Best Magic Eraser Sponges

It’s not as glamorous a name brand as Mr. Clean or as thick a sponge, but Lowe’s Moxie Extra Strength Eraser Pads was the overall best one for all of our tasks, and it held up without ripping or warping (which makes it something of a unicorn among these melamine sponges). It’s soft but so much denser and sturdier than all of the soft sponges we evaluated. (The extra-hard Scrub Daddy excluded, and we’ll explain why in a bit.) We squeezed and twisted it in every direction, and it bounced right back to its original state. The double-sided sponge features a smooth side and a textured side with hexagon squares that wound up coming in handy when we tackled tougher surfaces. 

When we evaluated its ability to remove marks from an orange crayon on a painted wall, it did so the fastest—in just 1.6 seconds. (We used the smooth side for this job.) It didn’t mar the painted surface or leave it discolored. The smooth side of the sponge also removed sticky adhesive left behind from a sticker we placed on a mirror, although as with all of the eraser sponges, we had to then use a glass cleaner and microfiber cloth because the sponge left our mirror wet.

The sponge’s textured side did an outstanding job of removing dirt from a white sneaker, and even after scrubbing with the rough side, it left the sneaker white without warping or ripping the sponge the way other sponges did. The textured side was also ideal for scrubbing bathroom grout and lifting dirt out of tight spots between tiles. 

Thanks to its ability to retain water well, we didn’t find ourselves needing to wet the sponge again much, and its sturdiness allowed us to use it for multiple surfaces and for a longer time than all of the others except for Scrub Daddy. These sponges come in a pack of four and are the second priciest on this list after Scrub Daddy, but we think they will also last a lot longer than the other soft eraser sponges.

Mr. Clean Magic Eraser is the original eraser sponge and holds up when compared with most of its competitors. It took 1.9 seconds to remove crayon marks from a painted wall. This is so close to Moxie’s time that it’s barely worth mentioning the difference, but that isn’t why we chose it as our runner-up. Unlike the Moxie, Mr. Clean’s sponge became slightly warped even after one use on the wall. It’s less dense and more pliable than Moxie, so it took on the indentation of a fingernail or a squeeze of the hand. It’s the thickest sponge we evaluated, aside from those from Great Value and Up&Up, which are identical in size to it, but its size didn’t lend itself to longevity. If anything, it just made it less comfortable to hold when cleaning. 

Mr. Clean is a double-sided eraser sponge with a smooth side that worked well on the walls and mirror and a textured side for tougher jobs. It did a great job of removing dirt from sneakers, but part of the sponge ripped off when I tried to polish the shoe’s tough side sole—it was still usable, but worse for wear. It removed stains from grout, too, but after about 5 minutes of cleaning, the sponge had become warped. When I wet and wrung it out, the sponge didn’t completely rip like Great Value below, but it tore slightly. 

This is still a very good magic eraser sponge that effectively cleaned all of our surfaces. But the competition is more fierce now, and the Mr. Clean sponge was neither the sturdiest nor the best value.

After evaluating Scrub Daddy Eraser Daddy Essentials on a painted wall marked by bright orange crayon, I was prepared to annihilate it in print. I was already annoyed that its $2.50 price yielded just one sponge when all of the other brands provided four to 12 sponges. Then it had the audacity to take 10 seconds to remove the crayon stain, and the sponge was so dense and hard that I was worried the whole time it would strip the paint along with the crayon. 

Well, patience is a virtue because the problem wasn’t the sponge; it was how I was trying to use it. This eraser sponge doesn’t resemble the others: It’s dual-sided with a scrubber backing and a tough, sturdy side designed with something called “scrubbing gems” (look, Scrub Daddy is always going to be the most extra sponge in the room). Don’t expect it to clean soft surfaces like walls—that’s not where it excels. But do rely on it to scrub your white sneakers clean, polish grout, and lift sticker residue from a mirror without leaving so much as a dent in the sponge.

Once I wet this sponge, it stayed wet for days. Because I was only sent one sponge, I had to use it for all of our cleaning tasks, and it remained in perfect condition. And if a sponge could laugh, it wouldn’t have been in hysterics when I wrung it to see if it would rip. But if you have kids and a box of crayons in your home, invest in a separate softer eraser sponge as well.

Arriving at my door in a hefty 12-pack at a cost of 58 cents per sponge, there’s no denying that Great Value Miracle Cleaning Eraser is a great value at first glance, but it wasn’t a long-lasting sponge, and therein lies the problem. It took 10.3 seconds to remove crayon marks from a wall—the longest time of all. But the bigger problem is that it also immediately began ripping apart from the demands of this relatively easy task. The sponge is as thick as the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, but it’s smooth on both sides, with no texture to grip tougher surfaces. It practically crumbled after a few wipes when I used it to clean a white sneaker, and it continued breaking apart until I put it out of its misery. The sneaker was a little whiter, but it would have required a few more sponges to complete the job. 

When I used it on grout, its lack of texture made the sponge slide around. It picked up dirt but took longer to clean the tile and became warped after a few minutes of cleaning. I wet one sponge, wrung it once, and it immediately tore in half. It’s simply too delicate to stand up to most cleaning tasks.

I really liked HDX Extra Power All-Purpose Easy Eraser. The Home Depot product is similar in size to Moxie, with a smooth side and a textured side. It’s denser than the Mr. Clean version but not as dense as the Moxie. It took 2.5 seconds to remove crayon marks from a wall, but it became slightly warped during the task. It removed dirt from a white sneaker and grout; the former caused it to rip in a few places, and the latter caused it to become warped. It retained water fairly well and didn’t rip when I wrung it out. This is a decent sponge that comes in a pack of 10 and is cheaper than Moxie, Mr. Clean, and Scrub Daddy, but fair is fair: It took slightly longer to clean surfaces and warped and ripped more.

Target’s Up&Up Cleaning Erasers are nearly identical to Great Value’s in terms of design, density, and cleaning power. They cost slightly more per sponge but come in packs of three, six, or nine (and not 12). It took 7.6 seconds for one sponge to remove crayon marks from a wall, which is faster than with the Great Value sponge but slower than all of our top picks except for Scrub Daddy. The sponges were adequate at removing dirt from white sneakers but began fraying after a few minutes. They effectively cleaned grout but became warped from the pressure of my hand and continuous scrubbing. When I wet and wrung a sponge, it tore slightly on one side. Put simply: These sponges work, and they’re slightly better than the Great Value sponges, but they also shred and become warped easily.