#29 - Rubber Erasers | April 15, 2020

10 Facts About Today

Here are 10 smudge-free facts about rubber erasers that you didn’t know, that you didn’t need to know:

1. Erasers are made with Volcanic ash
   1. The pink ones in particular
   2. The pumice, or volcanic ash, is used to make the eraser a little rougher
      1. This extra abrasiveness gives them more traction and helps the erase easier
2. Pencil Manufacturers don’t refer to them as erasers
   1. They call them plugs
   2. And the metal bands that hold them to the pencil are called ferrules
   3. They Pencil/Eraser combo came to market in 1858
3. There are electric erasers
   1. They don’t erase with electricity
   2. They are long sticks of different gages of erasers
   3. They are electronically pushed up
   4. They are supposed to be better for artists
      1. Less tears in paper
      2. Easier to use
4. Erasers aren’t always made of rubber
   1. some are made from synthetic rubber or natural rubber
   2. A lot are made from vinyl
      1. More durable
      2. More flexible
      3. Less flakes and crumbling
   3. Used to be made from Latex
   4. Synthetic Petroleum based
5. The first rubber erasers would rot
   1. Eventually a curing process was created which allowed them to last longer
   2. Now its usually done with high heat and high pressure
6. Original Erasers were made out of bread.
   1. Until the 1770s
   2. de-crusted, moistened and balled up.
   3. cheap and plentiful,
   4. Rotted and Molded
7. The guy who discovered oxygen helped invent erasers. What a guy!
   1. Joseph Priestley
   2. He didn’t invent them, but he did note that rubber was excellent at wiping up lead from paper.
8. Rubber actually got its name from erasers.
   1. Initially referred to as "India gum"
   2. The first know use for the substance was erasing which required rubbing.
   3. Thus the name, Rubber.
9. Erasers are partly a chemical process.
   1. Pencils put graphite on paper and it mingles with the fiber particles.
   2. The polymers in rubber erasers are sticker than paper so the fiber moves to the eraser.
10. Pencils with erasers on top are mostly an American phenomenon.
    1. Most European pencils are sold without eraser.