Getting Transparent With "Erasable" Pens From TEMU
By The Treasure-Sharer
I don't know
about you, but when I see something described as "erasable," I think that it will work like a pencil, and actually be able to remove what is written at any point -- and stay removed -- for good. That's what I thought I was getting when I ordered different sets of erasable pens from Temu, not aware of how much important information their ads left out about how they worked.
That's why, when I initially decided to review the erasable pen sets I had bought from Temu, I was actually planning to recommend buying them.
I had stumbled upon them while searching for regular ballpoint pens to buy, but some erasable pen sets had popped up during my search, that sounded more practical for me to purchase. Not only did I like the idea of being able to erase things I had written in pen, but I also liked that the pens came in such a big variety of pretty colors, that would give me more options to work with and choose from.
I chose the eight-color set pictured below because all I had seen available were six-color and eight-color ones, and the eight-color sets seemed like a better deal. I later saw sets that came with refills, and felt silly for choosing the one I had.
When the set arrived with the packaging containing the pens open, and one green pen completely broken in two and unusable, and I was able to successfully apply for a refund without returning the set, I used this as an excuse to buy an eight-color set that came with five refills of each color (40 refills in total). (Of course, I then discovered sets that came in 12 colors, and some that came with separate erasers and pencil cases, and regretted not spotting them sooner, as I might have chosen to buy those instead, if I had).
I had tried out one of the pens from the first set and tried erasing with it, and found that it appeared to work okay, so I didn't think twice about giving another set that appeared to be the same as what I'd gotten before, but with refills, a try.
I used the red and black pens from the first set to make calculations during tax season, and had found that they had erased quite well, such that I had even suggested that the person doing my taxes use them on my tax forms, and ordered a set of six with refills for my man.
I ended up having second thoughts however, after looking at other similar erasable pen set deals I found later that I hadn't bought, and noticing a customer review that made me rethink all I'd thought about the pens, their functionality, and usefulness.
Discovering Deception By Omission
After looking up and confirming what the user had said to be true, I felt shocked and dismayed that the ads hadn't been clearer about how the pens worked in their descriptions, or warned about the implications. I felt grateful that my tax person hadn't chosen to use the erasable pen I had offered her to fill out my tax forms with, relieved that I wouldn't have to worry about the complications that might have occurred, had such pens been used to fill out my tax forms and sign them (which I found out later, from reading up on articles about such pens, was a big no-no).
So what was it about what I had found out about these pens that made me go from recommending them -- and even purchasing more to give my man -- to warning you to think twice before buying them, and at least informing you, if you do decide to order some, about situations when it would be better to avoid using them, to avoid unecessary problems and headaches?
Uncovering How the Erasable Pens From Temu REALLY Work
The erasable pens sold at Temu are knock-offs of brand-name pens that work in the same way. The ones I bought in particular are similar in design and style to the Frixion pens made by the company Pilot. They are not actually "erasable" in the conventional sense at all. In fact the pens' ink is never truly removed from the page, and whether you can see it or not depends entirely on the temperature the pen's ink is exposed to.
The "erasable" pens are more like disappearing-ink pens, where the ink can be made to disappear when exposed to heat, and reappear at very low temperatures.
According to an article on "The Science Behind Frixion Erasable Pens," the technology behind this was developed in Japan, where Pilot managed to develop ink that would turn invisible at temperatures of 65°C and above, and would only reappear if cooled to temperatures of –20°C and below. This is because the ink is made up of three components (leuco dye, color developer, and color change temperature regulator). At room temperature, the leuco dye is able to combine with the color developer to produce a visible color. At temperatures above 65°C, the color change temperature regulator kicks in and inhibits the bonding of the dye and color developer, making the two separate, and the color become transparent, and appear to "disappear," though it in actuality remains on the page, and will return when the ink is cooled to temperatures of –20°C and below, thereby deactivating the temperature regulator, and allowing the other two components inhibited by it to bond again.
The "eraser" effect is generated by creating friction when rubbing the supplied eraser over the ink vigorously, raising the ink's temperature to 65°C, and causing the ink to turn transparent and "invisible."
You can see the article for more information, and for a diagram of how this works: https://www.nippon.com/en/features/c00520/
The Dangers of Uninformed Usage of Heat-Sensitive Erasable Pens
The negative implications of the not-truly-erasable nature of these pens were obvious to me, because of what I had used the pens for: I had used them to do some messy calculations that had required me to erase and write over what I had initially put again and again. At the time, I had felt pleased with how easily I had been able to erase my mistakes and write over them, thereby saving me the need to reprint certain documents to redo my calculations over them.
