ink eraser on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
An ink eraser is an instrument used to scrape away or chemically bleach ink from a writing surface. This is a more involved process than removing pencil markings. Pencil marks can be gradually adhered to natural rubber fragments by rubbing the mark with a pencil eraser (this action is what prompted
When almost all permanent writing was done in ink, steel ink erasers were in wide use before the invention of chemical ink erasers. Metal erasers were essentially small
The chemical ink eraser was invented by the German manufacturer Pelikan in the 1930s and was introduced as a novelty in Germany in 1972 under the name ''Tintentiger'' (ink tiger).
Chemical ink erasers break down
Joseph Priestley
Joseph Priestley (; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, Unitarian, Natural philosophy, natural philosopher, English Separatist, separatist theologian, Linguist, grammarian, multi-subject educator and Classical libera ...
to give solidified latex
Latex is an emulsion (stable dispersion) of polymer microparticles in water. Latices are found in nature, but synthetic latices are common as well.
In nature, latex is found as a wikt:milky, milky fluid, which is present in 10% of all floweri ...
its common name
In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often con ...
). Ink, however, readily penetrates the fibers of most papers and is therefore more difficult to extract by mechanical action.
Older ink erasers are therefore small knives designed to scrape off the top few microns of a sheet of paper, removing the ink that had penetrated. In concert with bladed ink erasers, an eraser similar to those at the end of pencils was also used, with additional abrasives, such as sand, mixed into the rubber. Fibreglass ink erasers also work by abrasion. These erasers physically remove the ink and the paper it has marked from the larger sheet.
The chemical ink eradicator contains a substance that reacts with some inks removing their pigmentation and hiding the writing.
Metal ink erasers
When almost all permanent writing was done in ink, steel ink erasers were in wide use before the invention of chemical ink erasers. Metal erasers were essentially small knives
A knife (: knives; from Old Norse 'knife, dirk') is a tool or weapon with a cutting edge or blade, usually attached to a handle or hilt. One of the earliest tools used by humanity, knives appeared at least 2.5 million years ago, as evidenced ...
, used to shave away or scrape off ink from a writing surface. This was the downfall of Metropolitan Life office
An office is a space where the employees of an organization perform Business administration, administrative Work (human activity), work in order to support and realize the various goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a po ...
boy George Millet, who fell on an ink eraser kept in his breast pocket while trying to evade the kisses of six steno girls on his 15th birthday. Millet was stabbed in the heart and died on the way to hospital.
Chemical ink erasers
The chemical ink eraser was invented by the German manufacturer Pelikan in the 1930s and was introduced as a novelty in Germany in 1972 under the name ''Tintentiger'' (ink tiger).
Chemical ink erasers break down royal blue
Royal blue is a deep and vivid shade of blue. It is said to have been created by a consortium of mills in Rode, Wiltshire (in Somerset as of 1937), which won a competition to make a robe for Queen Charlotte, consort of King George III. I ...
ink by disrupting the geometry of the dye
Juan de Guillebon, better known by his stage name DyE, is a French musician. He is known for the music video of the single "Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical ele ...
molecules in ink so that light is no longer filtered. The molecules are disrupted by sulfite
Sulfites or sulphites are compounds that contain the sulfite ion (systematic name: sulfate(IV) ion), . The sulfite ion is the conjugate base of bisulfite. Although its acid (sulfurous acid) is elusive, its salts are widely used.
Sulfites are ...
or hydroxide
Hydroxide is a diatomic anion with chemical formula OH−. It consists of an oxygen and hydrogen atom held together by a single covalent bond, and carries a negative electric charge. It is an important but usually minor constituent of water. It ...
ion
An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge. The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by convent ...
s binding to the central carbon
Carbon () is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalence, tetravalent—meaning that its atoms are able to form up to four covalent bonds due to its valence shell exhibiting 4 ...
atoms of the dye.{{cite web, url=http://www.chemieunterricht.de/dc2/tip/09_03.htm, title=Prof. Blumes Tipp des Monats, work=chemieunterricht.de The ink is not destroyed by the erasing process, but is made invisible. It can be transformed back into a visible work with aldehyde
In organic chemistry, an aldehyde () (lat. ''al''cohol ''dehyd''rogenatum, dehydrogenated alcohol) is an organic compound containing a functional group with the structure . The functional group itself (without the "R" side chain) can be referred ...
s.
The eradicator only works with certain inks. Erasable inks of various colors exist, but royal blue is the most common.
After applying the eradicator, erasable ink cannot be applied in the erased area of the paper, where the chemicals remain.
For this reason, eradicators usually include a permanent blue felt tip that allows the user to write in the erased area.
See also
*Deinking
Deinking is the industrial process of removing printing ink from paperfibers of recycled paper to make deinked pulp.
The key in the deinking process is the ability to detach ink from the fibers. This is achieved by a combination of mechanical a ...
* Eraser
An eraser (also known as a rubber in some Commonwealth countries, including South Africa from which the material first used got its name) is an article of stationery that is used for removing marks from paper or skin (e.g. parchment or vellu ...
References