We went on a search for a notebook without lines to use in university classes once the new semester was starting. At the time, I was an engineering student but once I asked my college friends’ advice on finding an unruled notebook, they said they had been looking for one too and couldn’t find one for chemistry and other sciences.
But after an extensive almost year-long journey in finding a notebook for math and chemistry in college, we found the top contenders for blank notebooks for college and for professionals in creative fields and even ended up creating our own.
Our Top 7 Favorite Notebooks Without Lines
Finally, here are the results! Check out our favorites. After an extensive almost year-long journey in finding a notebook for math and chemistry in college, we found the top contenders for blank notebooks for college and for professionals in creative fields.
1. Rhodia Reverse Book
Rhodia is a part of Clairefontaine (listed below) that offers these awesome square-shaped notebooks made with the quality of Clairefontaine. The notebook has a dot-grid format, so they aren’t blank. This is great for classes that have some type of graphing involved.
The current price for one of these notebooks is around $10.99. It has 80 vellum sheets and comes in their standard options of either orange or black.
The notepad is 8 1/4″ on both sides, and has a coated cover with cardboard on the back. If you’re one of those people that want to rip out the pages of their beloved notebooks, you’re in luck because this one has perforated pages. Just try to avoid having them ripped off when you don’t actually want them off.
2. Emnotes
Emnotes is a premium quality brand of notebooks that only manufactures blank notebooks of different styles, but we wanted to show a spiral unruled notebook on here. This one turned out to be the only notebook without lines that was blank when we made it, had non-perforable high-quality paper, was available in different colors, and priced around $8 each when you purchase a pack of them.
The size is a normal 8 1/2 by 11″ (standard printer paper size, here in the U.S.). We actually manufactured these by hand at first before moving onto a manufacturing plant, though some of our custom books are still made to order. They quickly became the notebook to use for us in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields in college.
3. Field Notes
Field Notes offers small and large notebooks in the format that you see in the picture above. Their website has a nice almost earthy feel. If you’re trying to use these to take the place of composition notebooks, order the pack of notebooks that are large and blank (yes, they come in multiple sizes).
Trust us on this, it is a game changer for quick notes on the go or for scratch paper during classes or doodles. Though they appear flimsy on the photos, they’re more sturdy than you might imagine, though they will fold and bend. It’s part of the Field Notes experience.
4. Leuchtturm1917
Leuchtturm1917 (with their complicated name) actually makes an excellent quality notebook for bullet journalers that almost makes the papers too nice to want to write on. The price is around $20, and come in an A5 size.
Their design game is also on point as they offer them in different colors. I tried these myself and used it for taking notes while I was reading. They’re made with a dot-grid and therefore the pages are not blank, but are still a great option.
5. Moleskine
We couldn’t finish off the list without including one of the most famous of the pack, Moleskine. Despite not knowing how to properly pronounce it yet, this is my favorite go-to notebook when it comes down to choosing a journal. They are pricey at a $25 for a large blank book, but last enough time to fill them up.
I tried using these for school but they don’t lay flat on the table and I look like I’m writing in a diary when listening to a professor and jotting down notes. Excellent paper quality and they all have a little pocket in the back to put random things in.
Where to Purchase Unruled Notebooks
Specialty art and bookstores typically offer a whole section dedicated to specialty notebooks. Since bookworms and artists are all a very specific clientele, prices tend to be a little steeper. What I can recommend is to visit their websites and look up the prices directly on there. Purchasing directly from the manufacturer usually gets you the best deals.
The exception to this rule is closeout websites that may be trying to get rid of excess inventory. Amazon usually has offers like these when sellers want to clear out their items from their warehouses.
Our notebooks are available in Amazon, Etsy (for custom orders), and directly on this website and are shipped directly to your home or office.
How much should a notepad cost?
If you are in college and are searching for affordable notebooks, please don’t purchase a high-end $30 notebook right away. One that will work for you and be of great quality should be between $5 and $15, if you’re planning on spending more than that, I have a great solution.
Though bulky, a binder will be your solution. Grab an empty three-ring binder and buy some three-hole punched paper and DIY it until you can afford a notebook. It’s what I used to do and it was an easy way to customize the type of paper that I actually wanted (i.e. blank).
Won’t it cost more to buy online because of shipping?
Not necessarily. Products still get shipped wherever you purchased them. It’s how products get to the store where you buy them from and it also costs money. Yes, shipping costs are rising, but online retailers do their best to negotiate their shipping costs down and pass on those savings onto you. It’s what we try to do here anyway.
You can always score deals with free shipping offers or by searching for products that already include their shipping costs so you’ll pay what you see with no added fees.
Why You Should Get One
Writing is a very old art form and everybody has different styles of writing. If you know what your objective is, you should definitely be looking for the tools that will make your work easier.
Lines on a notebook never made my diagrams easier in chemistry class and they definitely didn’t help with other classes that required me to draw graphs. I also had trouble with pages accidentally ripping out since I like to fold the notebook around and hold it in awkward positions, so I started using one that had permanent pages, but still had the spiral.
If you’ve never taken notes in a notebook without lines, you’re in for a nice surprise. It may take a little bit of practice and your writing might end up curling down as you write, but you’ll get the hang of it in no time and wonder why in the world anyone else would still use ugly blue lines on a paper while taking notes.