Remember the dual side erasers (maroon-blue coloured eraser) in your childhood? We, 90’s kids are definitely familiar to them, back in our school days. Most of us have taught that pink/maroon coloured part (the softer side) is used to erase our mistakes made with a pencil and blue coloured part (the harder side) is used to erase pen ink.

And so we did. We also struggled, trying so hard to erase the pen ink, only to find nasty smudges and sometimes in the process, even tore some pages in books.

But, sorry to disappoint you, friends! This was a famous misconception we had in our childhood. Our wise adults did not tell you the truth, because they too did not know it back then, especially not without the existence of the internet.

The truth is: The blue part was not actually meant for correcting mistakes made by a pen.

Then why is it used for?

The blue part, which has a coarse texture, should be used for erasing rougher textures or dark pencil marks on thicker paper (which will not tear easily), while the maroon/pink part (softer end) should be used on lighter grades of paper (which would tear easily), erasing light stray marks.

Hence, both ends are used to erase pencil markings.

Confusion regarding this pen eraser started when some companies printed a pen nib symbol on blue part and pencil symbol on the other part. So, if you just knew this, tell all your friends that they have been betrayed by the ‘legend’ they know.