In general plastic erasers are similar. Except the dustless ones that I find difficult to use because of the lump of crumbs that builds up underneath the eraser. Step 1: press and lift (do not rub) with a putty rubber until no more comes off, folding the collected colour inside the rubber. Dark graphite and coloured pencil can best be removed by using two steps: press/lift with a putty rubber until no more will come off and then finish with a plastic or rubber eraser.

It is hard to erase graphite under a watercolour without damaging it. The best advice is to draw very faint lines you can barely see and when painted over they won’t show. Or let the graphite lines show a bit as part of the painting. In the case of the STAEDTLER Mars micro carbon 255 lead tube, individual leads are refilled one at a time by means of a push-button mechanism. Special feature: The refill process is designed for single-handed use. Koh-I-Noor Big Soft Elephant Eraser – natural rubber – oversized giant eraser, can be cut into many smaller erasers in the shapes you desire or makes a fun gift. (This product has now been discontinued)

Eraser

Staedtler Combi Mars Plastic Eraser White & Blue– (two sides – one for graphite and coloured pencils and the other for ink) (phthalate and latex free)

b. Gum erasers (also called art gum erasers) – Designed to crumble very easily as they collect up the graphite so they do less damage to the paper. But since they crumble away they don’t last as long. Very soft. Our products are available in a variety of designs, colors and sizes. In our product range you will also find multifunctional combi erasers that can erase not only pencil markings, but also different kinds of ink. All STAEDTLER erasers ensure excellent erasing comfort, convenient handling and clean erasing. Spare erasers for our mechanical pencils are also available in this category. Faber Castell Perfection Pencil, Single Ended Eraser (soft for graphite, coloured pencils and charcoal) a. Rubber erasers (they used to be made of natural rubber and now some are synthetic rubber)- middle in the scale of firmness. A few contain abrasives like pumice – but those are usually just the rhomboid-shaped school erasers. The abrasives are designed to erase biro ink. Rubber erasers feel a bit powdery to the touch and this bothers some people a great deal. It’s not always easy to tell some synthetic rubber erasers from plastic erasers if they don’t say anywhere, in that case, I go by the powdery feel. Phthalates are a chemical additive that makes plastic pliable (like a squeeze bottle) instead of hard (like the keys on your keyboard). There is more and more evidence that this chemical group affects the human body in negative ways as phthalates interrupt the hormonal system. Many brands of erasers have stopped using them. These plasticisers are in many plastics we use every day, I think they are of particular concern in rubbers because rubbers crumble and this must help expose more of the chemical to the air and skin.The best method for removal of coloured pencil or a large amount of dark graphite is using a 2-step process. However, our erasers can do more than just erase pencil markings. We also offer combi erasers with a rough, blue side. Pumice is added to the STAEDTLER rasoplast combi. This makes it possible to carefully remove the surface of the paper, so that even mistakes written in ballpoint pen can be corrected. The blue side of the STAEDTLER Mars plastic combi contains a special solvent in addition to pumice to remove India ink from tracing paper and matt drafting film. This product is therefore ideal for technical drawing.