Monday, July 20, 2009

a review

Gracias to each of you who gave their input on the last post!  I found it really interesting to see the rationale behind why you spend money on the things you do. I must admit, there was a huge contingency out there who promoted coughing up the money for a pair of designer jeans, and it made me willing to open that door and peek in.  Maybe I'll go try on a pair and see if I can see the difference so many of you do.  

I also thought a good rule of thumb that several of you suggested is to never buy anything you don't love.  I have been burned by ignoring that philosophy in the past, and I really would like to try and live by it.  Cheap is not always better, and sometimes it's worth it to do with less but really have more, than vice versa.

Now on to a product review.  Today I have been blown away—nay, stunned—by the Magic Eraser.  

This miracle product has come through for me in a way that I really would not have imagined, making me a life-time believer in whatever "magic" it has tucked away in that non-assuming white sponge.  

Before I tell you what the this dynamite product did, let me back up and give you a little insight into my problem.  Six years ago this month we moved into our house.  Nathan and I built the house, which meant that I picked out most everything, including the flooring.  Having never owned a house (I was all of 21 years old when we were building it), I didn't know much about the practical side of things, and that is the only explanation for the huge WHITE tiles I picked to go in our kitchen, entryways, and bathrooms.  And to add insult to injury, not only were they white, they were unsealed.  I didn't know it at the time, but what that translates into is dirt getting stuck in the tiny, microscopic crevices and pits in the tiles, making my floors always appear dirty even after they are freshly swept and mopped.  It has been my biggest household nemesis in the six years we've lived here, and after the long, hard, never-ending battle for clean floors, I was just about ready to throw in the towel and hire the big guns to come out and do some kind of crazy expensive cleaning.

But before I did that, I decided it couldn't hurt to give the Magic Eraser a try.  Sure, nothing else—bleach, brillo pads, or any amount of mopping—had ever worked, but what could it hurt?
I started on one tile, and before I had scrubbed ten seconds I knew we had a winner.  Tile by tile, I watched as the grime that had been stuck in the pores magically disappear. 

I got so excited I grabbed my camera and  started snapping pictures.  This first picture is my tile as clean as I could get it prior to the Magic Eraser.  

Doesn't it just scream, "Grimy!"  I hated the tiny black spots that were everywhere, making my tile always appear dingy.  

Now this is the after picture of the same tile.

Gleaming, clean, and exactly as it was when it was first laid.

Here is a shot of treated and non-treated area side by side. 

 I don't think I need to tell you which tile got the Magic.

And finally, a shot of the section of kitchen I finished tonight.  


A sight for sore eyes.  I wasn't able to finish all of the tile in my house with the four erasers that came in the package, but let me tell you, it is well worth every dime I spend. I don't know what else these little sponges will work on, but if you have a problem area, I say give it shot!  

24 comments:

Rebecca Harber said...

I love Magic Erasers!!!! I use them on my ceramic stove top and I love it.

Mel said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mel said...

Those erasers are definitely magic! I have a few spots on my tile floors that I'm going to try the eraser on... thanks for the tip!

Jennifer said...

If either of the girls ever get ahold of a Sharpie and write on the walls, it will take it off. Not that I know anything about that, you know!

julie said...

impressive! but i think its more impressive that you scrubbed all those tiles on your hands and knees with those little erasers! not an easy task!

Jenny Thomas said...

Oh I swear by these things! I haven't come across a job yet that it won't fix! We use them on our walls, tiles, counters, etc.. My favorite thing it erased was hairspray that had gunked (is that word?) up our bathroom counter.. just scrub with one of those and it's gone!

Lee said...

Ok, you have me convinced. I'm going to go out and get some of those things asap.

Anonymous said...

Works really good on the grout also! Makes it look like new again.

Candice Duffy said...

hmm...I have a problem:My baby crawls army style and it seems he will probably never get up on his hands and knees. I am changing him SEVERAL times a day because the front of his clothes are NASTY!!! I have even had the tile floor professionally cleaned with still no positive results. Yeah, the floor looked cleaner, but the baby didn't. Maybe I'll give the magic eraser a try?

Lisa said...

A friend of mine also swears by a steam mop. She uses it to clean everything.

emily anna said...

I have never commented on your blog before, but I thought this would be the perfect time! I just wanted to share a little tip with you: Did you know that they make a Magic Eraser Mop? It is amazing! Just a good as the little ones! I even use it on my shower... anyway, anything to make cleaning faster and easier! I hope that saves you a little time. I think I got mine at Target.

Anonymous said...

please tell me you have since sealed the tile?

RNA said...

yay for new jeans!!! Try on many pairs. Don't give up! and soon you will be the proud owner of what you may consider the best jeans in the whole world!!!

Brad said...

