I absolutely love those magic erasers they sell in the little boxes of 6 for about $3, they work awesome for cleaning just about anything! However, I cannot stand the price so I started researching what they are made of to see if I could make my own and guess what? It’s really SIMPLE and CHEAP to make your own (almost) magic erasers!
How to MYO (almost) Magic Eraser Cleaning Sponges
As I researched it, I discovered that I can’t “make my own” from scratch because those so-called Magic erasers are actually just melamine foam! Literally, that’s it! Nothing Else! However, I discovered that it can be purchased on ebay or amazon for a lot less than the store bought stuff.
How does it work?
Melamine foam IS the complete cleaning solution, the “magic erasers” that they sell do NOT have additional cleaners added to them, some of them have fragrance added, that’s about it.
Melamine foam erasers effectively clean most stains because they are formed differently from other cleaning products and only need water — no chemical cleaners or additional soaps are required.
Much like pencil erasers, melamine foam erasers wear out quickly .
To the naked eye, melamine foam eraser appear to look like any other sponge, they even feel similar. Microscopically however, the crucial properties of melamine foam are considerably different.
As melamine resin cures into its foam form, the microstructure becomes almost as hard as glass, which causes it to work on stains much like a super-fine sandpaper.
This type of foam is considered an open-cell foam. As you clean the dirt is pulled into the open cells, helping to pull it away from the surface you’re cleaning.
You can read more about how it works here.
How to Find Melamine Foam Sheets
Are you wondering where can you buy sheets of Melamine Foam? It’s available here on Amazon.
You can pick up a roll or big sheet of melamine foam and simply cut it into squares or rectangles in whatever size or shape that you need to make your own that work just as well as the store bought boxes for about 1/10th of the cost.
Alternatively, if you don’t want the hassle of cutting them out, you can get a giant pack of 50 that are pre-cut for you, for a fraction of the price of a tiny box of four.
See on Amazon
Why Pay More?
Don’t let them fool you with expensive packaging. I literally just bought enough to make 50 Magic Erasers for less than 3 cents each Do you “make your own”?
Sources
- “Basotect.” BASF Corporate Web site. (8/19/2008) https://www.plasticsportal.net/wa/plasticsEU/portal/show/content/products/foams/basotect
- Barry, Patrick and Phillips, Tony. “The Strange Physics of Foam.” NASA. 6/9/2003. (8/20/2008) https://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2003/09jun_foam.htm
- Bogaerts, Iris et al. “Cleaning implement comprising melamine foam.” United States Patent 20070061991. Free Patents Online. 3/22/2007. (8/19/2008) https://www.freepatentsonline.com/y2007/0061991.html?query= melamine+resin+foam+mr+clean+basotect&stemming=on
- Cone, Marla. “Bucking a Toxic Trend.” Los Angeles Times. 10/22/2003. (8/20/2008)
“Foam.” American Heritage Dictionary. (8/20/2008) https://www.thefreedictionary.com/foam - Lindsay, Jeffrey et al. “Multi purpose cleaning product including a foam and a web.” United States Patent 20050136238. Free Patents Online. 6/23/2005. (8/19/2008) https://www.freepatentsonline.com/y2005/0136238.html?query=melamine +resin+foam+mr+clean+basotect&stemming=on
How do I make them???
The post states clearly, “Magic erasers are actually just melamine foam which can be purchased on ebay or amazon for a lot less than the store bought stuff.”
Which means, in order to “MAKE THEM” you just buy Melamine Foam (which is MUCH CHEAPER).
I bought some cheap ones off eBay and was thrilled how much I am saving now!
My hubby thought I was nuts when I first received them! I was like a looney-bird going all over the house testing them! lol
…..Kate 😀
there’s no special cleaner or anything you use, just the sponge?
I have been on this site for over 30 minutes trying to find the recipe for magic erasers. this is the 3rd time I visited this site. It is Very poorly navigated.
Not user friendly I am not going to post any of this because i dont’ want my friends to go wasting their time on a wild goose chase
where in the world is the magic eraser recipe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
lol, anyone else find it amusing that this person is having a hissy fit about finding directions to making something and the answer is literally in the post above her own???
just wow. i don’t know how the writer of the post could have put it any more clearly than she did already, but let me try. magic erasers are nothing more than melamine foam.
therefor, in order to make your ow magic eraser you would simply purchase melamine foam and cut it into little rectangles. it costs about 1/10 of the price.
There’s really no need to whine about poor navigation. You clearly found the post, you just didn’t take the time to read and understand it. smh
i agree! you can not find things easily on this website. you have to search several places and then sometimes you can’t find what was suggested.
needs a revamp of search areas.
there is no actual recipe. she found out it is simply melamine foam. no chemicals or additives.
Do you put anything on the foam?
I have use generic magic erasers from Amazon and they clean quite well, not as durable as Mr Clean’s name brand erasers but good enough. I don’t feel bad about throwing the generic brands away. You get a lot for your money from Amazon
Easy Erasing Pads and similar products all have the same key ingredient: melamine foam. Melamine foam erasers are formed differently from other cleaning products and only need water to effectively clean most stains. They don’t need chemical cleaners or soaps with them.
The only downfall is that melamine foam erasers wear out quickly.
This definitely sounds like something I’m going to be doing in the near future!
how can i make them with no recipe… furthermore, buying them is not the same as making them…..
i suppose you can make them if you have the proper manufacturing equipment and don’t mind exposing yourself and your family to melamine, which has killed a number of dog when it contaminated some dog food. if your goal is to save money, here’s a way to do it: order the melamine foam from amazon and cut it into the size pieces you want. not everything in life has to be homemade.
Oh my gosh, people. This article is pretty self explanatory. Buy the foam and cut them up in to eraser size pieces.
Use like magic erasers. They are saying that the erasers are just melamine foam.
:To funny: Is it horrible of me to be laughing hysterically?
The recipe has been CLEARLY posted. Please read people!
Reminds me of a story about a teacher giving her students a test. Statement number one was “Read the entire page before answering.” Last statement was “put pencil down and turn paper over.” One student did that and everyone around was still scrambling to “finish” the test.”
Guess who got an “A” for the class. It pays to read and follow directions. Less stress.
Thanks for this information, I use a lot of magic erasers. I am going to try this to save me money. I try anything that will help cut some in my budget.
This is great! Thank you so much!
I bought 10 melamine foam sponges for $1 off of Amazon. Was going crazy searching the Internet for the “ magic” cleaning recipe! Found this site and read that only a wet melamine sponge is needed! I quickly got up, wet a sponge and cleaned my kitchen! It worked beautifully! THANK YOU!
I wish I had known this about 30 boxes of magic erasers ago. They’re so darn expensive but they work great to remove stains from just about everything. I ordered a sheet of foam, that ought to last me about a year!