The Magic Eraser is a popular cleaning tool that is known for its ability to remove tough stains and marks from various surfaces. Many people wonder whether the Magic Eraser contains chemicals that could potentially be harmful to humans or the environment. The Magic Eraser is made from a material called melamine foam, which is a type of foam that is composed of very fine fibers. This material is not inherently toxic or harmful. However, it is worth noting that the Magic Eraser does contain chemicals that are used in the production process. One of the main chemicals found in the Magic Eraser is formaldehyde-melamine-sodium bisulfite copolymer.

If Mr. Clean Magic Erasers are too expensive just buy generic melamine foam, it's the same thing

If you've ever had a cleaning job that was almost impossible you may have turned to Mr. Clean Magic Erasers. This might blow your mind but Mr. Clean Magic Erasers and generic melamine foam don’t have a chemical cleaner or soap inside them, it’s literally just an abrasive foam that makes them work. Unless of course, you get the kind that specifically comes with soap in it.

According to www.sinoyqx.com and Wikipedia, melamine foam (and by extension, Magic Erasers) are simply a foam-like material made of a formaldehyde–melamine–sodium bisulfite copolymer. That's fancy science talk for a porous rough material.

Its common uses are as insulation for pipes and ductwork and even soundproofing material.

Apparently, people have only recently discovered its effectiveness as a cleaning device:

“Recently, a novel application for such melamine foams in the area of hard surface cleaning has been discovered. Indeed, cleaning implements of cut or molded pieces of melamine foam have become popular to remove soils and/or stains from hard surfaces”-Google Patents

So all this means big savings if you buy generic melamine foam. It can be found everywhere, even on Amazon!

Magic Erasers are commonly listed at $1.97 for a 2-pack on walmart.com, but by comparison, generic melamine foam (THE SAME THING) can be found on several sites as cheap as $5 for 100!

Money-Saving Tips and Cleaning Tricks from Reddit:

1. Be sure to read reviews and get a quality brand. Some of the generics are poorly made but many are comparable.
2. Magic erasers are VERY abrasive. Don’t use them on something that easily scratches like wood or skin.
3. They work great for cleaning shoes, walls, soap scum, etc.
4. Wear gloves. They can sand away the skin around your nails and cause splits, again they aren't for skin!
5. Melamine sponges have a Mohs hardness of 4. Regular glass has a Mohs hardness of 5.5, and tempered glass can be even harder. Bathroom tile has a usual hardness around 7, going up to around 9. So it’s safe to clean these surfaces but be very careful with anything softer.

“(The Mohs Hardness Test) compares the resistance of a mineral to being scratched by ten reference minerals known as the Mohs Hardness Scale”-Geology.com

Copyright 2021 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

What's Inside Mr. Clean Magic Eraser? Less Magic, More Chemistry

Grease splatters in the kitchen, crayon streaks on the freshly painted wall, scummy rings in the bathtub—these fouls are powerless against the cleaning strength of Mr. Clean Magic Erasers. Since hitting the market more than a decade ago, the erasers have rounded up a consumer base that swears by the magic. But the secret behind the material that makes up the scrubbers, melamine foam—the same stuff that’s widely used as an acoustic insulator in recording studios—is less magic and more simple chemistry.

Melamine

On its own, melamine is just an organic base in the form of white crystals. But when combined with other compounds, it can transform into a plush foam—the Magic Eraser—with a sandpaper-like microscopic texture. You can use it to scrub off sticky dirt and scum from all kinds of surfaces; just avoid using it on delicate or glossy exteriors. Melamine’s high nitrogen content also makes it a useful flame retardant and fertilizer. In 2008, Chinese fraudsters used melamine to make milk and infant formula appear to have a higher protein content, killing six babies and making nearly 300,000 others sick. Two of the perpetrators were executed.

Formaldehyde

This stuff is best known as the smelly liquid that’s used to preserve dead animals for decades and possibly forever. By itself, formaldehyde can be dangerous and sometimes lethal—irritating the skin, corroding internal tissue, and even causing cancer. But if you mix it with melamine, the result is a tough resin in which those toxic effects are neutralized. High tensile strength makes the resin a suitable material for dinner­ware and countertops. Force gas bubbles to form in the resin during the manufacturing process and you end up with Mr. Clean’s melamine foam.

