New Product Says It'll Clean Like Magic, But Does It Work?

SEATTLE - Manufacturers come up with all kinds of claims to get you to buy their products, but here's a first: A new cleaning product that claims to make set-in dirt disappear.

It's just hitting the market and we got our hands on some to see if it's worth your money.

It's a Mr. Clean product called "Magic Eraser." It looks and feels a lot like a sponge, but Procter and Gamble says it's a cleaning pad that dissolves as you use it.

KOMO 4 News viewer JoAnn McCord is curious to see if it works too.

The box says it cleans car interiors, boat interiors, wheels, athletic shoes...

The manufacturers make a big deal about set-in dirt, and crayon marks. JoAnn's really interested in that, as her grandson decorated one of her walls with crayon.

According to the instructions, you wet the cleaning pad and squeeze out the excess water.

Before she tackles the crayon, JoAnn takes a shot at the refrigerator.

She wipes away dirt then says "Whoa! This stuff works!"

You'll notice how the eraser loses form as it cleans. "Yeah, you can see the holes in the sponge are a little bigger,' she said.

Now, the crayon marks. She says it takes a fair amount of pressure, "but the thing is, it works. It does come off," she said.

As for how it works, your guess is as good as ours. The package doesn't even list the ingredients. It only says it's made in Germany and you need to keep it away from pets and children.

"It looks like if you have something that's really marked up, the sponge could start falling apart easily, so it's hard to say how many uses you could get out of it," she said.

As for how much JoAnn would pay for it?

"Seems like around 3 dollars."

Good guess JoAnn. The suggested retail price is $2.19 for a package of two.

We did some searching and discovered Procter and Gamble may not be the only one's selling these. As late as last year, a woman named Debbie Meyer had a patent pending on a cleaner that looks just like the Mr. Clean one called E-Z Kleen'r, made in Taiwan.

According to her Web site, it's made of chemical-free, detergent-free fibers of melamine foam. An East Coast consumer who got one in Taiwan gives it a big thumbs up.

For More Information:

Free Sample Of Mr. Clean Magic Eraser
Debbie Meyer E-Z Kleen'r