Post offices in the UK sell all sorts of things and the things they sell are often quite reasonably priced. This can include things like cakes, hand bags or kitchen foil, but naturally there is also a selection of stationery available. In July I bought the Factis 60 RP eraser at the Cinnamon Hill post office in Walton-le-Dale for 25p (~39¢; 32c). I have seen Factis erasers in Germany, too [1]I would even go as far as saying that there has also been a surge in Spanish made erasers in Germany, but it could just be that the few shops I have seen just happened to stock more or display them … Continue reading. It is often not possible to identify the manufacturer of these erasers, but I assume many of them are made by Factis. I assume the company is named after one of the components needed to make natural rubber erasers.
Another eraser I bought in July is the Ty Beanie Puzzle Eraser Peepers. When I saw a selection of the Beanie Puzzle Erasers on the MS Pride of Rotterdam I remembered Shangching’s positive review and bought one for £1.19 (~$1.87; €1.50). There were many erasers to choose from, so I picked Peepers, the duck, one of the erasers with a more complex looking surface structure.
Performance-wise both erasers perform similarly well, with the more rubbery 60 RP needing a little bit less effort to eraser graphite than the Peepers. Both erasers perform worse than a good eraser, like my favourite non-dust erasers or the Mars plastic stick 528 55, but better than the typical non-name eraser or the most erasers you’ll find at the end of an eraser-tipped pencil.
You can find out more about Factis on the Eraser World web site.
I bought the Staedtler pencil with the mathematical formulas, the 1810 KP72, used in the photos and for the comparison in Nuremberg’s Staedtler Welt for 95 cents (~$1.18; 75p).
References
| ↑1 | I would even go as far as saying that there has also been a surge in Spanish made erasers in Germany, but it could just be that the few shops I have seen just happened to stock more or display them more prominently. |
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I am glad you like the Iwako eraser, and that my review is somewhat helpful. I agree that the Iwako eraser is more for entertainment than doing actual erasure, but not too shabby for a toy.
I concur your opinion on both erasers.
On the latter, I have two Japanese dolls and one cat. I seriously used one of the dolls for a few days before giving up: on certain surfaces it simply doesn’t erase completely. It’s good for things like correcting a shopping list, but working with it one needs a better eraser. That being said, they look awesome on the desk!
Well Memm, I have to be honest and say these erasers don’t particularly excite me….(but the Sakura Foam you sent me sure does).
Thank you for your kind comments.
Shangching, the price is quite good for a toy, but I’ll certainly use mine as an eraser, not as a toy – but I guess it will survive for a long time as I have a few erasers I like to alternate between.
Claire, good to know that it doesn’t seem suitable for big(ger) jobs. My mainproblem with it will probably be that precise erasing is difficult, unless you want to use the duck’s beak – which would probably be used up pretty soon.
Kevin, I bought quite a few other erasers together with the Sakura, so I’ve got to say that I haven’t tried it out yet…. I just don’t seem to use erasers often enough, compared with the number of erasers I’ve got lying around – and in the end I alsways tend to go back to the same three erasers anyway…
Factis SA is a spanish manufacturer of erasers. Not so known as Milan, the other spanish manufacturer, but still a classic.
Jobi, I have seen Milan erasers in shops here, too…
Factis erasers are manufactured in Spain, I think. I used to buy them from a shop called Botsalo books, in Botswana, Southern Africa. They are delightful to use – wonderful, soft erasers although they do produce a fair amount of eraser dust.