Can you believe it? Can you believe that I have only recently discovered how useful Frixion pens are?
I have always preferred to use a pencil when writing in my diaries, address books etc. I have a real ‘thing’ about scoring out and re-writing diary entries and I hate to see address books with addresses and phone numbers scored out and rewritten. I know many people feel that this is all part of a complete record of events but I’m not one of them. It’s just one of my (many) pet hates however, I have noticed lately that in many of the blogs about planning and organising, people colour code their diary entries and I decided to investigate this further. Here is what I discovered.
Now, I have heard of Frixion pens and I have seen them in use, but the point that had completely passed me by was that these particular pens are erasable. Doh! You can write with them, erase any mistakes and then rewrite whatever it was that you were writing – without the mistakes. The little silvery grey bit on the end of each pen is the eraser and the great thing is that this means I can now colour code my diary entries!
These pens come in a choice of eight colours and as you can see from the photo I decided to go for the whole set. The colours are purple, black, orange, green, light blue, red, dark blue and pink. I like pens with a medium or medium-fine nib and these pens suit me perfectly. The first time I used each pen I found them a bit scratchy on the paper but that’s only to be expected with new pens and, once the ink started to flow, I found that they write beautifully.
On to the science bit now. Actually, I don't do science so I'll just try to explain how they work as best I can. Apparently the ink that Pilot uses is 'thermo-reactive'. This means that when you rub the eraser over the ink, the heat caused by the friction causes the ink to become translucent. This gives the effect of the writing disappearing. Now, if you so desired, you could then place the paper in the freezer and the writing should reappear although it will be fainter than it was before. A word of warning here. DO NOT use these pens to sign important or official documents and do not leave important work lying near a direct heat source i.e. sunlight, if it has been written using one of these pens.
I will still use my pencils to make my initial diary entries but will update the entries in the relevant colour later on in the day. For example I intend to use purple for personal stuff, red for financial, light blue for work and so on. The reason for initially writing in pencil is that I don’t want to have to carry the pens around with me all the time so they will stay in the house and I will continue using my Waterman mechanical pencils which I keep in each of my Filofaxes. Of course I have to now store my Frixion pens safely and in order to do that I had to get myself a lovely purple Quattro Colore pencil case.
I definitely recommend these pens if you like to colour code your diary entries or if you just happen to like using different coloured pens. The other thing that they would be great for is doing crosswords. Sometimes pencil just isn't dark enough but pens are no good if you make a mistake. Frixion pens give you the best of both worlds. They are inexpensive and can easily be bought from good stationers. I got mine from the wonderfully efficient LBM Stationery on eBay - the same place that I got my Filofax Flex. The other great thing is that refills are available for your pens when the ink runs out. The refills come in packs of three - one colour per pack - so you don't have to throw the pens away.
If you would like to ask anything about these pens or have anything you would like to add then please feel free to comment in the comment section.
Denise x
I have always preferred to use a pencil when writing in my diaries, address books etc. I have a real ‘thing’ about scoring out and re-writing diary entries and I hate to see address books with addresses and phone numbers scored out and rewritten. I know many people feel that this is all part of a complete record of events but I’m not one of them. It’s just one of my (many) pet hates however, I have noticed lately that in many of the blogs about planning and organising, people colour code their diary entries and I decided to investigate this further. Here is what I discovered.
FRIXION
by Pilot Pens
Now, I have heard of Frixion pens and I have seen them in use, but the point that had completely passed me by was that these particular pens are erasable. Doh! You can write with them, erase any mistakes and then rewrite whatever it was that you were writing – without the mistakes. The little silvery grey bit on the end of each pen is the eraser and the great thing is that this means I can now colour code my diary entries!
These pens come in a choice of eight colours and as you can see from the photo I decided to go for the whole set. The colours are purple, black, orange, green, light blue, red, dark blue and pink. I like pens with a medium or medium-fine nib and these pens suit me perfectly. The first time I used each pen I found them a bit scratchy on the paper but that’s only to be expected with new pens and, once the ink started to flow, I found that they write beautifully.
On to the science bit now. Actually, I don't do science so I'll just try to explain how they work as best I can. Apparently the ink that Pilot uses is 'thermo-reactive'. This means that when you rub the eraser over the ink, the heat caused by the friction causes the ink to become translucent. This gives the effect of the writing disappearing. Now, if you so desired, you could then place the paper in the freezer and the writing should reappear although it will be fainter than it was before. A word of warning here. DO NOT use these pens to sign important or official documents and do not leave important work lying near a direct heat source i.e. sunlight, if it has been written using one of these pens.
I will still use my pencils to make my initial diary entries but will update the entries in the relevant colour later on in the day. For example I intend to use purple for personal stuff, red for financial, light blue for work and so on. The reason for initially writing in pencil is that I don’t want to have to carry the pens around with me all the time so they will stay in the house and I will continue using my Waterman mechanical pencils which I keep in each of my Filofaxes. Of course I have to now store my Frixion pens safely and in order to do that I had to get myself a lovely purple Quattro Colore pencil case.
I definitely recommend these pens if you like to colour code your diary entries or if you just happen to like using different coloured pens. The other thing that they would be great for is doing crosswords. Sometimes pencil just isn't dark enough but pens are no good if you make a mistake. Frixion pens give you the best of both worlds. They are inexpensive and can easily be bought from good stationers. I got mine from the wonderfully efficient LBM Stationery on eBay - the same place that I got my Filofax Flex. The other great thing is that refills are available for your pens when the ink runs out. The refills come in packs of three - one colour per pack - so you don't have to throw the pens away.
If you would like to ask anything about these pens or have anything you would like to add then please feel free to comment in the comment section.
Denise x
Comments
I love these pens as well. I recently bought a retractable set on line from JetPens--a few more colors and no caps. I also find pencil lead more difficult to read, and scratchouts bother me too. Funny thing-I used a Bic 4 color in brights the other day on a whim, and had to remember not to try to erase those markings. Silly me! FriXions from now on (with exceptions as you noted). :)