# Erasers on pencils **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 30, 2016, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624 "2016-03-30T11:37:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624/21 "2016-03-31T02:59:32Z")
I don’t use the eraser on the back of the pencil often but it would be too strange for it to be absent. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624/22 "2016-03-31T03:07:02Z")
Math major here, many erasures in my day. Staedtler Mars plastic erasers are by far the best, IME. > [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > In college, I discovered that there were kickass quality erasers available, [like this one.](http://www.staedtler.us/en/products/pencils-accessories/erasers/mars-plastic-528-eraser-holder/) Yes I actually carry this with me and my mechanical pencil. Those, or the little rectangular block ones. [staedtler mars eraser - Google Search](https://www.google.com/search?q=staedtler+mars+eraser&client=safari&hl=en-us&prmd=sivn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj8s8Sq9-nLAhUQ2GMKHYbSA9IQ_AUICCgC&biw=1024&bih=672#hl=en-us&tbm=isch&q=staedtler+mars+plastic+eraser) It’s the eraser material that counts, not the shape, and these are the best. Other pink erasers can easily wear away the paper, especially with multiple erasures at the same spot. Oh and I also used an eraser shield to protect my work aroung the mistake. Here are images: [https://www.google.com/search?q=eraser+shield&client=safari&hl=en-us&prmd=sivn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi-uNjj-OnLAhVU3GMKHevCB1MQ\_AUICCgC&biw=1024&bih=672](https://www.google.com/search?q=eraser+shield&client=safari&hl=en-us&prmd=sivn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi-uNjj-OnLAhVU3GMKHevCB1MQ_AUICCgC&biw=1024&bih=672). They are very thin metal. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624/23 "2016-03-31T12:22:56Z")
> [@lynne-42](#): > > In Australia we can get both - pencils with or without erasers. I always choose without for the reasons others have commented - the quality of the eraser. As I have a stationery fetish (as do many others, I gather) I carry a variety of pencils, erasers and a sharpener - and a variety of the newest and greatest - erasable pens. They have ‘erasers’ on the end, but are friction erasers and don’t wear out. > > Never again will I use a normal pen / biro. What’s a “friction eraser” and why can’t it be used for pencil if it doesn’t wear out? Sounds like the answer to a prayer! ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624/24 "2016-03-31T12:41:44Z")
Where is this unified nation of ‘Europe’ of which you speak? I am sat here, in my British office, using a pencil with an eraser (rubber) as we debate. And the rubber is, indeed, smudging my sketches. ---
**Author:** ![lynne-42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lynne-42/32/3138_2.png) [@lynne-42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lynne-42)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624/25 "2016-03-31T12:52:43Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > What’s a “friction eraser” and why can’t it be used for pencil if it doesn’t wear out? Sounds like the answer to a prayer! It uses heat and turns the ink into ‘invisible’ ink - nothing is ‘rubbed’ out. [http://www.pilotpen.com.au/writing-instruments/gel-ink-pens/frixion-ball-erasable-pen](http://www.pilotpen.com.au/writing-instruments/gel-ink-pens/frixion-ball-erasable-pen) I ought to be paid by their marketing team I’ve converted so many people to these things, but have no association except parting with my hard-earned cash. Oh, and giving away nearly all my un-erasable pens. I have kept a few for forms and documents which have to be permanently marked. I am an author and sign books. I always had an overwhelming fear of making a mistake in the name or message on a book a reader has just purchased. These pens are heaven for me. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624/26 "2016-03-31T12:57:59Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > Can this be true? With an eraser on the pencil being so handy, so logical, could it be the case that Europeans are willing to forego this and instead search all over the house for an eraser? Or do Europeans not make mistakes? EuroDopers, please explain. I’ve seen plenty of pencils with (UK usage coming up for your amusement) a rubber on the end. I have one by my notepad at the moment, which came as part of a promotional pack at a sales fair I went to. On the other hand, pencils are relatively rare nowadays. If you want to write something down - as opposed to typing into a smartphone or computer - you usually expect to find a ballpoint pen. I have no idea as to the actual statistics. My guess is that pencils aimed at the artist market won’t have an eraser on the end, and IME serious archives and some libraries may (a) insist on people using pencils on the premises rather than pens and (b) ban erasers in case the library’s own materials are more damaged by them than they are by any marginal notes some fool makes. But pencils in the ordinary stationery shops or in schools and offices are quite likely to have the built-in rubber (hohoho). ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624/27 "2016-03-31T13:08:47Z")
> [@lynne-42](#): > > It uses heat and turns the ink into ‘invisible’ ink - nothing is ‘rubbed’ out. > > [http://www.pilotpen.com.au/writing-instruments/gel-ink-pens/frixion-ball-erasable-pen](http://www.pilotpen.com.au/writing-instruments/gel-ink-pens/frixion-ball-erasable-pen) > > I ought to be paid by their marketing team I’ve converted so many people to these things, but have no association except parting with my hard-earned cash. Oh, and giving away nearly all my un-erasable pens. I have kept a few for forms and documents which have to be permanently marked. > > I am an author and sign books. I always had an overwhelming fear of making a mistake in the name or message on a book a reader has just purchased. These pens are heaven for me. They also make erasable highlighters?! Never heard of such a thing before. [http://pilotpen.us/categories/frixion-erasable-ink-pens/](http://pilotpen.us/categories/frixion-erasable-ink-pens/) Great. Now I may be wanting one. Of each. Great, that’s all I need, more pens / pencils / highlighters to feed my fetish. Gee thanks. ETA: and with rubbers on them. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624/28 "2016-03-31T13:09:08Z")
> [@Ignatz](#): > > Dixon Ticonderoga graphite pencils > > “In 1827, Joseph Dixon” (of Marblehead, Mass.) “began his” (pencil factory) “business in Salem, Massachusetts and, with his son, was involved with the Tantiusques graphite mine in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. Dixon discovered the merits of graphite as a stove polish and an additive in lubricants, foundry facings, brake linings, oil-less bearings, and non-corrosive paints.” > > says Wikipedia. > I can’t believe that he waited 31 years to attach the eraser (with a green crimper). Maybe he didn’t patent it. And Dixon Ticonderoga pencils still come with good, usable erasers on the end. Most cheap brands (like CVS, or the promotional ones) don’t – the erasers are often worse than useless, just smearing the graphite around. Dixon Ticonderoga pencils also work very well as pencils, with smooth lead of perfectly even hardness, that doesn’t break too easily. They are my preferred brand. I like traditional pencils over mechanical ones. The very fine mechanical pencil leads seem to break too easily and too often. I can sharpen a good wooden pencil to be sharper than a fine-tip lead, and still write with it. and I can instantly change the angle of the pencil and get a slightly heavier line, or shade in lightly with a much wider writing surface, and then change the angle back and instantly get a fine writing tip again. A good traditional wooden pencil is a thing of beauty and a joy to use. ---
**Author:** ![iceiso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@iceiso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iceiso)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624/29 "2016-03-31T14:19:08Z")
Erasers? You mean, shock absorbers for when the pencil rolls off the desk? ---
**Author:** ![troub](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troub/32/14802_2.png) [@troub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troub)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624/30 "2016-03-31T14:46:54Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > it may be of interest to note that Staedler is a long-lived German company; [on their Wikipedia page,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staedtler) the first image is of conventional wooden pencils - with no eraser on top. …but a fake one painted on! ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624/31 "2016-03-31T19:34:32Z")
I use pencils with erasers on the end all the time when working on crossword puzzles. Very convenient. Sure the erasers aren’t the best, but they get the job done when I make a mistake. It’s only for my amusement anyway and it beats having to get up from my recliner and look for a real eraser. ---
