» Rhodia in the Rain: User Reports Near Disaster Averted!
Gail Young sent me an e-mail to tell me about her Rhodia near disaster:
“I accidentally left my Rhodia No. 16 on a table Sunday, along with my cell phone, while I was grilling sausages and peppers and watching the fire in the fire pit on the other side of the back yard. A steady rain began at sunset–our Texas drought appears over, and we are thinking of building arks–and in my haste to get the food inside, I forgot the Rhodia and phone for about six hours. When I did remember and brought it in, I just left it on its side to dry. It was somewhat warped, so when it was nearly dry I put it between volumes of my trusty Oxford English Dictionary (very heavy). It looks so much like new that there’s no point in taking a picture of it! The cover even protected the writing–fountain pen ink and watercolors–inside! What a joy!”
Gail
“PS And kudos to Samsung on the phone: I just took it apart and let it dry overnight. It, too, is perfect again!”
Comments
Rhodia and Clairefontaine notebooks are fairly weather resistant. I typically write outside, and while I normally seek cover if it starts raining, I’ve noticed that the paper doesn’t warp that much if a few drops get on it, and it recovers well after I’ve closed up the notebook. (Ink smearing is another matter, but a minor one.)
I also made a water damage-related discovery a little while back. I laid out some loose handwritten pages (Rhodia) on the carpet of my apartment, trying to organize my thoughts. I left them there for a while, then experienced a teeny bit of flooding, wetting the carpet and the pages. The handwriting was still legible, and the ink spread out a bit to produce a neat halo effect around the letters. The paper was only a tiny bit warped when it dried, but I didn’t try to actively flatten it out.
If I was an artist, I might try to take advantage of this little mistake (but I’m not). Maybe this effect can be reproduced by laying loose sheets on a damp cloth or sheet.
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