Showing posts with label eraser. Show all posts
Showing posts with label eraser. Show all posts

Saturday, June 10, 2023

Factis OV 12 eraser review

 

Trying out another eraser from Factis. This Factis OV 12 is a large oval shape eraser that looks simple and elegant at the same time. The eraser comes with no wrap. The branding and the bar code is written directly on the eraser with a thin black font while the model is a punchy red font. Also a Made in Spain is written just below the model name.

The shape and size sits very comfortably in the hand. And like the other Factis erasers I have tested it is made out of a soft compound. The size of the eraser is about 6.5 cm in length and around 2.5 cm.

But what really counts about an eraser it how well it erases. So I will test the OV 12 against a standard HB lead (rotring). I will test how well it does against standard pressure pencil marks and high pressure pencil marks, one pass of the eraser versus multiple passes.

As you can see the eraser leaves a fair bit of eraser dust behind. It was expected from the fact it is a soft eraser.

Cleaning the dust off the page and I am left with a pretty good result from the Factis eraser. Even in the case of a single pass the pencil marks are almost entirely gone.

I have tested how it fairs against a standard wooden pencil lead. Using multiple strokes the lead is almost completely gone. You can still see some marks just below "test" but it is minor.
In conclusion I can say that this 0.75 $ eraser does a good job. If you are not bothered with the eraser dust you will be pleased with this budget eraser, that is a good performer..

Friday, March 19, 2021

PVC in erasers, Faber Castell Erasers comparison

Recently I have spent more time reading about Radon, VOC, and products that contain harmful ingredients. If you try to eat more eco-product also take a look at the stuff that surrounds you. Inside our homes many if not all the surfaces release compounds in the air that are not necessarily good for our health. The first step would be to limit the toxic materials or use them as sparingly as possible and if the space allows for a mechanical ventilation system I would suggest you look into it, as it is a very good way of reducing the concentrations of pollutants to low levels.
If what you eat matters this should matter as well. 
Most if not all of the products that are made out of plastic and have a rubbery/soft texture contain harmful chemicals that enter our bodys. The easiest method for these substances to enter our body is licking/chewing (sounds funny but many children chew on erasers/pencil etc), but there are other ways and a lot more products that we use daily.

Moving on to the stationary... I have come across an article, China Testing School Erasers
You can read more in the article. Long story short, they have tested for products meeting the toxic materials present in the erasers and the concentrations.

The brands that were part of the test wee:

The complete report is in Chinese, so I can't understand more than the pictures tell me.
Tombow Mono Plastic Eraser, Muji Plastic Eraser, Uni Plastic, Pilot Foam, Radar, Pentel Hi-Polymer,  Faber Castell Dust Free plus many more use PVC in their composition. Some have really high values, but I will not try to interpret those. The highest numbers are beside UNI, Pilot, Radar, MONO.
The article recommends using PVC free.

So here I am, testing three Faber Castell erasers, not for toxic materials but on their performance in doing their job. Two of them are PVC Free Erasers (the top row erasers from the first picture) and the third is the Faber Castell Dust Free eraser. 
The Dust Free 18 71 21 is a very good eraser, praised by a lot of people and widely used. It erases ok, and leaves very little residue behind. This makes it a favorite. Also, the black color helps to hide the dirt accumulated on it. This will be the control, representing the PVC erasers.

The white PVC Free eraser came with a protective paper cover while the green PVC Free eraser came in a very basic plastic wrap. The white PVC Free has all the writing on the paper cover, while the green has the information printed directly on it. 
I have tested to see how the erasers do, with classic lead and with polymer lead. All of the erasers did very well erasing the pencil marks completely without any effort.
Even though the results are similar, the feel is very different.
The Dust Free is grippy in a nice way, not wrinkles in the paper grippy, and it flexes a lot, leaving little to no residue behind.
The white eraser leaves a little more residue compared with the Dust Free, but still, small quantities compared with other erasers. The residue tends to clump together but there are definitely a lot of small particles.
The Pvc Free green eraser seems to be a bit stiffer than the white Pvc Free. You can feel it in hand and when you use it. It has a plastic feel, sliding over the paper more. It leaves more residue but the residue tends to stick to the eraser (or not break off).

In conclusion, I would say get a PVC Free eraser. It won't be a huge difference in erasing performance. 
I am sure that PVC erasers will not cause that much harm, compared to other pollutants we encounter daily but it is good to limit as much as possible your exposure to them. 

Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Staedtler erasers

Many times we read books by their covers, and when we see made in ... we immediately catalog things.
I got two erasers, both from Staedtler, both very similar looking, similar in size, shape, not so much in color or country of origin
On the left, in pink it is the Staedtler 526F C53 and on the right in yellow the Staedtler 526 35. One born in Germany while the other in Thailand.

Both erasers came in a plastic wrap, while the protective cover of the pink one can be used as a protective cover. Both erasers have the Staedtler logo on them, even though it's more visible on the pink one as it is a deeper embossing.


The simple test consists of erasing a softer 4B lead and a more standard HB polymer lead.
And here are the results of the test. Both did a good job, especially on the polymer lead. The 4B was a little bit trickier. The German is more prone to smudging and feels a bit sticky. And this is seen on the eraser as it gets dirty, especially after using it on the 4B lead.
On the other hand, the Thai is crumbling a bit more while erasing, keeping it cleaner.
I can not say that one is a clear winner, as they both did well in certain areas. The German was a hair better at writing and lines, but because the Thai crumbles more it was more effective in the areas where there were a lot of pencil marks.
 Taking a look at the eraser dust it's clear that the German sheds less, and usually in finner dust that the Thai.
Congrats to both fighters for doing a good job. On the left the Pink German Staedtler 526F C53 and on the right the Yellow Thai Staedtler 526 35

Saturday, March 28, 2020

Sunday Sudoku

Like many others, I found myself with a lot more time on my hands. I have a long list of stuff I would like to do like learn to ride a skateboard, make a bonsai, pick up the guitar again, read 3 books, exercise and others. But for this Sunday I wanted to enjoy the hobby that made me create the blog. As I do not know how to draw and I am not that much into journaling I thought Sudoku is a great way to use my beloved pencils and erasers, exercise the brain and kill some time. All with one stone.
I think I overstretched downloading some "moderate" Sudoku. The first took me about 2 hours and the second more than 3, as I found a mistake almost at the end, which set me back a lot. I tried a 3rd moderate Sudoku but abandoned it after an hour and 3 numbers discovered.
Koh-I-Noor Mephisto Mechanical pencil 0.7 HB
Koh-I-Noor Hardtmuth eraser

Thursday, March 5, 2020

Soft Eraser Koh-I-Noor souvenir from Prague

This is the last from the bag of goodies. The Koh I Noor round soft eraser.
The number one thing about it is the unique looks. The logo covers the entire face of the eraser, and it looks awesome. The colors and the printing make this basic white eraser look apart.
If I am not mistaking this model comes in 3 sizes, this one, and two other bigger versions. This has a 37.5 mm diameter and 12 mm in thickness.
The eraser works fine, but it doesn't shine in any area. It's a classic eraser that leaves dust everywhere, it picks dirt on it, and the erasing is fine but not special. It doesn't need much pressure to do its job. I would call it a good all-around eraser.
koh i noor hardtmuth eraser
It only cost 25 CZK which translates in just a little under 1 Eur 0.98 at today's exchange rate.
This is one of the best souvenirs you can get in my opinion. Forget the magnets, just get one of these.

Friday, July 26, 2019

Bic Galet eraser test

Another post, another eraser, another test
This time the BIC Galet eraser is put to the test against polymer HB and 2B, lead from HB to 6B, charcoal, and color pencils. A standard copy machine paper was used, nothing fancy.
The Galet is a soft eraser comparable with the Factis S20, but not as grippy. It has a large oval size and does not come with a protective paper wrapping.
It did a fantastic job on the paper, erasing with no problem the polymer leads (rOtring), and the leads HB to 6B (Koh I Noor except the 3B which is Faber Castell). It has the tendency to smudge the lead a bit, so if you have to make precise passes it might not be the best in the bunch.
It did a very nice job on the charcoal, even though it did not erase it completely most of it is gone. Even the colored pencils were no match for this Bic beast. A very faint trace of color is left on the paper. It outperformed the Factis S20 in the erasing test.
But it has negative points in my opinion. The first is the price. It is way higher than the Factis S20, at almost 1 euro per piece. For this amount of money, you can get about 3 Factis S20 or 2 Faber Castell Dust Free.
Like the Factis it produces a large amount of erasing dust.

You can also check out Factis S20 review and an eraser competition

Thursday, June 20, 2019

Factis Softer S20 eraser review

The eraser that I put today to the test is an older Factis Softer S20. I have been using it for around a year now, and I cannot complain about it. It performs decently in everyday situations.
As it is advertised, it is a very soft eraser. It even broke where the paper wrapper meets the eraser.
Because it is so soft it does not harm the paper, but it leaves a lot of residue behind it. This is my biggest complaint. I do not recommend it for "home" use as you will go through a lot of trouble to keep the carpets eraser shavings free.
And I do not compare it with the so-called dust-free erasers, but with regular ones.
It erases very well the polymer leads HB and 2B. The paper is clean after, with no smudges and no marks of previous writing.
On the softer leads 4B, 6B it left behind a very faint trace of lead, but most likely it is not noticeable if you are not looking for it.
The charcoal and colored pencil were not erased completely.

