The Mr. Clean Magic Eraser
During my last trip to Target, I was in the household cleaner aisle searching for carpet stain remover when I came across a package of 2 Mr. Clean Magic Erasers for $2.50. I decided to give it a try. I had thoughts of caked on soap scum in my bathtub in mind and figured it was worth a shot since Mr. Bubbles, Soft Scrub, Clorox Wipes and Lysol had as of yet failed to do the trick. Sure they helped to clean the tub, but the caked on soap in the soap rack never seemed to quite come off and those tough corners of the tub where all the scum seems to settle never seemed to be truly free of grime. First though, I wanted to know more about this product and checked out their web site when I got home.
The Mr. Clean Magic Eraser is a soft cleaning pad that acts just like an eraser, magically washing away tough dirt, grime, marks and soap scum. The Magic Eraser is useful for soap scum, interior doors, baseboard and light switches, crayon marks, car hub caps, interior car dashboard and console, scuff marks on floors and patio furniture, dried food in microwaves, refrigerators and built up dirt on surfaces around your home.
How does the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser work? Once the eraser has been removed from the package and wet with water, users should squeeze the eraser to activate the special ingredients inside the sponge. Then, rub over the dirt, stain or soap scum you wish to clean. The Magic Eraser seems to magically make dirt and stains disappear without use of additional cleaning agents or tough scrubbing. I have not been able to find the actual ingredients of the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser either on this product or on their website, but the web site had an interesting statement about this product not containing formaldehyde as some recent claims have suggested. The product contains “formaldehyde-melamine- sodium bisulfite copolymer, which according to the website is not formaldehyde even though the name is in the ingredient list. Mr. Clean states that this product is non-toxic, safe for use and poses no danger to consumers when properly used (e.g. not ingested). However, they go on to state, “it is possible that formaldehyde is present in minute, trace amounts as a result of the manufacturing process”. Hmmmm….I figure Mr. Clean is trustworthy. I mean, look at him.
Regardless of the possible health hazards, I decided to give the Magic Eraser a try. After wetting and wringing it out, the first attempt was on my kitchen linoleum floors. Rubber from my dog’s pet mat and cardboard from a wet soda box have plagued me for the last couple of months. Regular washing of the floor with ammonia and other products and scrubbing with a sponge or scrub pad has not removed these marks. The Magic Eraser did the trick! I did have to do some scrubbing to remove them, but the scrubbing was much less than when I had previously tried to remove these marks. Then, I was off to the bathroom to try this product on my tub. Amazingly, the Magic Eraser removed the caked on soap and scum in my bathtub quickly and with a little scrubbing.
I did notice though that after using the Magic Eraser for only these two uses, the sponge had a tear in it that cut halfway across the sponge. I rinsed the sponge again to remove the dirt on it and went on a search to try this product on other things. Grease on my kitchen wall- off! Fingerprints on the doors-off! Scuffs and dirt on moldings-off! Dirt on my puppy’s kennel-off! I even drew on my floor with pen-with the Magic Eraser, it came off (lucky for me)!! The Magic Eraser even erases pencil AND pen on paper. However, it does lift off some of the paper, so don’t try this with important documents. Also, make sure the sponge is not too wet if you decide to use it for this purpose! Finally, the most impressive use of the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser was on the grease on the microwave front (which sits on top of the stove), and the grease caked onto the stove handles and the back part of the stove. Unbelievably, with just a little scrubbing all of it came off! It did however take an entire sponge to remove it all, and there were little pieces of sponge all over my stove and floor by the time I was done, so I did have to clean them up. I also wiped the areas down with a regular sponge and some soap to remove any residue.
Mr. Clean Magic Eraser is not recommended on high sheen surfaces such as stainless steel, brushed, satin, dark or faux finishes. Product directions indicate that you should test use of Mr. Clean Magic Eraser on an inconspicuous spot before using. In fact, when using this product on my polished kitchen floor, it became evident that the Magic Eraser, while erasing the marks and stains did also erase the polished finish, leaving a dull area behind. After wiping the area down with a sponge, water and soap though, my floor was fine.
Obviously the Magic Eraser does not magically remove tough marks and stains and there is some heavy duty ingredient in this product which Mr. Clean does not wish to disclose, either due to health concerns or more likely to protect the patent on their product, thereby securing their place in the market. However interestingly, Target has recently put out their own line of the magic eraser which is half the price and worthy of checking out on my next trip to the store. If you have any doubts about the chemicals inside the Magic Eraser, use wearing rubber gloves, just as you would with other cleaning agents, but definitely give this product a try. It is well worth the few bucks you will spend on it, the energy you will save with serious scrubbing and the money you would have spent on other cleaning chemicals. I would suggest keeping a few on hand. If you are going to use it for very tough jobs such as during a thorough spring cleaning, you will go through one to two sponges. Also, it would be wise to wipe down any area you cleaned with the Magic Eraser with some warm water and soap to remove residues.
The Mr. Clean Magic Eraser is a wonderful asset to aid you in your spring cleaning. It will reduce the time you spend trying to remove tough dirt, grease, marks and grime as compared to using other cleaning solutions alone.
