually tried this, but really must.
Also, remember to have a normal biro or fountain pen for signing important documents!
Also, remember to have a normal biro or fountain pen for signing important documents!
Great, now I've blown $50 on more pens. Thanks.
(tongue firmly in cheek :), though I did just finish the order.)
(tongue firmly in cheek :), though I did just finish the order.)
JetPens is such a fantastic retailer. A bit of a hidden gem. If every internet retailer was like this, the world would be a more tolerable place.
Great prices, fast shipping, and they really contribute back to the community with articles such as the linked article.
Great prices, fast shipping, and they really contribute back to the community with articles such as the linked article.
They have a warehouse somewhere in the eastbay, so if you're in the Bay Area, shipping is outrageously fast.
Also, back when I decided to go deep on writing with pencils, I asked for suggestions on Twitter and the JetPens corporate account gave me a crap-ton of great suggestions (and I bought all of them, since most pencils are pretty cheap)
Also, back when I decided to go deep on writing with pencils, I asked for suggestions on Twitter and the JetPens corporate account gave me a crap-ton of great suggestions (and I bought all of them, since most pencils are pretty cheap)
Goulet pens is very similar, though their focus is almost entirely fountain pens.
They are fun / nice-colors to use, but be aware that your writing can disappear over time.
A friend has journals a few years old and on the right 2/3rds of the pages the writing is nearly gone (theory being maybe that side got warmer, but not certain)
A friend has journals a few years old and on the right 2/3rds of the pages the writing is nearly gone (theory being maybe that side got warmer, but not certain)
I was introduced to FriXion pens because I have a Rocketbook. I have a pack of colors. One day my daughter came out of my office with a nice drawing (she's 5...so it's more sentimental than artistic). My wife wanted me to laminate it...well...out came a blank piece of paper, except for the parts she used a regular pen.
As others are saying, try putting it in the freezer.
Try putting the notebook in the refrigerator or freezer for a few minutes.
Unfortunately, this also brings back anything you deliberately erased, which might still render some writing unreadable!
This helped me when I was using them some years back during my university time. Managed to place some papers on a heater and the ink disappeared. Putting it in the freezer for a bit made it all come back.
That's a very fair warning.
In a similar vein - I had recipes disappear from a notepad because it sat too close to the oven. Also printing on a paper that has something written on it with Frixion with cause these scribbles disappear without a trace.
Extreme temperature sensitivity of Frixion is a very good rake.
In a similar vein - I had recipes disappear from a notepad because it sat too close to the oven. Also printing on a paper that has something written on it with Frixion with cause these scribbles disappear without a trace.
Extreme temperature sensitivity of Frixion is a very good rake.
"printing on a paper that has something written on it with Frixion with cause these scribbles disappear without a trace"
Presumably a laser printer, which heats the paper to fix the toner.
Not sure an ink jet or dot matrix printer would do the same :)
Presumably a laser printer, which heats the paper to fix the toner.
Not sure an ink jet or dot matrix printer would do the same :)
As others have already mentioned, the process is interestingly enough reversible (to some degree) by simply subjecting it to a colder environment like a freezer for a bit.
I remember reading a story of a student who wrote an essay with one, which was erased because the teacher left their bag with the papers in a hot car while grading them.
I was signing a rental contract a few years ago and pulled out my own pen. The landlord stopped me and said: "..Is that an erasable pen?"
It was one of these Frixion pens. Didn't even realize what I was doing. It was funny in a slightly embarrassing kind of way.
It was one of these Frixion pens. Didn't even realize what I was doing. It was funny in a slightly embarrassing kind of way.
Aren't all pens erasable with bleach though?
What matters isn't that the signature exists on paper, what matters is that you actually signed it.
What matters isn't that the signature exists on paper, what matters is that you actually signed it.
> Aren't all pens erasable with bleach though?
No - pens with pigment based inks (the ones that were advertised heavily for being great for writing checks and signing documents securely with) will stick around until the bleach disintegrates the paper back into pulp.
No - pens with pigment based inks (the ones that were advertised heavily for being great for writing checks and signing documents securely with) will stick around until the bleach disintegrates the paper back into pulp.
The issue is mostly that it could erase by accident.
Prove it :)
Pros:
1. The erasability is excellent. It's just as good as everybody says. If you're old enough to remember "erasable pens" from the 1980s, this is completely different.
