Mr. Clean Magic Eraser

[teakid]

http://www.mrclean.com/en_US/products/eraser.shtml

This eraser is great for removing tea stains. I use this eraser with just water to clean my teawares, therefore no worry of soap smell and taste attached to cups and pots. They cost around $1/pc. But I wonder if it is actually damaging (roughing) glazed or any kind of delicate surfaces and wiill reveal over time.

Does anyone have any experience with this eraser or know exactly how it works?

[brandon]

Just use plain baking soda and make a paste with a bit of water.
Rub the stains with your fingers and some paste... Good luck.

[Chip]

Or vinegar for glazed teaware ... and if really stubborn, heat the vinegar which makes this mild acid more reactive.

[chamekke]

I'm not sure... but if you're talking about cleaning the tea stains from china or porcelain, I find that a weak solution of bleach (1 part bleach to 4 parts water) is very effective. Scrubbing with a paste of baking soda and water also works well. And some people use a vinegar-and-salt solution.

P.S. I don't generally use bleach for stain removal alone, but I do volunteer in a hospice where it's standard practice to spray the cups etc. with a weak bleach solution prior to washing them in the dishwasher. In that case it's purely a sanitation step.

[kymidwife]

Magic Erasers are a Formaldehyde-Melamine-Sodium bisulfite copolymer foam with pretty remarkable cleaning properties, no odor, and leaving no apparent residue. They are soft and flexible which lends well to cleaning in crevices, etc. They are mildly abrasive and could possibly alter a glazed finish, especially with repeated use... so I have not used them on any teaware. They are listed as non-toxic as long as you don't eat them, and that seems to be more a concern for intestinal blockage than chemical exposure.

The MSDS information on Magic Erasers is at this link:

http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/cg ... d=16003386

Sarah

[tjkoko_off]

Forget the magic eraser and instead try rubbing your stained teaware with a thick paste made of baking soda and water.

[hooksie]

Kymid's got it. Magic erasers work like a very (very very very very) fine sandpaper/sponge. One site says equivalent to 1500 grit we/dry sandpaper. Other sites cite not using it on sensitive surfaces such as gloss or finish. I would personally avoid using it on teaware you care about.

[shogun89]

Some teastains show character and use, so I will usually leave them be, unless they are ugly.

[Herb_Master]

Some teastains show character and use, so I will usually leave them be, unless they are ugly.

Sounds like a sensible approach, particularly if it were on a yixing that you had developed a nice patina on, and developed over years using just one tea type!

[teakid]

Thanks for the answers! I will stop using it. Explains why one of my tea cups build up stains more often.