An ink eraser is an instrument used to remove ink from a writing surface. There are two types: a traditional metal ink eraser, in which the ink is literally scraped off the surface, and the chemically imbibed ink eradicator, in which a vinyl eraser is imbibed with a substance that chemically reacts with the ink to remove it.

Metal ink erasers were generally used before chemically imbibed ink erasers were introduced and when most writing was done in ink and not in pencil (or by computer). However, the erasers were essentially small knives, and by accident or on purpose could end up as unlikely weapons in a stabbing. In one instance a 15-year-old boy working in an insurance office in New York City died when, while evading women stenographers trying to give him a kiss on his birthday, he fell and his ink eraser, supplied to office employees, stabbed his chest.^[1] In another instance, stemming from a bar fight, a man stabbed another with an ink eraser.^[2]

[edit] Ink eradicator

The Ink Eradicator is a brand of chemical ink eraser pen produced by German manufacturer Pelikan. It can break down royal blue ink without residue. It is also known as Super Pirat and Super Sheriff.

Ink Eradicator disrupts the geometry of the dye molecules in ink so that light is no longer filtered. The molecules are disrupted by sulfite or hydroxide ions binding to the central carbon atoms of the dye. The ink is not destroyed by the erasing process, but is made invisible. It can be transformed back into a visible work with aldehydes.

[edit] See also

• Eraser

[edit] References

1. ^ "Stabbed to Death in Office Frolic," New York Times, February 16, 1909.
2. ^ "Bang Knocked Him Down: How Coles was Provoked to Stab Coachman Flanagan," New York Times, June 26, 1886.