2. Pretty good feel. Not quite as smooth as a gel pen, but it's like a nice ballpoint.
3. If you get the Japanese models from Jetpens you can get some really really fine tips, like 0.38mm
4. Great for lefties, little to no smearing. One of the best lefty-friendly pens I've ever tried.
5. I find I write/sketch more freely with these relative to regular pens, because I'm not scared of mistakes.
Con:
1. They seem to dry up really quickly. A few months sitting in my desk drawer, and they lose their ability to write despite being nearly full of ink. I stopped buying them for this reason.
Anybody else experienced this? Now that I'm thinking about it, I probably could have experimented more. Maybe the ball was clogged, and cleaning it with rubbing alcohol could have revived them?
1. The erasability is excellent. It's just as good as everybody says. If you're old enough to remember "erasable pens" from the 1980s, this is completely different.
2. Pretty good feel. Not quite as smooth as a gel pen, but it's like a nice ballpoint.
3. If you get the Japanese models from Jetpens you can get some really really fine tips, like 0.38mm
4. Great for lefties, little to no smearing. One of the best lefty-friendly pens I've ever tried.
5. I find I write/sketch more freely with these relative to regular pens, because I'm not scared of mistakes.
Con:
1. They seem to dry up really quickly. A few months sitting in my desk drawer, and they lose their ability to write despite being nearly full of ink. I stopped buying them for this reason.
Anybody else experienced this? Now that I'm thinking about it, I probably could have experimented more. Maybe the ball was clogged, and cleaning it with rubbing alcohol could have revived them?
On the finer tips I find the ball dries and clogs. Trick I use is a shotglass with a small amount of water, the glass is grippy enough to spin the ball and let a small amount of water inside to get it flowing again. Then just slowly draw circles on paper until it starts to flow steadily again.
Yes, i have the same problem, the pen stop writing after two to three months of inactivity, i don't know why.
I don’t have problems with them drying up. But they are not archive safe and apparently will fade out in time - my Japanese friends warn me that in time I am going to lose my notes.
Maybe they’re talking about lightfastness, which is resistance to fading in light.
This is usually more of an issue when drawing or painting, and many cheap colored pencils for example will simply disappear if you keep them on the fridge too long. I don’t think any normal pen ink has this issue. But then again, this isn’t a normal pen, so…
That said, if they do fade, I’d be surprised if Pilot doesn’t clearly specify this somewhere.
This is usually more of an issue when drawing or painting, and many cheap colored pencils for example will simply disappear if you keep them on the fridge too long. I don’t think any normal pen ink has this issue. But then again, this isn’t a normal pen, so…
That said, if they do fade, I’d be surprised if Pilot doesn’t clearly specify this somewhere.
Does refrigerating the paper cause the color to reappear?
In some cases refrigerating the ink will make it visible again, but not reliably. Leaving notes in your car can cause then to be erased. So these are a novelty or for casual use.
A fantastic use case though is in sewing. Ironing the fabric makes the ink transparent. These pens are far superior to chalk for that reason.
A fantastic use case though is in sewing. Ironing the fabric makes the ink transparent. These pens are far superior to chalk for that reason.
As long as your clothes are not to be worn in a sub-zero climate.
My understanding is that they are telling me it’ll irreversibly lose color over time. But I have 5 and 10 year old notes that are still fine, so I’m not sure I believe that.
Pilot also updates the formula so a frixion bought today has much better colors than one bought 10 years ago
Pilot also updates the formula so a frixion bought today has much better colors than one bought 10 years ago
Anybody else experienced this?
Yes. Shake them hard to sling the ink towards the tip. That almost always fixes mine.
Yes. Shake them hard to sling the ink towards the tip. That almost always fixes mine.
i have one in my travel bag for filling immigration forms. i have same pen for 10 years or so, it's still writing.
You probably shouldn't be using frixion pens for official documents...
Maybe that is why he used that pen for immigration document? To make it disappears in the next couple years. No more record about him visiting the country.
I've had two (Japanese models) sitting on my desk since maybe 2015 without drying out.
I've not had that issue - as far as I can tell they only run out when they run out of ink. I write a lot, but I also keep a lot of spares, so I don't think it's just that I'm using them up fast enough to avoid the problem.
Wow, I'm genuinely kind of stunned that others aren't experiencing this problem. I'm not sure why it's just me.
I owned probably 20-30 Frixons over the years, purchased at various times, and nearly all of them had this problem.
