Mr. Clean’s Magic Eraser really works

It came right off the wall with little effort and saved me a lot of time, aggravation and money. Wouldn’t it be great if this happened all the time on a remodeling project? A final walk-through with a client at the completion of a project usually reveals any last minute items that were overlooked before a final check is released. On this day, the only item that surfaced was a pencil leveling mark that was used to place the wall mirror. The mirror was mounted away from the wall so if you looked in from the side you could barely see the pencil mark but it had to be fixed or the client would always remember it. I asked Cory to go out and grab the Magic Eraser from the van while I removed the pivoting mirror. While I held the fancy mirror Cory soaked the Magic Eraser in water and rung out any excess. Carefully rubbing the white eraser over the pencil marks quickly removed the marks with no damage to the painted wall. Something so simple left the client very impressed and in a matter of minutes we had the mirror back on the wall and a check in hand.

This Magic Eraser is an amazing scientific discovery which became available in stores around 2003. I think the formulation was originally intended for another purpose but someone must have discovered that it worked well at removing dirt and the rest is history. The box says you can use it in the kitchen for appliances, counters, faucets, tile and grout as well as just about any other place in the house like the bathroom. After you squeeze out the excess water you rub the eraser on a dirty surface and watch with amazement as the dirty lifts off like magic. It works great on pencil, pen, markers, crayon and grease. I would caution not to rub too hard on painted, glossy or shiny surfaces because it might create some microscopic scratches.

Where it really shines is removing soap scum from glass shower doors. Soap scum is hard to remove with common household chemicals so I can’t believe it works so well. When using it on glass you can try two things. First drench the eraser and don’t squeeze it out before rubbing over the soap scum. The soap scum tends to be hazy and if the sponge is too dry it spreads the haze all over the glass. After you sponge the entire glass surface you can finish up with some paper towels or dry newspaper (newspaper works great on glass in lieu of paper towels). Another option is to pour some Dawn dish soap on the Magic Eraser which will give it a little extra help to clean those stubborn streaks. The soap seems to lubricate the surface nicely and you’ll need to rinse it down with clean water. Hot water works best as it will evaporate quickly with no need for paper towels. If you want to kick it up a notch you can also add a coating of Rain-X after the glass is dry. If you’ve ever used Rain-X on your car windshield you know how well it repels water.

I now keep plenty of Magic Erasers on hand at all times including in the work vans. You never know when you’ll have a mess to erase. I am sure there are hundreds of other uses and I’d love to hear of them if you’d like to leave a comment.