**Author:** ![lynne-42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lynne-42/32/3138_2.png) [@lynne-42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lynne-42)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624/32 "2016-03-31T23:06:01Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > They also make erasable highlighters?! Never heard of such a thing before. > > [http://pilotpen.us/categories/frixion-erasable-ink-pens/](http://pilotpen.us/categories/frixion-erasable-ink-pens/) > > Great. Now I may be wanting one. Of each. Great, that’s all I need, more pens / pencils / highlighters to feed my fetish. Gee thanks. My pleasure. Lovely to meet a fellow stationery fetisher (no idea what the correct word is). I’d forgotten the highlighters. They’re wonderful too. Only one of each? Tut. Tut. I have them in my study, handbag, next to the lounge chair where I read … ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624/33 "2016-03-31T23:39:02Z")
_ **stop it!! Stop it!!** _ ---
**Author:** ![lynne-42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lynne-42/32/3138_2.png) [@lynne-42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lynne-42)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624/34 "2016-03-31T23:46:59Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > _ **stop it!! Stop it!!** _ No! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624/35 "2016-04-01T05:38:35Z")
Don’t open this… Caran D’Ache Hey, I’ve been good and not posted a link! ---
**Author:** ![lynne-42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lynne-42/32/3138_2.png) [@lynne-42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lynne-42)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624/36 "2016-04-01T05:58:11Z")
Interesting reference to fancy pens, **Nava**. I’d be interested to know if the others with stationery fetishes are willing to pay those prices (took me a while to actually see the numbers). My fetish doesn’t worry about the actual brand. I just want pencils and pens and erasers and sharpeners and fresh clean paper in a whole variety of forms, especially 5 mm grid. I can’t work on anything other than 5 mm grid for daily work. Then lovely blank books and … ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624/37 "2016-04-01T06:07:32Z")
Heh, I have a Caran D’Ache fountain pen. It is lovely. It is my main writing implement. I an surprised no-one has mentioned Henry Petroski’s seminal work [The Pencil](http://www.amazon.com/Pencil-History-Design-Circumstance/dp/0679734155/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8). Everyone should read at least one of his books. To Engineer is Human is perhaps the key one, but The Pencil is a wonderful read. Probably answers the OP’s question. (My copy is at home, I might try to find it in the mire later.) ---
**Author:** ![lynne-42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lynne-42/32/3138_2.png) [@lynne-42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lynne-42)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624/38 "2016-04-01T06:44:05Z")
Now, a very nice fountain pen - ah that’s tempting. Very tempting. I might have to leave this conversation before the budget dissolves. And a book all about pencils. Oh dear. **KayT,** you’ve really caused problems now with your OP. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624/39 "2016-04-01T08:11:19Z")
> [@lynne-42](#): > > Interesting reference to fancy pens, **Nava**. I’d be interested to know if the others with stationery fetishes are willing to pay those prices (took me a while to actually see the numbers). My fetish doesn’t worry about the actual brand. I just want pencils and pens and erasers and sharpeners and fresh clean paper in a whole variety of forms, especially 5 mm grid. I can’t work on anything other than 5 mm grid for daily work. Then lovely blank books and … Oh, it’s not a matter of brand… The pencils those guys are most famous for are watercolors. You can use them dry (and they behave like any other color pencil) or wet (and they behave like a watercolor thin-to-medium brush depending on angle and pressure). I find that paintbrushes tend to be too thin for my fingers (and that’s with tiny hands!), these pencils are very nice to hold. I gave myself a box a couple of years ago as a self-present, after decades of carefully not drooling over them in stores. One of the Spanish expressions for utter happiness is “as happy as an idiot with a box of Alpinos”: I don’t know if I’m an idiot, but I love all those colored sticks… is it bad, if you’d rather get colored sticks than flowers? ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624/40 "2016-04-01T10:34:44Z")
Enthusiasts should not miss: [http://www.pencilmuseum.co.uk/](http://www.pencilmuseum.co.uk/) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erasers-on-pencils/750624.md?page=3)