The only constant (beside the human being using them) I can think of is that probably 75% of my writing was in Moleskine-brand journals, and maybe 25% on index cards.
I owned probably 20-30 Frixons over the years, purchased at various times, and nearly all of them had this problem.
The only constant (beside the human being using them) I can think of is that probably 75% of my writing was in Moleskine-brand journals, and maybe 25% on index cards.
Do you live in a warm climate or leave them in the car during summer?
Good question. It happened even with Frixions that never left my house (which is the majority of them) here in the northeast USA. 90F/33C+ days are not uncommon here in the summer, but the Frixion writing in my notebooks ever went "invisible", so I think we can rule out a heat issue.
The ink in most of the pens was still visible and hadn't gone "invisible", so I don't think it was working but laying down invisible ink. It felt like the balls in the ballpoints had locked up.
The ink in most of the pens was still visible and hadn't gone "invisible", so I don't think it was working but laying down invisible ink. It felt like the balls in the ballpoints had locked up.
You ever try sticking them in the freezer to see if they just heated up?
No, never tried that.
The ink inside the pens could be clearly seen, so I don't think it was invisible. And the ball in the ballpoint clearly felt like it had locked up.
The ink inside the pens could be clearly seen, so I don't think it was invisible. And the ball in the ballpoint clearly felt like it had locked up.
Jetpens had a video on it, https://youtu.be/jXLN0InPdr0
They're amazing. First time I saw someone use one I couldn't believe it.
Mine seemed to run out of ink quicker than normal pens, however that might be possible. And they're not exactly cheap either.
Mine seemed to run out of ink quicker than normal pens, however that might be possible. And they're not exactly cheap either.
Yes, these pens dry up quickly. However, you can "undry" them using alcohol based hand sanitizer :)
Nice. Next time I get pens I'll pick some up, and remember that tip. Thanks!
Beware of very fine tips. They sound like a good idea in theory but they are almost always scratchy.
I received a set of these pens (the retractable colored ones) when starting my first job out of college. I was teaching high school students. Unlike the early generations of erasable pens, these really do leave no trace on the page when erased. As a new teacher, it was excellent for grading -- students couldn't tell when I inevitably mismarked an assignment. Better still, the ink is heavy and dark, so my students couldn't tell that their assignments were graded with erasable ink. I can't recommend them highly enough as a hybrid between pencils and pens.
> Conversely, the ink can reappear when temperatures reach below -10°C/14°F.
If they accidentally left it in a cold car, the mismarking will come back. Needs to be fairly cold though. Or a freezer.
If they accidentally left it in a cold car, the mismarking will come back. Needs to be fairly cold though. Or a freezer.
But if they happen to see them on your desk they could start changing their grades. Though I suppose high schoolers are less likely to bring every grade home.
I found my absolute favorite way to write is to use a Rocketbook which is explicitly designed to be used with FriXion pens and then OCR everything. It's really helped me record and then search any ideas or notes I have during the day.
I also have a rocketbook but don't use the OCR that much; my type of note taking / scribble doesn't need to be archived.
However it is considerably easier to erase a big surface compared to regular notebook; easier even than the other (whiteboard-like) erasable notebook based on the Staedtler Lumocolor 305 pen (Bambook / Esquoia / Whynote). The writing feeling is also better.
Do you ever have issues with your rocketbook becoming more difficult to write on over time? I've had a couple now and both have gotten less usable over time (even when cleaned the ink doesn't always seem to stick, for whatever reason)
I gave up on my rocketbook for this reason. Cleaning the pages with isopropyl alcohol helps, but even it doesn't bring the pages back to how well they worked when new.
Re-posting my comment so that you see it:
I've found the same issue - and I've discovered it's because of the pen. The pen they give to you by default writes poorly once your notebook has been used up. The clickable one and skinny ones are fine and write like day 1.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Pilot-Frixion-Clicker-Erasable-Ge...
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Pilot-FriXion-ColorSticks-Erasabl...
I've found the same issue - and I've discovered it's because of the pen. The pen they give to you by default writes poorly once your notebook has been used up. The clickable one and skinny ones are fine and write like day 1.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Pilot-Frixion-Clicker-Erasable-Ge...
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Pilot-FriXion-ColorSticks-Erasabl...
I've found the same issue - and I've discovered it's because of the pen. The pen they give to you by default writes poorly once your notebook has been used up. The clickable one and skinny ones are fine and write like day 1.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Pilot-Frixion-Clicker-Erasable-Ge...
