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I’ve written about how amazing Mr. Clean Magic Erasers are before.
But these nifty little sponges continue to amaze me…
Following are a few more first-hand examples of how the Magic Erasers have made our home and other products look like new again!
Remember, I use scissors to cut one whole Magic Eraser into about 8 or 9 smaller Erasers first.
My Own Unique Ways To Use Magic Erasers
The Mr. Clean Magic Erasers site itself lists many unique uses for these handy dandy little lo-tech gadgets.
But I figure others might appreciate hearing firsthand about the effectiveness of Magic Erasers, along with an explanation regarding just how well they work.
So here goes…
#1 – Remove Built-Up Soot From Candle Jars
This was listed as a common use for Magic Erasers, but I hadn’t tried it myself until recently.
Yep, these little white wonders removed 100% of the soot from the inside (and outside) of my Yankee Candle glass jars! So now it looks pretty sitting on my countertop again, rather than stained with black soot.
There’s no scrubbing necessary… just keep rinsing out the Eraser after each swipe of the soot.
#2 – Dog Slobber Stains On Window Sills
Okay, here’s one that threw me for a loop…
I wasn’t able to remove the slobber stains that have accumulated on the white painted windowsills in our house — compliments of our 2 dogs. (Yes, they look out the windows a lot.)
I tried soap & water, Windex, and a few other things, but the same old water ring type stain remained in several places on our windowsills.
Last weekend, I decided to try the Magic Eraser on it, and wa-lah… all our windowsills look like new again!
#3 – Mossy Green Mildew On Porch Columns & Vinyl Siding
You know that green mossy-looking stuff that just “appears” on the sunny side of homes after a few years?…
We’ve lived in our home for 5 years now, and this is the first summer we’ve noticed the green grime on our gutters, and on some of our porch columns (the sides that face the sun). We’ve also got a bit of it starting to appear on some of the vinyl siding.
I know that a pressure washer would probably rid our home of the green grime, but as an experiment, I wanted to try the Magic Eraser first. It worked effortlessly on the porch columns… Removed all of the green slime in seconds!
Too bad they don’t make Magic Erasers big enough to tackle an entire side of the house with vinyl siding that’s green & mossy.
#4 – Dried-Up Bug Guts
On a related note, the Magic Erasers work just as well on the dried-up bug guts that have accumulated on each of our front porch pillars.
We probably have more of a build-up than most other homeowners because we leave the front porch light on all through the night. That light tends to attract bugs of all kinds — flying bugs, biting insects, spiders, and everything in between.
But no need to worry, the Magic Erasers made our columns look like new again — sparkling bright white — in a matter of minutes!
On a related note: While I’m tempted to do this myself, I don’t think you should use Magic Erasers to remove dead bugs from the front of your car. I’m pretty sure these Erasers will damage a car’s paint.
#5 – Glass Stove Tops
I have a glass cooktop. I’ve always used those special cleaners for glass cooktops. In fact, a friend of mine warned me years ago that his cooktop started “chipping” or “fading” after awhile (he thought it was due to scratching the pots & pans across the glass top), so I’ve always been extra careful with ours.
But the day I saw my mom using a razor blade to scrape burned-on food from her new glass stove top, I had to jump in and say, “Mom… Stop!” Perhaps the newer stovetops are built differently these days, and perhaps a razor blade won’t hurt a thing, but I wouldn’t take the chance.
Then I thought about Magic Erasers. Wa-lah… they work MAGIC on burned-on stove stuff (…and dried-on grease & splatters from deep-frying too).
#6 – Car Interiors
My hubby works with cars, car parts, and greasy guys.
Recently, some of the crew guys got in our car and left a bunch of black tar spots, grease streaks, and ink pen stains on the doors and dashboard inside the vehicle.
Magic Erasers to the rescue!
In no time, one tiny sliver of a Magic Eraser had removed every bit of the black stuff… and the ink pen marks, too!
