Mr Clean Magic Eraser vs Stained Watercolor Box (Review)

One question that I get often on my Youtube channel is whether stains on the watercolour box or palette can be removed.

I decided to find out by getting Mr Clean's Magic Eraser. I've always wondered how good the Magic Eraser is.

Apparently there are different types of Magic Eraser. The one I bought is the Original meant for general purpose use. There are also the durable version and a version designed for irritating kitchen scum.

Here are the instructions. They do not recommend using the Magic Eraser on the following surfaces: high gloss, polished, dark, brushed, satin, faux, bare/polished wood, copper, stainless steel, non-stick coating, or vehicle body.

Magic Eraser is essentially a sponge. I suppose the sponge is removing stains through some abrasive scrubbing, which is why it's not suitable to be used on polished surfaces.

That's my plastic palette after cleaning. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo of the dirty palette before I cleaned it. Anyway, my palette was staining with India ink and watercolour. It was really difficult to get the black ink stains out.

After scrubbing this for a few minutes, I was able to remove the black ink stains and this is almost as good as new. I'm impressed.

That's how the other mixing wells look like after scrubbing.

And this is how my metal palette looks like after cleaning. It was difficult to scrub the corners. For flat surfaces, it was easy to remove the stains.

Overall, I'm quite impressed at how well Magic Eraser is at cleaning stained watercolour palettes. I thought the surfaces stained with Phthalo paints were beyond rescue but I was wrong.

Another benefit of Magic Eraser is it would make the surface a bit rougher. For new watercolour palettes, sometimes water may bead up and it can be quite irritating. With Magic Eraser, you can scrub the surfaces and the water will collect into a single pool more easily.

Availability

You can find Mr Clean's Magic Eraser through the Amazon links below:
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon.fr | Amazon.it | Amazon.es | Amazon.co.jp