Best pencil eraser?

November 14, 2014 1:54 PM

Conan! What pencil eraser is best in life?

Please tell me of your favourite model of pencil eraser, what you use it for, and why it is the best.

posted by zamboni to Shopping (20 answers total)

TOMBOW Mono Non-dust. Erases super clean, leaves behind almost no dust. I use it mostly for drawing, especially when I want a hard erased edge (as opposed to the smudgy edge you'd get from a kneaded rubber eraser). Looks like you can buy them here if you can't find them locally.
posted by matcha action at 2:06 PM on November 14, 2014

I am partial to the Staedtler Mars Plastic. I mostly use it for erasing pencil lines in patternmaking when I am sewing. It erases cleanly with less dust than a rubber eraser. I use it instead of the erasers on the end of pencils.

Those non-dust ones look pretty cool, also.
posted by Lycaste at 2:20 PM on November 14, 2014 [11 favorites]

I use a kneaded eraser when I draw - I use it to erase pencil lines but leave the inks so the image is nice and clean. It's good for getting rid of a lot of pencil at once and there is no dust; if there are unusually dark or dug-in lines then I'll use a Staedtler Mars Plastic.
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 2:28 PM on November 14, 2014 [2 favorites]

Ditto the Mars Plastic. When I was but a lad, an older engineer told me "it erases the pencil, not the paper."
posted by tommasz at 2:33 PM on November 14, 2014

The highest-regarded erasers at JetPens are the Kokuyo Campus Student Eraser and the Pentel Hi-Polymer Ain Eraser. The user reviews are pretty convincing, coming from people who have used various brands and models. I personally use several erasers, from the Tombow Mono for detail work to the Uni Boxy for general-purpose erasing. Jetpens has an eraser guide that also has a bunch more helpful info.
posted by circular at 2:35 PM on November 14, 2014

My top preference is Ticonderoga pencils. However I only write or line draw with them not an entire sketch. They have amazing graphite and erase cleanly. I also use a kneadable eraser or one that's similar to those plastic white ones.
posted by Crystalinne at 2:40 PM on November 14, 2014

For most uses, I prefer the Mars Plastic 528. I really like its pencil like form factor, while still being an amazing paper safe eraser.

When I'm seriously drawing, I'll have that and a kneaded eraser* at hand.

* This prismacolor kneaded eraser is just the Design eraser with a new name.
posted by advicepig at 2:48 PM on November 14, 2014

Nthing the Staedtler Mars eraser. Works well with pencil, erases the heck out of compressed charcoal, really gets the paper back to white without leaving much residue, can be cleaned by just erasing it on your jeans. Bonus, can be carved to make into a stamp for use with an ink-pad.
posted by coevals at 2:50 PM on November 14, 2014

The venerable and exhaustive pencil blog Dave's Mechanical Pencils endorses the Staedtler Mars Plastic eraser.. I trust that blog with 100% of my pencil-related questions.
posted by dialetheia at 3:01 PM on November 14, 2014

When I'm seriously drawing, I'll have that and a kneaded eraser* at hand.

This. There is no need for anything else. Kneaded eraser FTW.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:21 PM on November 14, 2014

Another erasing tool you might find useful for fine work is a little cloth bag filled with eraser bits. It goes by a bunch of names - rat, scumbag, bunny bag - but might be officially called a cleaning bag.
posted by sepviva at 3:36 PM on November 14, 2014

Another one for Mars Plastic. Sure, it leaves wee bits everywhere, but erases like a good 'un. Get one of the retractable stick ones if you need precision.

Pencil-end erasers are just no.
posted by scruss at 3:46 PM on November 14, 2014

Mars plastic ftw.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 3:53 PM on November 14, 2014

Mars Plastic here too, but preferably attached to the end of a Staedtler Cadet/Rally. It's part of what makes it the perfect crossword pencil. The eraser does it's job well without tearing holes in newsprint or smearing on magazine paper.
posted by clorox at 4:05 PM on November 14, 2014

Another Mars user; they carry them at the art supply store down the street from where I work.

But, for some more variety, here're reviews from the nice obsessives at JetPens--including (whoa) an eraser designed to fit different kinds of graphing or lined paper.
posted by The Bridge on the River Kai Ryssdal at 7:41 PM on November 14, 2014

For large swaths of erasin’, I'm with the Mars Plastic crowd. But for fine erasing (and general nice-to-use form factor) I really like the Sanford Paper Mate Tuff Stuff Eraser Stick — which is essentially a retractable Mars Plastic.
posted by D.Billy at 9:04 PM on November 14, 2014 [1 favorite]

I'd argue the Pentel Ain Polymer (the white one) or the Hinedowashi Matumaru-Kun (which I prefer over the Pentel Ain Polymer).
posted by mathiu at 2:12 AM on November 15, 2014

Another vote for Mars Plastic - I still have mine from school
posted by Middlemarch at 9:19 AM on November 15, 2014

I agree that Mars Plastic is great for erasing large areas. For smaller erasing, I like the eraser at the end of my Dixon Ticonderoga pencil. When it's gone, I put on a Papermate Arrowhead pencil cap eraser. It's the only pencil top eraser I've found that stays on the end of the pencil, doesn't split and erases really well. And because it stays perched at the end of my pencil, I don't lose it like I always do with my Mars eraser.
posted by marsha56 at 5:58 PM on November 15, 2014

I'm fond of the Pentel Clic eraser.
posted by Lexica at 12:46 PM on November 16, 2014 [1 favorite]