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Pilot-FriXion-ColorSticks-Erasabl...
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Pilot-Frixion-Clicker-Erasable-Ge...
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Pilot-FriXion-ColorSticks-Erasabl...
I had a rocketbook that I used for a while but scanning it in was always such a hassle. Plus I really like audio recording with my handwritten notes. I've switched to notability on an ipad with a paperlike screen protector and it's...okay.
I tried the livescribe pen, but the app is hot garbage and wouldn't record audio unless the app was in the foreground and the screen unlocked. Their support recommended I disable my lock screen and sleep timer. I sent the pen back to amazon for a refund.
I tried the livescribe pen, but the app is hot garbage and wouldn't record audio unless the app was in the foreground and the screen unlocked. Their support recommended I disable my lock screen and sleep timer. I sent the pen back to amazon for a refund.
I love my rocketbook as well! I got a bunch for my friends and they absolutely loved it. I recommend the microwaveable one for frequent writers - I write 4-6 pages a day and it's inconvenient to spray them down each day. (For the unfamiliar, they are special plastic pages that feel like paper, but the ink can be wiped off with a wet microfiber towel)
So how does this work if you live in a hot part of the world, and say, you leave your notebook in your car for the day.... does all your work simply vanish?
I'd definitely be interested in real-world testimony but the linked article says that the "erasure temp" is 60C/140F. Your work would hopefully not be lost forever, though, because it should reappear under -10C/14F. (Along with all the mistakes you erased, I suppose)
I've lived between Costa Rica and California with these pens as my primary note takers and nothing like that's happened yet. Surprised to hear so many horror stories actually, maybe I should be more careful haha
I like these for the great writeability and never use the erasing feature. I even keep forgetting they can do that.
What's funny about this is that I've gone in completely the opposite direction. I use fountain pens, with at least one inked up with archival permanent ink. Won't fade, highly water resistant, tamper resistant (changes color when bleached, but won't come off... etc.).
Then again, I write work notes, journals, and fiction that I need to last through coffee spills or accidentally setting the notebook on the heater (which could easily be the bottom of my laptop when it's driving high-res monitors.
Then again, I write work notes, journals, and fiction that I need to last through coffee spills or accidentally setting the notebook on the heater (which could easily be the bottom of my laptop when it's driving high-res monitors.
Same here; some accidents with punctured cans in a backpack (coated fabric, watertight) led to loss of some notes written with normal blue ink. The stuff with with "Pelikan Fount India" (the archival ink they sell at the local shop) just went from "looks like laser-printed" to "looked like normal black fountain pen ink".
No issues in a EF Kakuno. When dry, needs soaking/washing to un-stick much more severely than normal blue Lamy ink. Still fine for using more than once a week.
My favorite fountain pen inks, especially ones that stand up to watercolors:
Platinum Carbon Black, Rohrer & Klingner sketchINK, and any of the De Atramentis Document Inks.
Noodler's ink is fun (especially the Lexington Grey) but not very water resistant in my experience.
Platinum Carbon Black, Rohrer & Klingner sketchINK, and any of the De Atramentis Document Inks.
Noodler's ink is fun (especially the Lexington Grey) but not very water resistant in my experience.
Many of the bulletproof Noodler's Ink inks will "move" in water, but the stuff that is soaked into the paper is absolutely bonded to the cellulose. This means your writing will remain clearly legible. Some of the bulletproof inks do not budge at all once dry.
The thing about them, however, is they are all dye-based inks, so they're generally safe for all modern fountain pens.
The sketchINK series is a pigment-based ink, if memory serves, so better for dip or brush pens. Platinum Carbon Black is a bit special. It's a nano-pigment black ink. Will not budge, and works well in fountain pens. I also hear great things about the Document Inks.
One of these days I'll pick up a few bottles of the different Document inks (which are designed to be mixed with each other). For black ink, though, my heart belongs to Noodler's Ink Heart of Darkness, followed by Dark Matter.
Rohrer & Klingner iron gall inks (Salix and Scabiosa) are on my list as well... one day.
The thing about them, however, is they are all dye-based inks, so they're generally safe for all modern fountain pens.
The sketchINK series is a pigment-based ink, if memory serves, so better for dip or brush pens. Platinum Carbon Black is a bit special. It's a nano-pigment black ink. Will not budge, and works well in fountain pens. I also hear great things about the Document Inks.