Having realized after-the-fact that exposure to heat could make all my work disappear, and that trying to retrieve it with cold would bring back not just what I'd wanted to keep, but also all my layers of "erased" mistakes, made me furious that this hadn't been disclosed in the ads for the pens, when this was such a crucial fact. For any document where the intention is to create records meant to be permanent, such pens should definitely not be used.
if this information had been explained, and its implications had been outright expressed, I may have viewed the pens more favourably, but because I ended up using them when I shouldn't have, due to their deceptive advertising, this led me down a rabbit hole of discovering all the problems that could result from using these pens in the wrong ways and wrong situations. I actually ended up deciding to get a refund for all three sets I had bought, unable to view them as useful anymore. I even asked my boyfriend if he wanted to keep the set I'd bought for him, but he told me to return it, having heard from me all the things I'd discovered about the pens.
In fact, erasable pens are even prohibited from use in many schools when taking tests, while brand name versions of the pens state that they should not be used to sign cheques or fill out official and government documents.
I have, of course, found and thought up some instances when such pens could be worth using, but more for their heat-sensitive nature, rather than for their claimed "erasability." I will be publishing an article that will go more in depth about how to take advantage of the pens' heat-sensitive nature, so that you can better understand how to use them in ways that you won't have to worry about potentially regretting in the future. You can check back here next week to read it.
The Pi
lot pen website has a blog article on "When to Use an Erasable Pen & And When to Avoid It" that gives a long list of situations for which erasable pens should not be used. This includes when writing exams and standardized test (which could "jeopardise not just your exam score but potentially your entire degree"); medical notes and prescriptions (which "could lead to potentially dangerous errors if the ink is unintentionally erased"); legal documents (where "changes, even minor ones, can lead to significant legal disputes or invalidate a document entirely"); financial records, audits, or other sensitive documents (where the potential for accidental or intentional alterations with erasable ink makes it unsuitable for financial documentation); important documents such as contracts, wills, or certificates (that require a permanent signature to ensure their validity); for documents that might be exposed to extreme conditions (which can cause the writing to disappear or reappear unexpectedly); for documents that need to be preserved for the long term, and require stable and enduring ink (such as those in archives or museums); for voting (as erasable pens could potentially allow for the alteration of votes); and for official logs required in industries like aviation, maritime, or manufacturing ("where accuracy and permanence are legally or safety mandated").
After going through many forums on the subject of people using these pens, it really seems like many don't know about the pitfalls of using these pens, and the precautions they need to take. There are uninformed students panicking over having used such pens to take their exams, and people who have thought they had lost their notebooks who realize much later and recover them by sticking them in the freezer following reading threads on erasable pens (only realizing through them what had happened). People have reported having had their writing all disappear after leaving it in a hot car, or losing parts of it after leaving their notes on hot radiators.
If exposing the ink to cold only brought back what one had wanted to keep, I'd be okay with it, but because doing so also brings back intentionally-"erased" material, I think it is way too problematic to use them for any task that needs accurate preservation of pen-recorded material.
For example, what if someone marked down and changed their answer multiple times during a test, and then had it erased by a machine and had to try to save it via freezing afterward? How would one know which answer was intended? And what if a doctor wrote a prescription but changed the dosage afterward, but had both numbers reappear? In my case, all the work I did for my tax calculations will all get confusing if heat removes it, and I end up needing to try to recover it with cold.
The best course of action for those who have to worry about such a possibility is to go over work that was done in erasable ink with permanent ink afterward, if they want to ensure that a permanent record is kept.
Erasable pens have become frequently used for sewing projects, as well, but in an article called "Frixion Pens-All you need to know" by a professional quilter who interviewed a Frixion pen representative about using the pens for such projects, it was revealed how these types of erasable pens weren't designed to be used on fabric, and how many people have experienced problems from using the pens for marking up their fabrics, thinking that ironing the ink and washing their pieces would make the ink disappear, when ironing sometimes left ghost marks behind, and cold brought back the marks they had made. In fact, the representative revealed that only two types of stain remover were found during their testing to remove the ink, and that it would sometimes require spot scrubbing as well. It's worth reading the comments to see others' experiences with erasable pens, and their recommendations for alternatives.
