How Do You Use Mr. Clean Magic Erasers?

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mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
My wife bought a few packages of Mr. Clean Magic Erasers online and gave one to me, after I'd mentioned that the pipe group uses them to clean up pipes. I associate using them for brightening up stems, which some of my older pipes probably need, though I do polish them with a slightly abrasive cloth, then a soft cloth, and also clean up the bits with bristly pipe cleaners. How do you use Magic Erasers on your pipes? Only stems or also briar? Anything else I should know about it?

 

alaskanpiper

Enabler in Chief
May 23, 2019
9,348
42,247
Alaska
I have only used them to remove oxidation on stems so far. They work pretty well but it takes a little elbow grease and constant rubbing.
I think they are actually mildly abrasive, so I don't see why they couldn't be used on briar.

 
May 9, 2018
1,687
86
Raleigh, NC
I primarily use them to remove any oxidation from my stems. If the stem has a polished finish to it, the magic eraser will make it quite dull as it definitely is a mild abrasive. I wet it under the faucet and use it to scrub the stem in areas that hit water brings out the oxidation. Then I usually use some micromesh pads to shine her back up, followed by a buff on my new buffing wheel I bought for my drill.
So, mostly, I use it to refurbish, not really to polish. You'll need a way to pull the shine back out of your stems that you use that on.

 

alaskanpiper

Enabler in Chief
May 23, 2019
9,348
42,247
Alaska
You'll need a way to pull the shine back out of your stems that you use that on.
+1 forgot to mention that part. I use Decatur's shine-brite, since I got some for a couple bucks, but there are other cheaper methods I have heard of.

 

chilllucky

Lifer
Jul 15, 2018
1,091
2,715
Chicago, IL, USA
scoosa.com
Grind the Mr clean magic eraser to a fine powder. Mix the powder 3:1 with baking soda. Add enough room temperature water to dissolve the mixture. Spread it out on a parchment paper lined baking sheet about 1/8" thick. Bake at 350 until thoroughly dry. When cooled, break up the rocks and put into 1/2 gram baggies.

 

mau1

Lifer
Jan 5, 2018
1,124
837
Ontario, Canada
Also be aware that the pad breaks down quite easily with all the scrubbing that may be required. Depending on the stem, you may have to do a lot of scrubbing. Managing expectations doncha know!

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
Okay, I really appreciate the experienced advice. First, they're not all-purpose, essentially for stems only, and that takes some work, and the stem will need further work to bring back the shine with some other product. All this helps a lot and saves disappointment. For most oxidation on Vulcanite that is addressed after every smoke, a slightly abrasive cloth, then a smooth one, keeps the stems quite presentable. This might serve when that no longer cleans up the oxidation well enough. I don't need a new pipe look, but I don't like it when the oxidation gets grainy and gets worse each smoke. Thank you, and any other Magic Eraser experience/advice is welcome.

 

alaskanpiper

Enabler in Chief
May 23, 2019
9,348
42,247
Alaska
They are great for using on stems, but I'm not sure you would use them on a bowl.
I could see using them on a bowl if your intention was to re-wax or re-stain afterwords, but other than that i probably wouldn't

 

nunnster

Starting to Get Obsessed
Apr 17, 2019
141
62
Out of my collection of pipes, I only have one in the current collection I've bought new. That is, 90 percent of my pipes are estates and of those estates, more than half came to me in pretty rough shape. Magic erases are littlerly one of the best things in my tool box to get those estates up and running quickly and I'll tell you why by giving you the method in which I "restore" (I'm no professional and I wouldn't recommend my method to anyone but it works for me. I'm sure I'm devaluing the pipe in some way with this method but I use my pipes for smoking, not worried about their value or resaleablity)
The first thing I do after a visual inspection is reem a bowl when I get it. Not all the cake, I'll leave about a nickle thickness and then I'll hit up the inside of the bowl with an eraser and scrub it down to about a dime or thinner. It leaves the very thin layer of cake smooth enough but rough enough that I feel like it builds my own cake quicker than when/if I use sandpaper. If the pipe is in otherwise good shape, I'll remove the stem and do a normal cotton ball/alcohol in the bowl and just use the eraser on the rim of the bowl and work on the stem.
If the finish on the pipe is in poor shape (I know some are going to be appalled by this) the whole thing takes an alcohol bath, depending on how long it takes (4-24 hours). I'll change out the alcohol a couple times during that period until I'm satisfied with the color change of the alcohol (i.e, when it's no longer black/dark brown). After stripping the finish/sanatising/cleaning, the whole thing gets a scrub down with a magic eraser. The bowl and the stem, taking extra time around the rim of the bowl. Then I remove the stems, and all my stems take an oxiclean bath (you would be surprised how much more crap comes out of a stem even after a day soak in alcohol). While that is being done, I twirl up a corner of a magic eraser and I hit up the mortis. Often this is where I get frustrated because they tend to rip and get stuck, but the amount of crap that I rub off is worth the effort. After the stems finish their ocxyclean bath, they get another scrub down with a magic eraser to remove all the oxidation that was brought to the surface. The outside of the bowls get another scrub down. Then they rest for a while.
Then, I get some sand paper (2000+ grit) and spend hours sanding the stem and the bowl. Finally, the whole thing gets wiped down with a rag with olive oil. After that, they rest a while to dry out before they get lit up. I tend to like the "bare" finish I get after this method.
I'm always pleased with the results. I have tried not using a magic eraser, like paper towels or sandpaper inside the bowl and within the mortis and cleaning the stems and the magic erasers cut down my work by several hours. I say all that to say they are probably the best thing in my arsenal to get forgotten and unloved estates back into the game. Lol sorry for the long post

 

pappymac

Lifer
Feb 26, 2015
3,273
4,269
If the finish on the pipe is in poor shape (I know some are going to be appalled by this) the whole thing takes an alcohol bath, depending on how long it takes (4-24 hours). I'll change out the alcohol a couple times during that period until I'm satisfied with the color change of the alcohol (i.e, when it's no longer black/dark brown).
Not appalled at all. I've done this on some really heavily used and abused estate pipes. I particularly like using the Magic Eraser on the rims of heavily charred bowls. I would rather do that instead of topping the bowls. One thing I do different though is changing out the alcohol as that seems a waste if you are doing the soak in 90 Proof grain alcohol. I also do any cake removal when I first take the bowl out of the alcohol. The cake will soften up and make for easier removal in my opinion.
I also use a clean magic eraser on my vulcanite stems after an oxyclean bath. I find it removes the oxidation faster and gets me to the micromesh pad polishing quicker.

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
Referring to another current thread, would mineral oil be a good follow-up on the Magic Eraser to brighten up the stem just cleaned with the Eraser? Apparently the Eraser roughs up the smooth surface and it needs some shining up. I'd only use the Eraser on a stem that had serious oxidation, not just the slight dulling that comes with steady use of a pipe.

 
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