One of these days I'll pick up a few bottles of the different Document inks (which are designed to be mixed with each other). For black ink, though, my heart belongs to Noodler's Ink Heart of Darkness, followed by Dark Matter.
Rohrer & Klingner iron gall inks (Salix and Scabiosa) are on my list as well... one day.
Ever tried Noodler's Bulletproof inks?
https://www.jetpens.com/blog/Noodler-s-Fountain-Pen-Inks-A-C...
https://www.jetpens.com/blog/Noodler-s-Fountain-Pen-Inks-A-C...
I have Walnut in an Edison Collier and Dark Matter in an Eco at the moment. Walnut is "bulletproof."
Noodler's Ink Dark Matter is not. It is, however, a recreation of the official ink of the Manhattan Project. The ink wizard behind Noodler's was sent a bottle of the original Manhattan Project ink, and he chemically analyzed it, and reproduced it as closely as he could manage with modern components. Scientists and clerks were required to us it so any materials could be traced back to the project. The bottle has a picture of Oppenheimer on it.
Bottles of 54th Massachusetts and Heart of Darkness lurk in my closet waiting to come round in the rotation.
Noodler's Ink Dark Matter is not. It is, however, a recreation of the official ink of the Manhattan Project. The ink wizard behind Noodler's was sent a bottle of the original Manhattan Project ink, and he chemically analyzed it, and reproduced it as closely as he could manage with modern components. Scientists and clerks were required to us it so any materials could be traced back to the project. The bottle has a picture of Oppenheimer on it.
Bottles of 54th Massachusetts and Heart of Darkness lurk in my closet waiting to come round in the rotation.
Avoid Baystate Blue!
Counterpoint: BSB is my favorite ink
Why?
It has a reputation of staining everything and notoriously difficult to clean out of some pens.
Baystate Blue also seems to be a cursed ink. It's not a matter of if you drop that bottle, but a matter of when.
Baystate Blue also seems to be a cursed ink. It's not a matter of if you drop that bottle, but a matter of when.
It's a vibrant blue and is an archival ink. Cannot remove it and it's impossible to miss when you stain something with it. It'll stain your fingers for days.
If you drop it on a rug, or countertop or spill some while filling or cleaning a pen it's a major pain to clean up, if you can even clean it up.
It also has a reputation for staining the ink reservoir of your pen and if you have a fancy demonstrator to show off the ink you'll only ever see blue and none of the fun colors you're using.
If you drop it on a rug, or countertop or spill some while filling or cleaning a pen it's a major pain to clean up, if you can even clean it up.
It also has a reputation for staining the ink reservoir of your pen and if you have a fancy demonstrator to show off the ink you'll only ever see blue and none of the fun colors you're using.
Which is why Noodler's Ink issues a free fountain pen (The Charlie) with the 4.5 oz. eyedropper bottle. You can use that, or you dedicate an inexpensive pen, like a TWSBI Eco or a Pilot Metropolitan to the ink. (Many do this.)
These are my favorite pens I've ever used. Why?
- The eraser literally never runs out. I've had 1 of them for years and gone through 5+ ink refills
- They actually erase well with very minimal smearing unlike the old "erasable" pens of the 2000's
- Writing in ink while having the erasability of a pencil is great
- The ink does disappear in high heat, but I have never lost anything important. I can almost always get it back using the freezer method
Highly recommend!
- The eraser literally never runs out. I've had 1 of them for years and gone through 5+ ink refills
- They actually erase well with very minimal smearing unlike the old "erasable" pens of the 2000's
- Writing in ink while having the erasability of a pencil is great
- The ink does disappear in high heat, but I have never lost anything important. I can almost always get it back using the freezer method
Highly recommend!
That's the pen I always used at exams at university! Maybe at bit risky, but never had any issues (and being able to fix things without using that white thingy to erase was wonderful).
When a friend discovered them he used it to do a puzzle (for a home scape room). It was a crossword than when solved it said something like "heat this", and when you did it, the black squares disappeared revealing the code. The squares were made with that ink.
When a friend discovered them he used it to do a puzzle (for a home scape room). It was a crossword than when solved it said something like "heat this", and when you did it, the black squares disappeared revealing the code. The squares were made with that ink.
A friend of mine had an incident with these pens in high school. Used one on his physics midterm exam, teacher put a laptop blowing hot air onto the pile of papers before grading, so 3/4 of every page were just gone. He had to retake it.
If you put the paper in the freezer, the ink will reappear.