#7 – Door Seals On Refrigerators & Dishwashers
I don’t know about those rubbery seals on the inside of your dishwasher and refrigerator or freezer… but mine tend to get loaded with black gunky stuff.
My refrigerator door seal even looked moldy in some spots.
I took a magic eraser to them, and in seconds, all the gunk was removed and they sparkled white again!
#8 – Whitewall Tires
It wasn’t until we got our new Harley Davidson motorcycle that we saw firsthand just how well Magic Erasers work on whitewalls!
Jim uses them every single time he washes the bike.
And lots of our fellow motorcycle riders swear by them too.
Jim still likes to use a product called Bleche White as a finishing touch. But he uses a Magic Eraser first to thoroughly clean the rough textured whitewalls themselves.
TIP: A motorcycle friend of ours had been using straight bleach on the whitewalls of his brand new Harley, and they are now tinted yellow instead of bright white like ours. (This after only a few months of use!) I can attest to the fact that our whitewalls have not yellowed or dried out in any way after using Magic Erasers.
#9 – Painted Walls
We recently moved into a new home and decided to rent our former home. Now that we’re landlords, I’ve been using Magic Erasers more than ever!
We’ve been extremely lucky to have great renters who try hard to keep the place neat and clean, but trust me when I say even the cleanest of tenants can’t do much to keep white walls free from scuff marks, dirty hand prints, pet sneezes, and the like.
When we are cleaning the house in between renters, I buy a huge supply of generic Magic Erasers at Walgreens and/or Home Depot and use them for all the touch-ups in our rental home — from the kitchen to the bedrooms.
They work so well on the walls, it’s similar to doing paint touch-ups… but much cheaper and quicker!
On a related note, in our new home we have tan colored walls that the original owner painted with a matte paint (ugh!). Not only do the Magic Erasers work great on corners where people naturally grab or rub as they walk by, but I’ve also found that they remove soda splashes from the wall — without being noticeable or harming the paint job.
NOTE: To be clear, you cannot rub hard on painted walls, or you will remove the paint. Just lightly dampen the Magic Eraser and very lightly wipe the wall once or twice, max. (Much more than that and you’ll take some paint.)
#10 – Dry Erase Boards
My newest use for Magic Erasers is to remove marker stains from Dry Erase boards.
Have you ever left notes on a Dry Erase board so long that when you tried to erase it, it wouldn’t come off? Or if it did, it left a lightly colored version of those words on the white board.
This happens all the time with my husband’s “To Do list” which he keeps on a Dry Erase board. He often neglects to erase those tasks he’s done, and just draws a line through them instead.
A Magic Eraser removes all traces of the ink!
TIP: Don’t go crazy rubbing in all directions all over the board. Just lightly rub the places where the ink is set in. Otherwise, your white board may not last quite as long or function quite as well due to the mini scratches that can result from overuse.
#11 – Lime / Lemon Squeezers
You know those hand-press lemon and lime squeezers? I have this yellow lemon squeezer and I use it all the time to squeeze half a lemon at a time — into a glass of water (to make healthy lemon water), or into a recipe (for fresh lemon juice).
This lemon squeezer is great because it:
- is so simple to use
- provides a powerful squeeze with very little effort
- keeps the seeds away from the liquid
But, due to the sprays they use on fresh produce these days, there’s a gunky residue that stays behind in the lemon squeezer after each use.
Even when I wash it with dish soap and a sponge, I find a slight tacky buildup remains inside the lemon squeezer. (It’s almost impossible to see. But after a couple of uses, you realize how much it’s built up and it has a slightly tacky feeling.)
Good news: I just discovered that the Magic Eraser works its magic once again by completely removing that buildup inside a lemon squeezer!
In case you’re wondering are melamine sponges safe? And how does a melamine sponge work?… Here are the facts about melamine foam sponges.
#12 – Dog Collars
I have two dogs, and they both wear nylon dog collars with LED lights built in.
