Let's face it, finding an effective all-purpose household cleaner makes life easier. A lot of cleaners may do a good job but are not safe to use. The Mr. Clean Magic Eraser contains formaldehyde and is too abrasive for many surfaces in your home. It is not suitable for many surfaces in your home.

By now you probably have seen the commercials on TV. The Mr. Clean Magic Eraser claims to clean just about anywhere in your home. The Mr. Clean Magic Eraser is a sponge that seems to have magical cleaning powers. Is the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser too good to be true? We all know the other Mr. Clean products but the effectiveness of an all-purpose eraser is a bit questionable. The company says it can clean "your walls, baseboards, floors, switch plates, blinds and more". The Mr. Clean Magic Eraser claims to remove dirt and scuff marks off these areas of your home.

If we breakdown what the manufacturer of Mr. Clean is claiming, we see that this product isn't as good as they make it out to be. For example, not everyone can clean their walls with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. There are some kinds of paint that don't necessarily do well with water. A lot of the newer homes are painted with low-end paints that you can't wash well. Washing walls is not possible with a lot of the newer style painted walls. That said, some people with little kids use the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser to remove crayon from the wall. Unfortunately, in some cases, the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser has taken off paint with the crayon! The cheaper quality paints can't handle the abrasive eraser, it simply scrubs away the paint on the walls! The same obviously goes for baseboards. If your baseboards are painted with low-quality paint, you will also be scrubbing away the paint on your baseboards with the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. If you don't have paint but you have wallpaper, remember that the abrasive sponge could actually be tearing your wallpaper!

Floors are a tricky area of the house to clean in general because there are so many different kinds of floor coverings. Some hardwood floor companies specify in their warranties what kinds of products are and are not acceptable. If you use an unacceptable product, it could be as serious as voiding your floor warranty. The Mr. Clean Magic Eraser is water-activated and many floor companies tell consumers to avoid cleaning their floors with water. Go figure!

Another important point about the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser is that it is very abrasive. You never want to use an abrasive product on any wood floor. It is just too risky! If you have a hardwood floor, it could scratch the finish. Especially on a high gloss floor finish, just imagine all the little scratches you will see from a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser! You want to have the perfect mirror reflection on your high gloss wood floor. You won't have it any more if you use a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser! Cork floors will have definite scratches too because they are fairly soft floors. Think about laminate and engineered wood floors. A lot of them have very thin finish layers and many of them cannot be resanded. The last thing you want is to have to repair damage that the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser has caused you.

If your switch plates are brushed metal, the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser might scratch the metal. Some of you with newer kitchen appliances who decide to use the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser on your fridge or stove are risking scratching the surface of the brushed metal. Depending on what area of your home you choose to clean with the Magic Eraser, you may not be happy with the results if it leaves scratch marks.

The Mr. Clean Magic Eraser is a favorite on textured plastic. Many people are happy with the results they see from the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser on their handles, patio furniture, the walls of the swimming pool and the vegetable bins inside the fridge. Quite a few of the reviews the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser receives are positive. Many people find their homes cleaner. Some people don't notice micro-scratches that the Mr. Clean Eraser leaves on wood and metal surfaces. Some people like the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser because it doesn't take a lot of physical energy to use it. It cleans pretty effortlessly.

Let's put the effectiveness of the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser aside for now. Here is the more important question: Is the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser healthy? It is not a natural cleaner and it isn't chemical-free. It claims to be non-toxic unless ingested. If it is truly non-toxic, it would be ok if you ingested it slightly. This cleaning product has been known to take skin off people's fingers. Others have had the sponge disintegrate in their hands and cause a burning sensation on their skin.

One of the key ingredients in the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser is formaldehyde. Sadly, there are links to cancer with formaldehyde. In fact, scientists have found nasal cancer in rats who were exposed to formaldehyde. Watery eyes, coughing, wheezing and skin irritation are some of the short-term effects of exposure to formaldehyde. If you have little kids, you don't want them breathing in toxic fumes.

It is only speculative but some say that the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser is slowly disappearing off the shelves in stores. I don't think this is true because the Magic Eraser is still being heavily advertised. There may be a future date that the product will go off the market but for now it is still going strong in the Canadian market. There are some places where the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser is no longer available because it contains a cancer-causing agent. However, the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser is still fairly common in most stores.

Even people who were fans of the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser are now learning about the formaldehyde that it contains and they are no longer using the product. Using the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser contributes to an unnecessary health risk. Even if the Mr. Clean Eraser does a thorough cleaning job (which is questionable anyway), it really isn't worth trying.