Magic Eraser by Mr. Clean: Product Review

Having moved into a quirky apartment with character to spare in a 130-year-old home, there are some "issues" in my home that I have been striving to rectify for about a year now. Grease and grime that I thought only a complete gutting of the kitchen would ever truly take care of has been building up for who knows how long, and the bathtub, well, let's just leave that one alone.

As always, I continue to try every new cleaning product and gadget that the fine marketing departments at the various manufacturing conglomerates can throw at me, and I typically end up tossing the product into the cleanser graveyard under my kitchen sink to live in the gloom until I become annoyed and toss the whole lot out and start fresh with a new supply of expensive and disappointing products.

The latest assembly of advertising geniuses to inspire me to open my wallet up wide and say "ah" was the group responsible for the commercials for the "Magic Eraser" by Mr. Clean, a Procter and Gamble company. I picked up a box of these little sponges that claim to be so much more and invited them to show me their stuff.

Cleaning Power: A

I have to say it- I am amazed. I started the magic eraser out slowly; I did not want to intimidate it. I cleaned the refrigerator and the sink. It did an impressive job, so I upped the ante a little bit, and threw it at the range. No problem, the Magic Eraser did not even blanch as it took off the grease and baked on food from the night before. "Okay," I thought, "game time- let's really see what you've got."

I don't even want to know what's in this thing! I set the Magic Eraser to work against the black dots of years old grease that were (seemingly) permanent decorations to the kitchen linoleum, and which had heretofore been impervious to attack by abrasive cleansers, bleaches, ammonia cleaners, everything short of steel wool. At first it was clear that the Magic Eraser was starting to slowly take up some of the grease, and I was impressed. A few minutes later, whatever is in the Magic Eraser must have set into the area being cleaned, because as I took another pass at the spots, suddenly they were coming up with almost no effort whatsoever. Moved into every corner of my house. Soap scum, window spots, dirty hand prints on walls and scuff marks on door jams- gone!

Durability: B+

The Magic Eraser is disposable, but lasts for multiple uses. The material of the eraser disintegrates with use in a most mysterious way, and becomes smaller and more pitted as you go along. The package shows a diagram of how the Magic Eraser will start to disappear, and what the remains will look like when it's time to replace it. I find that I can get ten normal uses out of it, or three to four "heavy duty" cleanings.

Ease of Use: B+

Use the Magic Eraser just like a sponge. Wet it with plain tap water, wring it out and go. There is no need to use any sort of cleaning product, in fact, the instructions are clear that you should not. The Magic Eraser and a little water are all you need. Of course, elbow grease is still required, but Magic Eraser cuts down on that as well.

Price: B+

The Magic Eraser sells for anywhere from $2.50 to $4.00, depending on the retailer, for a package of two erasers. While, to my knowledge, there is nothing else like it on the market to compare it with price wise, anywhere within this price range seems a fair price for the product.