Twenty sheets of genuine blotting paper — unsized, uncalendered, 180 gsm, in a warm cream. Unsized is the whole point: sizing is what stops paper absorbing ink, so blotting stock is made deliberately without it and the fibre drinks on contact. A sheet lifts surplus ink in about a second and will not smear if it is pressed straight down and lifted straight up rather than wiped.
Cut to 110 by 220 mm, which is the standard curve length for our rocker blotters and also a comfortable size to lay under the writing hand on a long session. A hand resting on fresh ink is a more common cause of a ruined page than a genuine blot.
Each sheet will take roughly thirty blots before the surface is saturated enough to start transferring rather than absorbing. Hold it up to a light: when the stains overlap, change it. They are cheap for exactly this reason.