Sodium Bisulfite

Alone, this stuff has antimicrobial properties; it’s excellent as a preservative for winemaking. Here, it can help boost resin production, but it’s best used sparingly—sulfite-modified foams are less stable and can emit formaldehyde under certain conditions.

Water

Procter & Gamble says the key to the Magic Eraser’s stain-fighting properties is in its “water-activated microscrubbers.” But there’s nothing water-activated about it—the eraser can be used dry as well as wet, with little difference in the result. Water likely makes it easier for dirt to cling to the eraser, though—the same way you might wet a paper towel before wiping down a wall or table.

Dangerous Chemicals in Mr. Clean Magic Eraser

One of the main chemicals found in the Magic Eraser is formaldehyde-melamine-sodium bisulfite copolymer. This chemical is used to help bind the fibers together and give the eraser its solid form. Formaldehyde has been classified as a probable human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, but it is important to note that the amount of formaldehyde released from the Magic Eraser during use is considered to be very low and unlikely to cause harm.

Do Mr. Clean Magic Erasers contain dangerous chemicals?

Barbara Mikkelson

Published Jun 22, 2006

Claim: Mr. Clean Magic Erasers have been banned from stores because the product contains formaldehyde.

Example: [Collected via e-mail, 2006]

JUST WANTED TO LET YOU ALL KNOW THAT I AM A HUGE FAN OF MAGIC ERASERS. HOWEVER, I HAVE A FRIEND THAT TOOK ENGINEERING IN SCHOOL AND HE NOW WORKS FOR A HUGE COMPANY IN HALIFAX AND THEY GET THE HEADS UP ABOUT PRODUCTS BEFORE ANYONE ELSE. WELL HE CALLED ME LAST NIGHT AND SAID THAT I HAVE TO STOP USING THE MAGIC ERASERS AND THAT THEY ARE SLOWLY BEING BANNED FROM ALL STORES BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN THE INGREDIENT FORMALDEHYDE. YES THE CHEMICAL THEY USE TO PRESERVE DEAD PEOPLE. IT IS HIGHLY DANGEROUS TO YOUNG CHILDREN AND CAN BE HARMFUL TO YOURSELF, SO PLEASE IF YOU ARE USING THEM, THROW THEM AWAY, DON'T BUY THEM ANYMORE AND PLEASE SEND THIS ON TO ANYONE WHOM YOU THINK MIGHT USE THEM, ESPECIALLY WITH YOUNG CHILDREN.

Origins: Western society likes its homes and its clothing clean, but satisfying that desire comes at a price — to do so, consumers must place their faith in polysyllabic chemical concoctions

vended by large corporations, entities they don't always trust to have their best interests at heart. Consequently, fears about noxious or dangerous substances being secreted in common cleaning products is a recurring theme in contemporary lore. That anxiety has been voiced in a number of false product rumors in recent years (e.g., Resolve carpet cleaner caused the death of a young boy who drank it, Dawn dishwashing liquid eroded the corneas of a toddler's eyes, pot-scrubbing sponges contained a dangerous derivative of Agent Orange, beloved pets felled by something horrible in Swiffer WetJet, Febreze fabric refresher, and Ultra Clorox).

Yet another entry in this pantheon of household cleaner misgivings concerns P&G's Magic Eraser, an item that hit the U.S. market in 2003 and which we began receiving inquires about in 2004. The ingredients list on Magic Eraser, a room-cleaning pad made of super-fine fibers that lifts and traps dirt to rub out most marks, has spawned a persistent belief that the product contains formaldehyde, a substance most people associate with the embalming of dead bodies.

This hypothesis appears to be a result of a misparsing of the ingredients list. says about the rumor:

A recent television broadcast may have raised concerns about an ingredient in Magic Eraser. Be assured Magic Eraser is completely safe when used according to directions, and poses no health risks or safety concerns.

Here are some facts about the ingredients used in Magic Eraser:

The ingredients in Magic Eraser have been safely and commonly used for many years in a wide range of household products.

We hope you find this information reassuring. You can continue to use Magic Eraser with full confidence in its performance and safety for you and members of your family.

For additional information, please call 1-800-867-2532.

Despite the e-mail's claim that Mr. Clean Magic Erasers are "slowly being banned from all stores," we found no evidence that is so. Neither the manufacturer nor any governmental agency has issued a recall for the product, and Magic Erasers are still widely available in every major grocery and drug store chain we've checked.