For example, as one commenter described, "I have had trouble with batiks, it leaves a white line after it is steamed
I no longer use them, because when I contacted the manufacturer, he told me they are for paper and the company cannot be responsible for damage done in the future to the fabric…..it is NOT archival ink"
The potential problems resulting from the pens' only temporary erasure, the potential for accidental erasure, and the potential for accidental recovery of erased material are many, and I have continued to uncover more and more unexpected issues experienced by pen users who had parts of their submissions lost or ruined in various scenarios.
Below is a sample of some of the issues encountered from using erasable pens, as recounted by various people commenting on their own and others' experiences with them:
"A friend of mine had an incident with these pens in high school. Used one on his physics midterm exam, teacher put a laptop blowing hot air onto the pile of papers before grading, so 3/4 of every page were just gone. He had to retake it." (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30618623)
"I was introduced to FriXion pens because I have a Rocketbook. I have a pack of colors. One day my daughter came out of my office with a nice drawing (she's 5...so it's more sentimental than artistic). My wife wanted me to laminate it...well...out came a blank piece of paper, except for the parts she used a regular pen." (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30618623)
"One thing i do want to say that wasn't mentioned in the video was that if a page is especially thin then any Frixion pen writing on the back side of the page will also be erased. That or if one vigorously erases regardless of paper thickness. Keep this in mind." (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hghb83owDRg)
"I once had a friend in college who did an assignment with these pens; he erased some pages several times and when the assignments were collected the marker had left them in a car for a while, where the papers got cold; all the erased work came back overtop of my friends corrected work and made a big unintelligible mess of things." (https://www.reddit.com/r/LifeProTips/comments/8bym7d/lpt_be_careful_while_using_frixion_ball_pens_the/)
"Funny story. I work at a pizza shop and my manager bought a pack of these pens and we hand write orders and when complete we put them on the box on top of the oven to the food stays hot. It took the entire dinner shift to understand why the orders on the ticket were blank. It was fucking hilarious as hell and when we figured it out." (https://www.reddit.com/r/LifeProTips/comments/8bym7d/lpt_be_careful_while_using_frixion_ball_pens_the/)
"Funny story about this, I had a buddy in university that swore by these pens until this one time. We were doing an organic chemistry lab final and for one of the tests that we needed to do, we had to apply a solution to a test strip and heat it with a blow drier to activate it. He didn’t realize it but when he set the blow drier down it was faced right at his notebook with everything from the two week lab final in it. Let’s just say that he didn’t do so well on the lab final as there was nothing left to mark."
Be careful with these magic pens!! (https://www.reddit.com/r/LifeProTips/comments/8bym7d/lpt_be_careful_while_using_frixion_ball_pens_the/)
"My friends brother did two of his GCSE exam papers in this kind of pen - as they are marked electronically all his work disappeared when they got scanned in and he had to redo them!" (https://www.reddit.com/r/LifeProTips/comments/8bym7d/lpt_be_careful_while_using_frixion_ball_pens_the/)
"Also if you leave the pens in a hot car for a while, they become basically useless, since all the ink in the pen has now been turned invisible.
Some folks are saying you can recover writings or the pens if you put them in the freezer for a while, but the ink quality is nowhere near the same as before." (https://www.reddit.com/r/LifeProTips/comments/8bym7d/lpt_be_careful_while_using_frixion_ball_pens_the/)
"I unfortunately left my pen in my work pants as it went through the wash, not a drop left the pen, it somehow just evaporated within the pen itself. Quite bizarre still haha!" (https://www.reddit.com/r/LifeProTips/comments/8bym7d/lpt_be_careful_while_using_frixion_ball_pens_the/)
"I used to work in a hotel restaurant and I carried one of these pens in my pocket to take peoples orders at their table. I would take the check and put it in the kitchen under the hot light so the chefs could see what the order was. But the heat from the light completely erased the ink every time and I nearly got sacked for not even writing properly on my checks, even though I did and it was the light." (https://www.reddit.com/r/LifeProTips/comments/8bym7d/lpt_be_careful_while_using_frixion_ball_pens_the/)
"I first discovered this the long, arduously hard way... as I first purchased these pens while living in Tokyo.
I had filled out about 9 documents prior to arriving at the immigration office. I went up to the counter and submitted them and waited for around 3 hours before getting up to ask what was taking so long.
The workers were scrambling trying to figure out what had happened to my documents because they had received them filled out but were looking at blank pieces of paper.
