Today, erasers are usually made from synthetic rubber, which is a polymer. When it is made, a chemical called an accelerator is added to help join the monomers, or small molecules, into a polymer. The original accelerator had a pink color; the erasers sold well and the tradition has been maintained.
Less expensive erasers are made from synthetic rubber and synthetic soy-based gum, but more expensive or specialized erasers are made from vinyl, plastic, or gum-like materials.
Many of today's most high-tech erasers are made of vinyl.
While the pink erasers you find on pencils are made of synthetic rubber, an increasing number of erasers are made of vinyl.
“These days they're usually colored to be pink because that's the color we've come to expect them to be, which can be credited to the trusty Pink Pearl.” Pink Pearls are still produced today, under the Paper Mate brand. They're now made of synthetic rubber, rather than natural rubber and pumice, says Weaver.
Swallowing a pencil eraser may lead to an intestinal blockage, which can cause abdominal pain, nausea, or vomiting.
Imported from Japan, the Pentel Ain is made of PVC, a specialized polymer material that produces less dust and causes fewer abrasions on paper: just a few light, gentle strokes are able to remove any unwanted marks.
As the abrasives in your eraser are rubbed against paper, friction produces heat, which helps the rubber become sticky enough to hold onto the graphite particles. As the rubber grabs the graphite particles, small pieces of combined rubber and graphite get left behind.
Black and coloured erasers do not leave any colour from the eraser on the paper. They are dark so that when erasing on dark paper a white ghosting effect is not left as can happern with white erasers. They also look less grubby when they are dirty.
The white side erases graphite, and the grey side erases ink. The white side erases graphite, and the grey side erases ink.
You can't really stock up on erasers because they dry out.” (This idea inspired the slogan on a t-shirt the Erasable podcast sells: “Pencil is forever.”) Advincula explained: “Over time, some of the rubber properties can be lost because of oxidation or chemical degradation.
Here's why you need to ditch the pink eraser:
Eraser is fresh, not hardened, and first time used. Here's the deal with white erasers, not only do they erase pencil marks better than the old-school style pink eraser but because they're non-abrasive, they leave the paper fibers relatively intact.
Gum Erasers
If the integrity of the paper is a concern, then a gum eraser may be your best bet because they will not tear the paper even with aggressive rubbing. Gum erasers are best for erasing graphite on paper. These erasers are usually brown in color and some are even semi-transparent.
Each eraser features a protective, sliding sleeve to keep it clean and soft even after repeated use. The rectangular-block shape facilitates cleaning marks in both large and small areas. It also comes as a slip on to go over a regular pencil.
Most erasers will have to be disposed of in the general waste bin. Erasers made solely from natural rubber may be biodegradable.
A: Today, erasers are made of natural or synthetic rubber, nylon, or other man-made materials, but before rubber erasers were invented, stale bread was used for removing errant marks from paper.
Blue erasers to erase PEN INK? Nope. If you've done this, you were probably left really disappointed when it didn't work. Turns out, the blue erasers were not for pen ink, but for pencil as well, just on harder stocks of paper!
How does it work? By the physical action of abrasion. Pencils deposit a thin layer of graphite on paper, a layer that can be removed with the gentle rubbing of an eraser. The trick, of course, is to remove the graphite without damaging the paper.
The colour of the erasers at that time would have been based on the colour of the pumice used in the recipe. Most pumice was white or red, but at one point the Eberhard Faber Pencil Company sourced pink pumice and plopped it atop their pencils.
The highest priced product is Cretacolor Art Erasers available at Rs. 249 in India.
Because the tiny cells that the foam is made of are delicate, the structure will break down over time, making the cleaning pads less effective as they get used up. Once you notice the foam starting to get compacted, it's time to break out a new one.
There are several different materials used to make pencil sharpers, such as synthetic rubber, soft plastic and many more. Using these materials on high-temperature surfaces will cause the physical condition of the eraser to change (become brittle, or hard,) or it will begin to melt.
You should throw away your eraser when it has become too hard, crumbly, or dried out.
What are some hacks to cleanly erase pencil writing on paper when a pencil eraser is not available? I have used white bread, not the crust, rolled into a little ball Just keep rubbing and it will help a lot. If the paper is sturdy enough you can use an emery board as well.