With a single press of a button, a you get a solid bright light; two presses gets you a fast blinking colored light; a third press gives you a slow blinking colored light.
So, with “regular” nylon dog collars, you can put them into the washing machine to clean them, as needed. But due to the built-in lights, these dog collars have to be hand-washed.
The best way I’ve found to clean them is to use a damp Magic Eraser — it works great!
I like to help people find unique ways to do things that will save time & money — so I write about “outside the box” Household Tips and Life Hacks that most wouldn’t think of. I’m super-organized. And I LOVE to clean! I even enjoy doing laundry (but not ironing). I’m also a lifelong dog owner — so I often share my favorite tips for living with dogs inside your home (like smart home design choices and dog-friendly cleaning & decorating ideas). Career-wise, I’ve been sharing my best ideas with others by blogging full-time since 1998 (the same year that Google started… and before the days of Facebook and YouTube). Prior to that, I worked in Higher Ed over 10 years before switching gears to pursue activities that I’m truly passionate about instead. For example, I’ve worked at a vet, in a photo lab, and at a zoo — to name a few. I enjoy the outdoors via bicycle, motorcycle, Jeep, or RV. When I’m not cleaning, organizing, decorating, or fixing something… you’ll find me at the corner of Good News & Fun Times as publisher of The Fun Times Guide (32 fun & helpful websites). To date, I’ve personally written over 200 articles about cleaning, organization, DIY repairs, and household hacks on this site! A few have over 2M shares; many others have over 100K shares.
will this get ink out of the carpet?
u can also use it to clean the tips of dirty pool sticks
Be careful with magic erasers they are a sponge with a composite aggregate. It is a good product for one time clean up bit continued use on any surface with remove finishes such as paint, clear coats on enameled surfaces and remove layers on formica countertops.
What are you talking about??? Magic Erasers dont have any chemicals in them, DUH! Any damage to skin or other surfaces is caused by abrasive scratching, NOT chemical burns. Also, it warns rite on the package not to use them on skin and body parts. If you do it anyway then you have to accept the consequences!
please just dont allow your kids to use them they are highly toxic and burn skin like battery acid 🙁
no…they don’t
They actually do, my girlfriends daughter helped her clean one day and used those. She ended up with blisters where the sponge spent anytime against her skin. Childrens skin is so sensitive, after that happened with her I wont take my chances using them around the kids. However I am in love with them so most of my cleaning with them happens after hours My favorite thing to use them for is the fridge door handle, it gets so disgusting with three little ones
It’s not that they burn the skin. It’s that they are made of melamine foam, so are an abrasive. If a kid (who has softer skin than an adult) rubs it on their skin, it is like using sand paper on their skin.
Maybe the child is allergic to the materials the product is made of.
Thank you for the notice and if I may add…on anything be safe , use gloves and a mask where appropriate.Some things have chemicals that may not show a problem right away but high risk later on…
My daughter uses one all the time for the ring around the bathtub…she’s 7. She thinks it’s great fun, and we’ve never had any issues.
Cheryl, I was concerned about this as well, because these things are amazing. From my research, magic erasers don’t have any chemicals added to them. The reason that they will burn your skin, if rubbed on, is that it is actually like extremely fine sand paper.
Hi. Regarding the final statement of your #4 tip: ”
I don’t think you should use Magic Erasers to remove dead bugs from the front of your car. I’m pretty sure these Erasers will damage a car’s paint.”
Actually, you CAN use it to remove bug splats after a long road trip. You can also remove paint transfer, such as from a minor fender bender. I actually got the idea from the internet, when I searched for what to do about some paint spots I had on my right rear fender after I scraped against the painted wooden frame around my garage door. According to the directions I found online, I saturated a miracle eraser with water, squeezed the excess, then applied it JUST to the spots I wanted to clean. I had to use my elbow grease, but the paint spots DID come off and left my car paint intact and shiny.
