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Zebra Mildliners are double-ended highlighters that come in a massive range of colors. On one side, you get a classic chisel tip, perfect for standard highlighting. On the other, there’s a rounded bullet tip, which works well for underlining, circling, or filling in bullet journal layouts.
They come in packs of 5, 8, 10, 12, 15, and even 25, covering every hue across the spectrum. If you have a favorite color, chances are there’s a Mildliner for it. If you don’t have a favorite color, you will by the time you start collecting these.
Mildliners are everywhere—you can find them at stationery shops, big-box stores, and online retailers. They’re also not expensive, which makes it dangerously easy to pick up a set “just to try” and suddenly find yourself with a drawer full of them. That’s my story.
They have a dedicated following among Hobonichi planner users, study bloggers, and the study aesthetic crowd in general. I promise that’s not a pejorative—it’s just an observation that anyone who likes to make their workspace look neat and color-coded has probably picked up a pack or two of Mildliners. They’re a stationery staple for a reason.
The Accidental Mildliner Owner
For a long time, I wasn’t sure Mildliners were for me. I loved the boldness of classic highlighters like the Stabilo Boss and wasn’t drawn to the soft, muted tones that Mildliners are known for. I also wasn’t part of the studyblr scene and didn’t have much use for aesthetic note-taking.
But then I started accumulating Mildliners by accident—through JetPens samplers and multi-packs—until I realized I had 17 of them. I even gave a couple away because I had duplicates. At that point, I figured I might as well jump on the hype train to see what’s going on.
And while I’m still not Mildliner-obsessed, I have to admit: I get it now.
The Popular Pen at the Prom
The biggest selling points of Mildliners are the dual tips and the color selection. The chisel tip is great for highlighting printed or handwritten text, while the rounded tip works well for filling in graphs, underlining, or marking bullet journal tasks.
I personally use both tips in my Hobonichi Weeks. The chisel tip helps me mark off completed appointments on the planner pages, while the round tip is great for filling in daily tasks on the graph paper side. They add a nice pop of color without overpowering the page, which is something I appreciate more than I expected.
And then there’s the color selection—which is absolutely ridiculous in the best way possible.
There are cool colors, fluorescent colors, friendly colors, gray colors, refreshing colors, warm colors, assorted yellow colors, assorted gentle colors, winter colors, and even ones called hibiscus. I only own a handful (literally), and I honestly don’t think I have enough time (or drawer space) to collect every single one. But if you want a specific aesthetic or a specific shade, there’s a Mildliner set that fits.
Where Mildliners Fall Short
As much as I like using them, Mildliners have their issues—especially when it comes to ink sensitivity.
The tips stain easily, even with ballpoint ink. If you don’t let your writing dry completely before highlighting over it, you’ll smudge the ink and permanently stain your Mildliner tip. And if you use gel ink? You might as well say goodbye to your highlighter entirely.
I’ve read that the workaround is to highlight first and write over it later, but that defeats the whole purpose of highlighting. If I’m using a highlighter, it’s because I already wrote something down that I want to emphasize—not because I planned my color-coding ahead of time.
The color payoff also varies depending on what you’re highlighting. While they show up well on most types of paper, including Tomoe River paper (a huge plus for us Hobonichi users), they don’t work well on light, fine ink. If your handwriting is tiny and neat, a Mildliner might not give you enough contrast to make text stand out. In that case, underlining might be a better option than traditional highlighting.
Final Thoughts
Mildliners might not be the perfect highlighter for everyone, but they do serve a purpose. I probably wouldn’t recommend them as the ultimate highlighter, but for my Hobonichi Weeks and other Hobonichi Techo books, they work surprisingly well. The color options are unbeatable, and the fact that they don’t bleed through Tomoe River paper makes them a solid choice.
If you don’t mind their quirks and like their aesthetic appeal, they’re worth trying. Just be ready to wait for ink to dry before you start highlighting, or prepare to sacrifice a few tips along the way.
They come in packs of 5, 8, 10, 12, 15, and even 25, covering every hue across the spectrum. If you have a favorite color, chances are there’s a Mildliner for it. If you don’t have a favorite color, you will by the time you start collecting these.
Mildliners are everywhere—you can find them at stationery shops, big-box stores, and online retailers. They’re also not expensive, which makes it dangerously easy to pick up a set “just to try” and suddenly find yourself with a drawer full of them. That’s my story.
They have a dedicated following among Hobonichi planner users, study bloggers, and the study aesthetic crowd in general. I promise that’s not a pejorative—it’s just an observation that anyone who likes to make their workspace look neat and color-coded has probably picked up a pack or two of Mildliners. They’re a stationery staple for a reason.
The Accidental Mildliner Owner
For a long time, I wasn’t sure Mildliners were for me. I loved the boldness of classic highlighters like the Stabilo Boss and wasn’t drawn to the soft, muted tones that Mildliners are known for. I also wasn’t part of the studyblr scene and didn’t have much use for aesthetic note-taking.
But then I started accumulating Mildliners by accident—through JetPens samplers and multi-packs—until I realized I had 17 of them. I even gave a couple away because I had duplicates. At that point, I figured I might as well jump on the hype train to see what’s going on.
And while I’m still not Mildliner-obsessed, I have to admit: I get it now.
The Popular Pen at the Prom
The biggest selling points of Mildliners are the dual tips and the color selection. The chisel tip is great for highlighting printed or handwritten text, while the rounded tip works well for filling in graphs, underlining, or marking bullet journal tasks.
I personally use both tips in my Hobonichi Weeks. The chisel tip helps me mark off completed appointments on the planner pages, while the round tip is great for filling in daily tasks on the graph paper side. They add a nice pop of color without overpowering the page, which is something I appreciate more than I expected.
And then there’s the color selection—which is absolutely ridiculous in the best way possible.
There are cool colors, fluorescent colors, friendly colors, gray colors, refreshing colors, warm colors, assorted yellow colors, assorted gentle colors, winter colors, and even ones called hibiscus. I only own a handful (literally), and I honestly don’t think I have enough time (or drawer space) to collect every single one. But if you want a specific aesthetic or a specific shade, there’s a Mildliner set that fits.
Where Mildliners Fall Short
As much as I like using them, Mildliners have their issues—especially when it comes to ink sensitivity.
The tips stain easily, even with ballpoint ink. If you don’t let your writing dry completely before highlighting over it, you’ll smudge the ink and permanently stain your Mildliner tip. And if you use gel ink? You might as well say goodbye to your highlighter entirely.
I’ve read that the workaround is to highlight first and write over it later, but that defeats the whole purpose of highlighting. If I’m using a highlighter, it’s because I already wrote something down that I want to emphasize—not because I planned my color-coding ahead of time.
The color payoff also varies depending on what you’re highlighting. While they show up well on most types of paper, including Tomoe River paper (a huge plus for us Hobonichi users), they don’t work well on light, fine ink. If your handwriting is tiny and neat, a Mildliner might not give you enough contrast to make text stand out. In that case, underlining might be a better option than traditional highlighting.
Final Thoughts
Mildliners might not be the perfect highlighter for everyone, but they do serve a purpose. I probably wouldn’t recommend them as the ultimate highlighter, but for my Hobonichi Weeks and other Hobonichi Techo books, they work surprisingly well. The color options are unbeatable, and the fact that they don’t bleed through Tomoe River paper makes them a solid choice.
If you don’t mind their quirks and like their aesthetic appeal, they’re worth trying. Just be ready to wait for ink to dry before you start highlighting, or prepare to sacrifice a few tips along the way.
