I was just forwarded a story about a woman whose son had a 3M Easy Eraser rubbed on his face. As a result, his skin was burned from the alkeline chemicals that are in the product, and not listed in the ingredients. Here is the story posted on her own website.
It is a good thing to know, as most parents do, she read the label- and presumed it was safe from the lack of chemicals listed on the package. I guess we can never be too careful. I have always assumed that listing of ingredients was mandatory but somehow corporations are able to skirt this when they want.
That is pretty scary, they should definitely put better warning labels on those pens. I too have made the mistake of thinking that skin is more resilient than it is. Common chemicals like turpentine, paint, gasoline, and motor oil can all have irritating and / or drying effects on the skin. Facial skin is even more sensitive too.
Nowadays when I work on my car I always wear gloves, and try to wear safety goggles too.
This is an urban legand.
Hi Josh- Unfortunately the Magic Eraser Burns-Easy Eraser story is not a hoax or urban legend. We research our stories pretty thoroughly before we write about them. As you can see in the post there is a link to the blog written by the mother of the boy who was burned/scratched. There is actual correspondence from the 3M company posted regarding the issue.
I don’t want to be judgmental, but anyone who has used these sponges should have better sense than to give them to a child, or to clean a child’s face with them.
The Mr. clean Erasers clean up things in my kitchen that might take a lot of elbow grease to remove otherwise. The lack of ingredients on the package has only encouraged me to wear gloves every time I use them, as I really don’t know what makes them work so well.
They will more then likely burn people with sensative skin. After reading this review: Mr. Clean Magic Eraser Review I kept mine high and away from little hands. These little sponges can be very dangerous friends!