Review: @PilotPenUSA FriXion Erasable Highlighters @JetPens

A lovely tweep sent me these three Pilot FriXion erasable highlighters - thank you Tallia! I was thrilled too because I had held out on FriXions for the longest time (stupid me), so I went all out when these arrived. Plus, Tallia picked some great colors. Violet, pink, and blue are way more exciting than the yellow.

The Pilot FriXion erasable highlighters are pretty neat looking. The bodies are bright and attractive, with writing I can't read on them. Not that it matters. It's pretty easy to figure out what they are. My trio of highlighters look pretty cute together and I can't help but think Pilot should make some more colors because that would be pretty awesome to look at.

I'm still fascinated by the FriXion erasing mechanism. It's so efficient and clean and easy!I love the appearance of the little erasing nub on the end of the FriXions.

How well do they work? Very well indeed. The tips are clean and precise and lay down a smooth, consistent line. Once the line has dried, it's so easy to erase whatever you want using the little nub. When highlighting over three different pen ink types: liquid ink, gel ink, and ballpoint ink, the highlighter gave no problems with bleeding of any of these inks from the three pens I tested. Erasing works best over the ballpoint pen, not surprisingly. The liquid ink pen smudged ever so slightly but it's hardly noticeable. The gel pen smudged even less than the liquid ink pen, so with any of these ink types, you shouldn't have much trouble. Furthermore, the ink doesn't bleed through the page, even on quite thin paper.


So far, my only complaint about these highlighters (and FriXions in general) is the location of the little nub. While it probably looks best at the end of the pen, it's a bit annoying if the pen is posted and you need to erase something. This happens more with pens than highlighters though (which I don't usually post).

I am happy that these pens are made with 76% recycled materials. That's not too shabby. Too bad they're not refillable!

With regard to the special ink, JetPens says:

These new highlighters from Pilot erase by FRICTION! The highlighters have a special rubber end to rub the thermo sensitive ink away with, thus no eraser by-products are produced, yet your highlights disappear magnificently. Best of all, they are made of 76% recycled plastic. Remember to also check out the FriXion pens!

Interestingly enough, the ink in FriXion pens will actually reappear when the temperature reaches below -10 C (under 14 Fahrenheit). A freezer is sufficiently cold enough to make the ink start to reappear. It is like a magic pen for adults!

Because the ink in FriXion pens are thermo sensitive, we do not advise for them to be left in hot cars, used for mailing, or subjected to a condition that exposes it to a lot of friction.

Cool. I can deal with that. I didn't try putting them in direct sunlight and then into the freezer. That would be a fun experiment. Anyhow, take this as a warning that you probably shouldn't use FriXions for really important things. Just in case.

Price
JetPens - $1.65
Overall
A fun twist on a regular old highlighter. The Pilot FriXion erasable highlighters are good looking highlighters, they have nice, solid colors, clean lines, and are erasable! How exciting!! For only $1.65, they're not too bad at all. I really enjoy using these and I'm so grateful to Tallia for sending these to me! They have a permanent home in my pencil case!