The ink doesn't really go anywhere, even when you use the "eraser". It just becomes transparent. This can be reversed by exposing it to cold.
Pilot mentions this on their tips and tricks page: https://www.pilot-frixion.uk/uk/tips-and-tricks/
The ink doesn't really go anywhere, even when you use the "eraser". It just becomes transparent. This can be reversed by exposing it to cold.
Pilot mentions this on their tips and tricks page: https://www.pilot-frixion.uk/uk/tips-and-tricks/
But if you erased a lot then the page would be a mess after everything re-appears.
Wow, that's just like the secret spy pen from the Johnson Smith catalog. Brings back memories.
That’s too bad. He could have just put it in the freezer to get the ink back. Uh, but let’s keep that between us.
Spoiler: that was the physics test. He failed.
My wife use them for sewing, they disappear pretty well after a rapid ironing ! Much better than chalk or other erasable ink.
I remember tailors in Turkey using a thin bar of soap for that back when I was a child.
That's tailors'chalk. Looks like a thin bar of soap. https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tailor%27s_chalks....
Does anyone know what chemicals are involved? I've been looking for a dye that can go on clear then be "activated" later for a project.
I don't use FriXion pens but I did discover JetPens a couple of years ago and have absolutely fallen in love with high end Japanese-market gel pens. Pilot and Uni make so many amazing pens that don't get sold in the US - especially if you like ultrafine tips.
because of its heat-reacting properties, the ink may disappear if left out in a hot car or by a heater (the official temperature at which it “erases” is 60°C/140°F)
Oh man. "I used these pens a lot and now several years of notebooks are empty because there was a heat wave" is a tragedy waiting to happen.
Oh man. "I used these pens a lot and now several years of notebooks are empty because there was a heat wave" is a tragedy waiting to happen.
I had a friend who lost some notes to this: left a notepad in the car during summer, found later that some of the writing had "disappeared."
Paper is pretty insulating (thinking about paper within a notebook here), so I suspect most people will be safe, assuming they don't leave loose sheets of paper in direct summer sunlight on their car's seat for long periods of time…
Though, when I learned about their incident, I immediately stopped using a FriXion for any writing I might want to come back to in 2+ weeks' time.
Paper is pretty insulating (thinking about paper within a notebook here), so I suspect most people will be safe, assuming they don't leave loose sheets of paper in direct summer sunlight on their car's seat for long periods of time…
Though, when I learned about their incident, I immediately stopped using a FriXion for any writing I might want to come back to in 2+ weeks' time.
Well, I use them with a rocketbook. The intended use case is to record the note digitally when the notebook is full, and then intentionally heat wipe and reuse. Realistically, most of my notes are low value after weeks let alone years, but peace of mind is cheap!
I've always wondered if anyone would combine similar technology with inkjet printers, allowing you to print something out, and then reuse the paper when you were done with it and wanted to print something new.
> Conversely, the ink can reappear when temperatures reach below -10°C/14°F.
Neat. Disappearing, reappearing ink -- like the McGuffin in Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
Neat. Disappearing, reappearing ink -- like the McGuffin in Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
I use them regularly being in Japan. I must be having a stack of at least fifty pens + refills. They are fairly cheap (~$2) and available everywhere. I made a lot of engineering notes with these pens.
One observation not mentioned in these discussions is that the ink tends to fade quite a bit over time. Its not just the heat. My rooms are temperature-controlled. But notes from a year ago for e.g are lighter & several alphabets show part erasure. Give or take a few years, they fade away almost completely. Personal observation but restricted to using the fine tips (0.38 & 0.4). Not sure if same problem happens in 0.5 & 0.7 too.
Japan government entities do not recommend using this pen when filling out any form or making any signature. The person in counter quickly tests the ink every time a form gets submitted.
One observation not mentioned in these discussions is that the ink tends to fade quite a bit over time. Its not just the heat. My rooms are temperature-controlled. But notes from a year ago for e.g are lighter & several alphabets show part erasure. Give or take a few years, they fade away almost completely. Personal observation but restricted to using the fine tips (0.38 & 0.4). Not sure if same problem happens in 0.5 & 0.7 too.
Japan government entities do not recommend using this pen when filling out any form or making any signature. The person in counter quickly tests the ink every time a form gets submitted.
I never use these pens anymore because of it's weird use case: writings which doesn't need to be kept long-term and at the same time you're sure will be handled properly (temperature-wise).