Erasers may seem like a pretty standard thing to have in any stationery collection, but there are actually many different types of erasers – each with their own unique qualities. In this blog post we’ll be telling you about a few different sorts of erasers and the best way to use them!
Here we have two pretty basic erasers – the first is the Staedtler Mars plastic eraser. This one may look pretty familiar and is one that many of us may have used. It is a good all-purpose eraser that works for basic pencil erasing. It is sturdy and long-lasting but will produce eraser “shavings” which can be a bit messy. The second is the Marie’s Soft Eraser AKA the cheese eraser. This eraser is soft and delicious (only kidding… definitely not edible!) and is great for really getting into the grooves of paper without making your paper turn furry. Its softness means its also good to use with pastel and charcoal!
Next up we have two Faber-Castell products – both of which are pretty nifty! The black dust-free eraser is fantastic because it is well… dust free! No more of those annoying eraser shavings going all over your desk, and because its black it looks much cleaner and neater than the usual white eraser which can start to look grubby over time. The white and grey dual eraser on the right is fantastic, because not only does it erase graphite but ink too! The white end can be used to erase pencil and the dark grey end can be used to erase pen ink (although it must be noted that not all ink can be erased with this eraser, and you must be careful not to rub too hard as this could damage your paper).
If you are looking for more control when erasing – these three products are excellent. The Colour Grip eraser comes in two different shapes (oval and triangular) and fits comfortably in the hand. It is fairly flat, with thin edges and smooth curves which allows for more control when erasing. The Faber-Castell pencil eraser can actually be sharpened! This is perfect for the finest of details and it has a brush too which means you can keep your work surface nice and tidy without the risk of smudging your work. The Pentel Clic Eraser is retractable and refillable. Easy to use (and not so easy to lose – sometimes tiny erasers seem to grow legs!) and stays nice and clean inside its plastic casing. Both the pencil eraser and the clic eraser are wonderful to use in reductive drawing techniques in charcoal (you can watch a time lapse video of this technique in action here).
Lastly we have one of our favourite products – the putty eraser! It comes in various brands but we chose this one because it come in a nice little plastic case to keep it clean and free of fluff. The putty eraser is so versatile – it can be molded and stretched into different shapes to erase specific areas or rolled into a ball or sausage shape and then dabbed or rolled over an area to lighten the graphite or charcoal lines underneath. It is also excellent for removing dirty marks from paper. What makes the putty eraser so unique is that it doesn’t push particles into your paper, but rather lifts them off the paper. You will notice over time that your putty eraser may start to look dark and dirty – but don’t let that put you off, they really do last a long time and we would definitely recommend that everyone has one in their stationery arsenal!
So interesting. Thank you.
We’re so glad you enjoyed it!
Looking for a specific eraser for an artist friend.
Need an email or cell number to send a Pic /video
Hi Ronell
You can email us on hello@deckleedge.co.za 🙂