You've seen the commercials and you've asked yourself, "Does it work?" The Mr. Clean Magic Eraser appears to remove to marks from walls buy simply rubbing on them.
To a parent with small, messy children in the house, this appears to good to be true.
Yesterday I was at the supermarket, tasked with buying dishwasher detergent and was scanning the cleaning chemicals section when I spied the package on the shelf. I picked up the box and examined it. It felt light as if there was nothing inside. Could this little sponge truly remove years of crayons, markers, fingerprints, and other child residue from the house?
For $2.50 I decided to give it a test in tradtional Cruft fashion.
I'm thinking there's no way this thing works.
I mean really, can I trust Mr. Clean? The dude looks like a skinhead...
This is the eraser. It feels light and airy. Much lighter than a normal sponge.
The instructions explain to wet the Magic Eraser, wring out extra water, and start erasing.
Here is a typical set of fingerprint in our house on a doorway.
Usually to get this off requires a mixture of some stinky chemicals, buckets, rags, etc.
Holy truth-in-advertising Batman! The Magic Eraser cleaned it one wipe!
I'm not kidding, I just wiped it on the doorway and the stuff came right off.
In fact there was no mark in the area that the eraser couldn't remove.
Next I had to try it on something truly tough.
This hallway mark is the result of some bash lately that has resisted the usual chemicals.
I wasn't sure if it was crayon, paint or something else.
I had to apply a bit more pressure, but the mark came completely off.
In the same area, it took off pencil and marker spots easily.
Again, there was no mark that the Magic Eraser could not remove.
At this point, Michele walked over to see what I was doing (Mainly 'cause I kept saying "Holy Crap!" over and over.) and give it a test.
She was skeptical at first but soon was roaming the house happily with the Magic Eraser saying "Holy Crap!" herself in amazement that nothing could resist the awesome power of the Magic Eraser.
This is what a Magic Eraser looks like after light use.
It disintegrates quite fast in use.
It doesn't leave much mess, but there can be drops of whitish looking fluid on the floor near where you use it. The stuff wipes up easily.
Overall, Mr. Clean Magic Eraser more than lives up to the claims. It is an outstanding product that works exceedingly well.
The only drawback is that the Magic Eraser wears out very quickly. As soon as you start using it, it starts beaking down. The more pressure you apply, the faster it breaks down. Perhaps that's part of how it works, but once you start using it, you'll wish you had bought more.
Michele has told me to "Go buy all they have!" so she can begin a fullscale assault on the surfaces of the house. I mention that supposedly it works on bathroom tile to remove scum and scale and she got a dreamy look in her face.
Posted by michael at July 18, 2004 10:24 AM