I have to agree with you on the Magic Eraser. My wife and I have been cleaning the doorway trim and closet doors that over the years seem to get stained with dirty handprints. Scrubbing them with cleaning products that normally work on about everything else didn't work. We had about resolved ourselves to the fact that we just need to put a fresh coat of white paint on them. And then my wife found the Magic Eraser. We started just rubbing (not even scrubbing) them on the doors and trim, and they look like new again. We looked at each other and asked, "what are these things made out of?". I'm just glad it works so well. Now another product to promote. The Haan Floor Steam Cleaner (available at QVC.com). Since I wanted to help my busy stay-at-home housewife who homeschools our son along with all that comes with a 3-year old daughter, 2 dogs, etc., I told her I would help out if she would give me a permanent job to be done---that wound up being cleaning the floors. So, I vacuum for her and mop. When I found out about this Haan Steam cleaner, I thought this thing sounds really good. It really works, too. It has removable microfiber pads, and cleans hard floors (both tile and hardwood) better than any mop ever could. It gets up the worst of dirt (even some spilled paint that had dried on the tile) without ever scrubbing. Go search on QVC's website for Haan, and you will see it. It really works, and you never have to wring out a mop, fool with chemical cleaners, and it is always putting out clean steam instead of mop water that is getting dirtier every time you put the mop back in the bucket. And the floors have no stickiness, no film on them, just good clean floors. The microfiber pads can just be thrown in the washing machine and hung up to dry. Sorry for the long post, but hope it helps someone --- at least you wives can tell your husbands to pick up a chore to help you out. My hat's off to you stay-at-home moms; you work harder than us office-working husbands do. Praise the Lord for all you do for us and our kids!!!

Anonymous said...

The Magic Erasers are great for soap scum in the shower too. It is soooo smooth when you are finished cleaning. My advice for jeans is to try Seven for All Mankind. They are great. The seams on the outside are set a little to the front so when you look at yourself they are very slimming because it lookes like your hips end sooner than they really do. The back pockets are also lower and closer together to make your butt look smaller. I am all for optical illusions :) They are ususally around 150 per pair.

asplashofsunshine said...

When we moved out of the Detroit area 2 years ago, the day before we left, I cleaned the floors, walls, doors, etc with the MAGIC ERASER! Our realtor called about a week later, and said, "I think you should do an infomercial for MAGIC ERASER! You now have an offer on your house. They commented on how clean your house is." Our house was on the market for 60 days in the Detroit area and we made money on it... THAT'S A FEAT!

I LOOOOOOOOVE MAGIC ERASERS... just in case you can't tell!

tracyshelljones said...

I love magic erasers. As you know, Emerson likes to draw on items around the house, so we've gotten good use out of them. Also, Target has a generic brand of them that works just as good.

Anonymous said...

those magic erasers got permanent marker off my painted kitchen cabinets without removing the paint!!!

Karen said...

You should definitely seal the tile now!! I have the same situation in my kitchen. The tile was never sealed, but to make it worse, we have (or used to have) light grout as well!! Sealing tile is as easy as can be. You just get a clean mop (preferably a new sponge on it), mop it on, and let it dry. It's sad how simple it is, but I just can't get the tile and grout clean enough to do it now.


If you have a TJ Maxx that has a designer section, you can get good jeans at about 25-50% off. I have seen $178 jeans for $98, not even on clearance.

katherine said...

I always feel like a downer when I mentioned this but...I was watching a special/documentary done on known carcinogens that are in household products. I can't remember the name of the carcinogen, but I know one of them was for sure in the Magic Eraser. I remember that because I was so bummed that my conscience wouldn't allow me to use the thing after that! I know not everyone cares about that stuff. But I do, and I thought I'd mention it, in case you are interested. Take it or leave it.

Megan @ SimplyThrifty said...

I too am a Magic Eraser lover. I was at the home of one of my babysitting families in college and she had just had her kids clean up all the marks on the walls with M.E.'s so she took a pen and WROTE on her wall to show me how well the M.E. took off the ink. I was impressed. I've used it for kitchen, bathroom (works great on soap scum), trim, dirty finger marks on doors and light switches. I can rarely find something it doesn't work on.

In response to Katherine's comment about it being carcinogenic, that is false. I too heard this myth awhile ago and looked it up on snopes. http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/eraser.asp There are a few different rumers about M.E's but they're safe, non-toxic and kids can use them (if they don't eat them!) So, clean away!

Crystal said...

that's amazing! I have even used the ones at the dollar store, and they seem to work just as well. they may use up a little faster, but I think it still comes out a good bit cheaper.

Valerie said...

Ahh! Those look terrific! I'm sold. I teach middle school students, and could definitely use those to get rid of their pen marks on the desks and tables! And...I have a 5 month old who I'm sure will give me reason to use those at home before too long! Thanks for the tip! Also, thanks for such a fun blog to read! You're one of my favorite bloggers!

Five Musgraves at Ten Oaks said...

Just one more good place to try your Magic Erasers is the risers on your stairs (if they're white)! Before we tried to sell our house in '07, we were able to get the scuff/black marks off of those risers (the vertical part in between the stair treads) and they looked like new!