Originally Posted by
XYZZY
Is there anything to watch out for regarding inks? For example, if inks are permanent, or water resistant, on papers from wood pulp can I assume similar behavior on a cotton paper?
Yes, very similar. The fiber in both cases is cellulose. The major difference is that cotton, flax (linen), and some other fibers, are much longer, and hence stronger. For writing papers the pulp is very clean and free of lignin and other artifacts.
It is of course possible that some dyes attach (or not) to some of the minor materials in the pulp, such as
fillers. The papers that I mentioned above are pretty pure. They're also UV dull, and don't have any brighteners either.
About brightening agents: It is common to add brighteners (either at the wet end or the dry end on the paper machine) and that's why we can get papers that have a 100% brightness, or even greater! These are fluorescent dyes which turn non visible frequencies of light into visible. We see these in photo papers and some copy papers. But many manufacturers add these in smaller quantities to maintain the target brightness for the product. After several years the whitener will degrade because of reaction with oxygen, so it is not really a permanent solution. However, it is not something you expect in writing papers, especially non wood ones.
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