Staedtler Mars Plastic Eraser 526 50 Review

If you use pencils, then I’m pretty sure you use erasers as well. It doesn’t seem quite right to blather on about pencils and not really say much about their important related product. So for a different type of review, here are a few words on my favourite eraser. And you know, looking at the auction websites, I think there are a fair few eraser collectors out there.

Staedtler Mars Plastic Eraser 526 50 Review

The Staedtler Mars Plastic Eraser 526 50 has been part of my writing equipment for a very long time. In my part of the world it’s pretty much the “everywhere” eraser, - in every stationery and office supply outlet, and every workplace stationery cupboard. Of course down here it’s still often called a rubber.

BASIC DATA

• Dimensions: Rectangular shape, 23 x 13mm, x 65mm long (approx 1 x ½, x 2 ½ inches)


• Material: PVC (vinyl)


• Colour: White eraser, blue and white sleeve.

Obviously the most important feature of an eraser is its erasing power. From years of use I can say that the Mars Plastic is up to the jobs I have asked of it. It quickly erases even heavy dark pencil lead. It is less effective with coloured pencil, but that seems to be the way with most erasers. Smearing can be a problem with some erasers but doesn’t seem to be a major issue with Mars Plastic. Certainly soft lead grades like 4B and 6B do produce some initial smearing but a few extra swipes removes the smears. Equally importantly it seems very gentle on the paper - you can really be quite vigorous and repetitive in your erasing of a particular spot and the paper remains in good condition.
It is a reasonably large eraser which has some good and bad points. On the good side, you can get a firm grip on it which makes things easy if you have a lot of erasing to do, and you can erase an awful lot before you will need to buy a new one. So there’s slightly less need to panic during your exam when you suddenly realise you have to rub out half your wonderful design. On the bad side, whilst it starts out with nice square edges and a square end, you can’t really keep a sharp edge or fine point on this eraser so it is a bit of a blunt instrument. You definitely need an erasing shield if you have some fine erasing to do. Of course chopping the rounded end off the eraser is an option, and I have resorted to this every now and then.

The tight fitting sleeve is a nice idea, but doesn’t quite succeed in the real world - it tends to end up looking rather tatty. But then again, I’m not sure I have a better idea to keep the eraser compound clean. Speaking of the compound, as you erase away, the waste does twist itself up into long strands which are easily removed, just like Staedtler claim. They also claim it is good for removing scuff marks from vinyl floors, marks from light switches and wallpaper, cleaning nail files and a whole lot of other things. I can vouch for the first few – but no idea about the nail file! The compound is relatively odourless – I recall “smelly” erasers being very popular when I was a little fellow at primary school.

I can’t claim to be an eraser expert, or to have done comparative tests on dozens of different brands, but I think the Mars plastic is a good economical general purpose eraser.

Footnote: Drafts of this review were prepared with a Staedtler (Australia) Pacific 830 grade HB wooden pencil, assisted by Dux 1128-NB sharpener, and of course Staedtler Mars Plastic 526 50 eraser.