I subscribe to a number of emails that give me bargains, discount codes, deals – anything money-saving really. I live life on the cheap side, saving a penny wherever I can so I don’t necessarily feel bad when I splurge on the nice things. In my parents’ day, they called it “robbing Peter to pay Paul”.
In one of these emails, I saw, among the slews of Amazon deals, a short article on an alternative to the Magic Eraser. I have those, tucked away in the back of the cupboard under the sink along with the Swiffer pads for a Swiffer that is long gone, and all those cleaning products you think are a great idea at the time and never look at again. [Under my sink reminds me of a Tupperware cabinet for cleaning products.]
So I fired up my Amazon Smile account (which, after at least 5 years of diligently purchasing items on Amazon, has donated a paltry $4.23 to my nonprofit-of-choice), and searched for the Extra Large Magic Cleaning Eraser Sponge (affiliate link) – quite a deal at $8.95 for 20, PLUS there was a coupon for $1 off and free shipping with Prime!
These sponges are made of melamine foam and boast the ability to clean with no chemicals (much like my beloved Norwex). So what is this melamine foam? A quick internet search reveals that it’s been in production for about the last 20 years. It has many uses, from insulation to soundproofing. It is a formaldehyde-melamine-sodium bisulfite copolymer (raising any questions yet? I just know formaldehyde is used in embalming.) For cleaning purposes, the magic sponge works like a fine sandpaper, so it gets into all the little nooks and crannies of the surface you’re cleaning to lift out the dirt. If I’m starting to sound like a commercial, I freakin’ love these things!
Sidenote: This melamine foam is also sold as a dental stain removal (though not recommended for use on fillings). I’m not sure if I’ll be trying that application, but good to know the option is available!
Research complete, I opened the box that came from Amazon this morning (which would have made for a very boring unboxing video), took out one of the erasers, and set to work on my daughter’s bath. I say my daughter’s bath because I only have one daughter who takes baths – and this one has seen it’s fair share of bubble baths, bath bombs, and other bathing accouterments used by teenage girls. Does she clean it? No. She’s a teenager. The tub is now sparkling.
As I write this I think of other things I can try out my new magic erasers on. I don’t get these cleaning spurts often, so I’m going to make the most of it. Of course, there’s the other half of the stove top. The seller sent a handy 15-page guide which lists a bunch of things you can clean with the erasers – from cleaning dog slobber off the windows to bird poop on concrete, they seem to have tested everything!
Here’s a sampling of things you can clean:
- Doggy doors
- Patio furniture
- Any bathroom surface
- Granite countertops
- Stainless steel cookware
- Refrigerator and freezer seals
- Hubcaps
- Glass cookware
- Fiberglass shower floor
- Tile and grout
- Siding and gutters
- Linoleum
tile - Flower
pots - Painted walls
- Carpet
- Glass surfaces
- Baseboards
- Car tires and rims
- Doll faces
- Shoes
- High chairs
- Strollers
- Coolers
Can you see why you can’t live without Magic Sponges?
I highlighted stainless steel cookware because mine always seems to end up with some kind of a haze from the cooking oil which is extremely hard to remove with normal washing, and even with scouring pads. I often resorted to cleaning them with a paste made of baking soda and water, but I think that just reaching for a Magic Sponge is much easier, and so much less messy!
What about you? Do you have any creative uses for these magic erasers?