A different issue involving the same type of product (produced by a different manufacturer) arose in November 2006 when a woman wrote an account in which she claimed that her son had suffered chemical burns when he rubbed a Scotchbrite Easy Eraser on his face and chin. Doubters maintained that the child had simply suffered skin abrasions from the abrasive surface of the eraser. (The product's packaging bore no warning about either type of injury at the time):

One of my five year old's favorite chores around the house is cleaning scuff marks off the walls, doors, and baseboards with either an Easy Eraser pad, or the real deal, a Magic Eraser. I purchased a package of Magic Erasers ages ago when they first came out. I remember reading the box, wondering what the "Magic" component was that cleaned crayon off my walls with ease. No ingredients were listed and absolutely no warnings were on the box, other than "Do not ingest."

My package of the Scotchbrite Easy Erasers didn't have a warning either and since my child knew not to eat the sponges and keep them out of reach of his little brother and sister, it was a chore I happily let him do.

If I had known that both brands (and others like them) contain a harmful alkaline or "base" chemical (opposite of acid on the pH scale) that can burn your skin, I never would have let my little boy handle them. As you can see from the picture, when the Scotchbrite Easy Eraser was rubbed against his face and chin, he received severe chemical burns.

After much back-and-forth, the issue was apparently

resolved in January 2007 when the product's manufacturer (3M) issued an apology and a statement that they had "addressed the issue and are taking steps to change the packaging to warn other consumers of the potential reaction to using the product on the skin."

Barbara "formaldehyde and seek" Mikkelson

In addition to formaldehyde-melamine-sodium bisulfite copolymer, the Magic Eraser also contains other ingredients such as water, sodium lauryl sulfate, and fragrance. These ingredients help to enhance the cleaning abilities of the eraser and provide a pleasant scent. It is important to use the Magic Eraser as directed and to avoid ingesting or inhaling the eraser or its particles. When using the eraser, it is recommended to wear gloves to protect your hands and to rinse the area thoroughly after use. Overall, while the Magic Eraser does contain chemicals, the level of risk associated with using the eraser is considered to be low. However, it is always a good idea to exercise caution when using any cleaning product and to follow the instructions provided by the manufacturer..

Reviews for "Unveiling the Mystery: What Chemicals Make Magic Eraser So Effective?"

1. Jennifer - ★☆☆☆☆

I was extremely disappointed with the Magic Eraser. I bought it thinking it would be a chemical-free option to clean my house, but it turned out to be just like any other cleaning product. Upon closer inspection of the packaging, I discovered that it contains a number of chemicals, including propylene glycol. I find it misleading that they advertise it as "chemical-free" when it clearly is not. I will not be buying this product again.

2. Mark - ★★☆☆☆

I purchased the Magic Eraser expecting a revolution in cleaning, as many people had raved about it. However, I was not impressed. Not only did it not effectively remove tough stains as advertised, but I later found out that it contains several chemical ingredients. I was under the impression that it was a natural and eco-friendly product, but that's clearly not the case. I feel deceived by the marketing claims, and I would not recommend it to others looking for a chemical-free option.

3. Sarah - ★☆☆☆☆

I was really excited to try the Magic Eraser after all the positive reviews I saw online. However, I was deeply disappointed with the product. Not only did it not work as well as I expected, but it also left a strange chemical smell in my house after using it. I checked the ingredients, and to my surprise, it contains several chemicals that are harmful to the environment. I regret purchasing this product and would advise others to look for alternative cleaning options that are truly chemical-free.

4. Matt - ★★☆☆☆

I bought the Magic Eraser hoping for an eco-friendly cleaning solution, but it failed to meet my expectations. Despite the claims of being chemical-free, I discovered that it contains artificial dyes and fragrance, which are unnecessary and potentially harmful. Additionally, it didn't perform as well as I had hoped, and I had to put in a lot of effort to remove stains. Overall, I was not impressed with this product and would not recommend it to environmentally conscious individuals looking for chemical-free options.

5. Emily - ★☆☆☆☆

I was initially intrigued by the claims that the Magic Eraser was chemical-free, as I am always looking for more natural cleaning alternatives. Unfortunately, this product disappointed me. It not only left a residue on my surfaces but also had a noticeable chemical odor that lingered for hours. Upon researching the ingredients, I was taken aback to find that it contained several potentially harmful chemicals. I feel like the marketing is misleading and would caution others against purchasing this product if they are looking for a truly chemical-free option.

Magic Eraser vs. Chemical Cleaners: Which is Safer for Your Health?