How to Make A Magic Eraser Type Sponge

9/6/2018

If you have ever tried a Magic Eraser Sponge, I bet you were amazed. I know I was. At our old house (before we moved to our homestead) we had a shower enclosure in the second bathroom. The bottom of it was always dirty from my husband showering after work. He is a diesel mechanic and many times he arrives home quite black, and it seems that most of that black ends up on the shower floor. I tried so many things to clean it and it just took old fashioned elbow grease to scour it off. The older it got, the harder it became to get clean. That is, until I tried a Magic Eraser!

It still took a bit of elbow grease, but it came clean with what I would call a minimum effort. It was pretty awesome. The only bad thing about it was the cost. Magic Erasers are like $1 each or more; not cheap considering they are only good for one use. Actually I used at least two for the shower floor. It irked me that they were so expensive, so I decided to do some investigation and see if there was a way to make them myself.

I found out that Magic Erasers and other products like them are made from a certain type of foam called Melamine foam. It looks like any other sponge but it is really much more dense. At the microscopic level, Melamine resin is cured into foam and it becomes very hard, but it is still pliable because of it's open cell structure. It almost performs like super fine grit sandpaper. It makes quick work of stains, but it also means it can damage some shiny surfaces.

Magic Eraser type sponges should never be used on wood. Because it's surface has scratchy threads, it will damage wood surfaces by scratching off the clear coat and damaging the wood underneath. The same goes for glossy paint, it can be dulled and scratched if scrubbed with these type of sponges. I would not recommend use on appliances, either. Stainless steel or the new dark gray or black appliances are especially susceptable to scratch damage or worn spots in the finish. I would also recommend caution if you have a really shiny countertop, like granite. You can damage the finish, if you are not very careful. Alway take care to try a test spot on any surface you are not sure about. Better to be safe than sorry!

To make your own Magic Erasers, you will need to buy some Melamine sponges. I found them very reasonably priced on Amazon, at 100 pieces for less than $8.00.

Baoer
Melamine Sponges
100 pieces

While Mr. Clean claims they do not put any cleaners in their Erasers, I put a mild soap in mine. I think it helps clean better and you don't have to use so much energy scrubbing.

There are two ways you can use the cleaner:

Soak your sponge in it before using
Make the cleaner and keep it in a spray bottle and spray it on the sponge before using

I prefer to soak mine, the amount below is perfect for a one time use. I just make it and put it in a bowl and then drop the sponge in and let it absorb the cleaner. Wring it out and you are good to go.