It’s true that you should not use it the way you would a big, soapy sponge when you wash your car, with big, sweeping swirls; this is only for dealing exactly with the spots you want to remove from your paint. And yes, as I said, it can also be used for heavy bug splats after a road trip.You might be able to use just a small piece of an eraser, but I liked using a whole one because it gave me something to grip while pulling one corner of it taut around my fingertip, which allowed me to be very precise when applying pressure on the offending spots.
scuff marks from white leather safely (your white coach purse, your leather platform shoes ladies!)
Hi! My favorite thing to use these for is to get all the marks off of our dry erase boards…as a homeschooler our boards are in constant use and we love to wipe them all clean and sparkly. Makes them look like new!
I have a beautiful set of good dishes. There were black marks on the plates from knives. I used Majic erasers on the marks and the marks are gone. I just rub the eraser lightly over the spot and its gone.
I found that they work wonders on the plate of your iron. like to get the “brunt” on brown gunk… on a completely cooled iron use a wet Magic Eraser and it will come off! I was really amazed!
annette. magic eraser cannot hurt diamonds since they are the hardest substance on the planter…they may make gold duller tho due to the abrasive nature of them
They clean curling irons like magic!
Never thought about that! I usually have to get scissors and scrape dried hairspray off of it – But I will DEFINITELY try this!! Thanks for sharing!!
I’ve used it on our range hood to get the greasy dust off of it and it took that off…but it also took off the paint.
I have used them to get crayon off of a photo… worked great
Don’t use a magic eraser on a glass top stove! It scratched mine to bits and I couldn’t see the scratches until it dried. It looks like I used sand paper on it!!! 🙁
For what it’s worth, I’ve been using Magic Erasers on my glass cooktop stove for years, and there’s never been any damage. You definitely CANNOT tell where I’ve used a Magic Eraser and where I haven’t. Perhaps newer glass cooktops are different from older glass cooktops? (…though I can’t imagine how)
maybe she used the eraser with the scrubber side to it and not just the plain white one.
I teach a special needs class. Kids who insisted on coloring on things like walls and desks just easily wipe it clean with a Magic Eraser. No chemicals, fast, easy, and natural consequences. The down/up side….some kids like to use it!
I got the “Dollar Store” brand of the magic eraser and they work even better than the Mr. Clean ones. The bonus is a box is only a buck! Try it.
My sister had a pop up camper she wanted to sell. But the clear plastic vinyl that is used for the windows were not clear anymore. We tried everything to clean them. It took one swipe of the magic eraser and it looked brand new!!
Oooh, that’s a new one! I love it. I bet this tip would help lots of Jeep Wrangler owners with old foggy vinyl windows too 😀
I use Magic Eraser to remove the chalk marks from my quilts tops after the design has been stitched.
I use them to spruce up drinking glasses that have become dull and grey looking from the dish washer. It is amazing! They look like new,
jet dry does that too 😀
the magic eraser is Awesome for things…BUT NEVER EvER SKIN..for those who aren’t sure or doubt it causes damage it DOES so i’m shocked to have seen it recommeded to ‘clean dirty elbows’. my niece used it to remove a kiddie tattoo from her face and for months she had what looked like a huge baseball sized ‘burn’ that took a long time to heal and fade.
Use them to clean your stainless steel sink…it will shine like new..and get all of the stains off. It will not get scratches out though..
Yeah, and I have to say that I refuse to support soy manufacturing in any way in the US. It is one of Monsanto’s main crops and it is so harmful along with their company. I know it sounds minor, but I just can’t do it. No more GMO!
Ok, this is a great list. Just one thing is really bothering Me. “Wa lah” is not spelled as it sounds
It is a french word and the correct spelling is voilà. Again many apologies for the correction, I just thought you might like to know.
Thanks Kat, that was bugging me, too! Once I was reading a funny anecdote and I didn’t get it all b/c they kept writing, “Wallah” and I didn’t know what that meant! 🙂
I have used them on the painted vinyl front bumper of my car where dried up bugs gather–no damage at all!