Just for comparison, I have erased the left side of the paper with the Factis 36R. It is a harder eraser, but not too hard. The erasing qualities are similar. I think in the 4B and 6B it performed a bit worse but overall there is no major difference. What is a plus, is the fact that less residue is left behind.
The price is very good. The S20 is about 30% cheaper than Faber Castell dust free small eraser, and half the price of the full dust-free eraser. But because it is so soft and brittle I think it should be compared with the small one in terms of longevity.
The 36R is even cheaper, about 3 times cheaper than the Faber Castell dust free small eraser.

In conclusion, Factis are not bad products, but definitely, have some issues. If you like to do Sudoku before bad time, definitely do not buy the S20.

Monday, January 15, 2018

Erasers: Faber Castell vs Rotring vs Factis & Pelikan

A lot of people praise the performance of the Faber Castell erasers. The stores also seem to like the Faber Castell brand. So I have put them to the test two Faber Castell against the Rotring Tikky and some other brands Factis and Pelikan.
In the green corner is Faber Castell PVC Free and the 187121 Dust free. In the red corner is an old Rotring Tikky 20. In the benchmark corner is Pelikan and Factis 36R.
erasers test faber castell rotring tikky factis pelikan

I have put them against Rotring HB lead, cheap lead 2B which is more prone to smearing and a regular HB pencil.
The performance is quite similar between all of them. The Rotring lead was erased well by all of the erasers in the group. But it was more difficult to erase the cheap 2B lead and even harder to erase the HB pencil.
The best performance all around was delivered by .. all
erasers test faber castell rotring tikky factis pelikan

On longer erasing sessions Pelican was the worst, Factis did a good job but creates a lot of dust. Rotring compared to Faber Castell is made from a harder material, it requires some extra passes but you don't risk making creases on the paper. The Faber Castell Pvc Free is the softest and grips the paper more. The Faber Castell Dust Free is more balanced.
The FC Dust Free does what it says, it does not leave dust on the paper, and I understand why it is considered one of the best erasers. Second place goes to the Rotring which produces larger dust crumbles that are not sticky, they can be cleaned with ease from the paper. The Pvc Free is a little bit better than Pelikan. Factis creates the most dust.
erasers test faber castell rotring tikky factis pelikan
erasers dust test

You can't go wrong with any of the erasers, but I would choose the Faber Castell Dust Free or the Rotring Tikky

After taking into account the ease of erasing, the dust left behind and the chance of making creases in the paper this is my pick.

eraser test rotring faber castell

* mention, Rotring Tikky almost came as equal for the first place if it had performed a hair better on the erase test. Also it needs to be mentioned that Rotring is around 10 years old eraser. This might decrease the erasing performance.

Saturday, November 18, 2017

Rotring tikky eraser

Today I was surprised when I found in a stationary store a rotring eraser. I don't know why but lately it is very difficult to find rotring erasers. They seem to have been replaced by the Faber Castell, Stabilo, Pelican, Factis, Stadler and other less known brands. But what is better suited to accompany a mechanical Rotring Tikky pencil?
rotring eraser and mechanical pencil tikky


Even though not the best eraser it does a very good job. One downside compared to the more praised Faber Castell 18 71 20, the Rotring is not dust free. It makes more crumbles.
But like the Tikky it is affordable, good quality and long lasting. It got me through College and it's still going strong.
The Tikky comes in three sizes, 20 being the biggest, then 30 and 40.
What has happened to it in the meantime? I guess it got a makeover.

rotring eraser tikky 20 30 40 white

It used to be an all white eraser with white paper cover. The branding and the name was hot red symbol for Rotring and the fine print on the side in black
In the meantime and seems the Rotring changed though color of the covering. It is now black, only the Rotring symbol remains red while the rest of the writing is white.
new rotring tikky eraser german

I do not know if this is an improvement, I really liked the simplicity of the previous design very Google ish for a lack of a better word. I mean it is simple and straightforward.
On the other side, I can see a benefit from the black cover. I have my old eraser since college and in the meantime the white it is not that white, it's kind of dirty yellowish. So the dark cover might add a plus in the long term.

On the Rotring site, the photos of the eraser still feature the white hood. But digging deeper and looking through Rotring catalogs the change was made around 2015.

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