“Our lives are written in disappearing ink…”
Michelle Cliff
We all had one of these dual erasers at school. The pencil end worked well enough, but the ink one never really did. The ability to erase ink has always been the Unicorn of those that love pens. It is the reason pencils have never fully gone away, despite being an obviously primitive technology. The science behind easing inks goes right back to Joesph Priestly (he of oxygen fame) in the 1770s. Basically pencil marks will adhere to rubber fragments, as they sit very superficially on paper. Ink pigments penetrate significantly deeper into the paper and are inert to rubber’s attraction. To remove ink there are two options, abrasion or chemical alteration. Abrasives, such as particulate sand mixed with rubber, lead to paper destruction. Chemical ink erasers add sulphite ions to the ink particles and disrupt their geometry so that they no longer filter light. The ink remains on the paper, but becomes invisible. Sadly, this magic only appears to work effectively for the pigments of Royal Blue inks. #dontgetmestartedonfrixonpens #letsmakelemonade
Pen Paint and Scalpel 