I’ve got one for you that I haven’t seen listed.
I use it to clean the white stuff (pesticide etc…) off of plums apples and other similar fruits when I get them home from the grocery store.
Has anyone tried these on fireplace glass?
I have a white macbook apple laptop and I’ve had it for 6 years. The top of it was pretty scuffed and looked horrible. I used a magic eraser on the outside as well as the inside keyboard! (When the computer was powered off) worked like MAGIC.
One should NEVER use a Magic Eraser on a glass stove top. It is an abrasive. Using a razor blade to remove dried sugars from the surface is actually recommended, as long as the blade is held at a 45 degree angle to the surface of the glass. Razor blades also remove adhesives from windows. Melamine foam (Magic Eraser material) has the same effect as rubbing an item with wet sandpaper. Always use the cleaner recommended by your manufacturer. I use Cerama Bryte and paper towels.
I have used the Magic Eraser on a glass cook top forever, it has gotten stains off that nothing else would and have NEVER damaged or scratched it at all
I have only used a cleaner recommended by my manufacturer, which is why
my stove always looks brand new. Cerama Bryte not only cleans my stove,
but also protects the surface. It works in a similar way to wax on a
car. If you use your Magic Eraser on your stove top, you might as well
clean your car with it, laptop, iPad, and LCD TV. Every time you ignore
the warnings on the Magic Eraser package and use on your stove top, you
create microscopic scratches on the surface. When you spill something on
your stove, these crevices are now filled by the product you just
spilled. From the point when you first used Magic Eraser on your stove
top, the stains are now harder and harder to remove. The more you have
to scrub, creating more scratches. This is why I can clean my stove top
with a paper towel, and you have to scrub.
They are the best thing to clean freshly laid eggs!
I bought the mop system, but — it must have been designed by a 6’4″ engineer because the mop angle is all wrong for me. I took the scrubber part off and used it for other things. Perhaps they have redesigned it to be more ergonomic…otherwise, practice with it in the store before buying!
I use a Magic Eraser on spots on my carpets including my kitchen carpet. Works great!!
Yeah, like Seaton said, magic erasers are made of melamine foam which can be harder than glass which means it can scratch the glass. A razor is actually safer to use on the stovetop because all metals and metal alloys are softer than glass and cannot scratch it. So your mom was doing it properly and unfortunately you’ve probably damaged her stovetop.
Also CleanBrick by Palomar Brands is a new “magic eraser” that is made of the same ingredient (Melamine Foam) but doesn’t crumble like Mr. Clean.
I have also used Magic Eraser on a huge, beautiful wood & glass cabinet I purchased used. Once it was delivered, I noticed some terrible black hand and thumbprints on the sides from handling. I tried every kind of wood cleaner, oil soap, etc and could not lift those black hand prints no how no way. So I barely dampened a Magic Eraser and a lot of elbow grease – voila, light sandalwood cabinet is beautiful once again! I did this 2 years ago – there has been no damage from when I removed the marks.
Thanks for the tip on glass stove tops – BTW, the newer stoves actually tell you to use a razor blade (flat side) to scrape stuff off, emphasizing that it WON’T damage it. Blades are included in the cleaning packages. BUT, I too wonder how this will effect my stovetop in years to come – I’ll be happy to try the Magic Eraser!
Cheeky Writer – So glad you found the info helpful. And thank YOU for letting me know about new stoves mentioning that it’s okay to use razor blades to clean them – good to know 😀
Cheeky Writer – Clearly, you are correct about cleaning smoothtop stoves with a razor blade. I just came across this article from Consumer Reports, whom I trust. And they say the secret is to “hold the blade at a 45-degree angle to avoid scratching the smoothtop.” (Personally, I’d be nervous that I would get the angle wrong and scratch it… but that’s just me.)
https://www.consumerreports.org/ranges/how-to-clean-a-smoothtop-range-or-cooktop/