What I eventually learned was that, when they went to make copies of the documentation, the heat from the copier erased them as the paper traveled through the machine and before it hit the scanning portion of the copier. I still laugh when imagining their confused response when the copier spat out 2 blank forms.
So I had to spend another 6 hours filling them out and waiting.
Still, I love those pens but don't write anything important down with them or fill out gov't documents..."
"One time, i made this poster right. I wrote everything with frixion pens and spent an extremely long time on it. Turns out my teacher liked it so much she tried to laminate it. This of course erased all the handwriting. I was so sad I literally broke my pen."
"In HS, I once had a 20+ page packet where we had to write a short essay every day, and it would only be checked on the last week of the first semester. Of course, I wrote the entire thing with Frixion pens. And, of course, I happened to set it on top of the FIREPLACE the day before it was due. I had to spend hours just before class to try and trace the slight dent in the paper when you write (if that makes sense)." (https://www.reddit.com/r/LifeProTips/comments/8bym7d/lpt_be_careful_while_using_frixion_ball_pens_the/)
Testing the Temporary Nature of Erasable Pens
I decided to test the heat sensitivity of the pen ink by subjecting it to some tests.
I got a sheet of paper and wrote "Test" and "Test 2" on it, using all eight colors in the second pen set I had bought for each test. For the first set of "Test"s, I just wrote "Test" in all the colors. For the second test, I wrote "Test" in all the colors and erased all the words afterward. For the third test, I added "Test 3" to the paper in all eight colors, erased them all, and wrote "G or J?" (for "Gem or Junk?) over the sections I had erased.
See the image below to see how the "Test 2" ink looked like before being erased.
See the image below to see how it appeared after being erased, as well as how the "Test 3"s looked like after I had erased them and wrote "G or J?" over them.
I put the paper with the test markings on it at the very back of the top shelf of my fridge, and saw the colors start to reappear, after taking the sheet out to check it, though it took a bit of time to all come back (maybe around 15 to 20 minutes).
I then tried holding the paper with the recovered writing over steam rising from a steamer of squash I was heating. The writing all disappeared again, although there were still faint markings left on the sheet, and a bit of the black ink didn't disappear, no matter how many times i waved the section with it over the hot steam (see below).
I then immediately placed the paper in back of the freezer, closed the door, and then took the paper out again after several seconds. I was very surprised when I saw that all the ink had reappeared, pretty much instantly, in response to the freezing cold temperature, because I've read that it takes about an hour for writing to reappear after placing it in the freezer, for other pens. I'm not sure if the pens I bought are just more responsive than other pens, or if the very cold temperature of my freezer caused it, or something else, but I thought it was cool that it was able to become visible again so fast, like magic. See the image below to see how the paper looked with all the previously-disappeared material brought back by the freezer.
Test-Result Thoughts and Implications
My tests confirmed my worry that everything written and erased with erasable pens will reappear, if one loses their writing to heat and tries to retrieve it via exposing the paper to cold temperatures.
This meant that the calculations I had made with the pens would become incomprehensible if I ever lost them to heat and had to try to recover them, since I had erased and written over the same sections multiple times. I was very annoyed and dismayed to learn that after the fact, and only through outside research.
I felt shocked, since I had wanted my calculations to be captured permanently, and hadn't seen anything about the ink potentialy disappearing, in the pen ads I had seen.
The ink also doesn't become completely invisible, such that the markings can still faintly be seen even after being erased, when held at a certain angle or certain light exposure, making the idea of using them for secret messages also silly, if not doing so just for fun, as even an erasable pen website warns against using them to make confidential messages, due to their lack of complete erasure.
Differences in Erasable Pen Sets From Temu
When I ordered my pen sets, I actually didn't know that the pens from each set were different from one another. A lot of the time when I order items from Temu, they are the same item sold by different sellers at different prices. Because the overall design looked the same, I didn't look closely, and thought I was just getting different variations of the same thing. Upon closer inspection of each set, however, I discovered that they were all very different from one another, including in the packaging they arrived in, the sizes and colors of their eraser tips, whether or not they were retractable, whether or not they came with lids, and how well their clickers worked.
Because I didn't think of them as different pens, I didn't test the inks to see how they differed from one another before returning one of the sets, so I can't comment on how well one performed in relation to another. I can, however note the major differences I noticed:
This pen set description actually mentioned "friction heat" in it, although the ads for it didn't explain how this worked. I honestly didn't notice this in the description when I bought it, perhaps because I wouldn't have understood what it meant anyway, without an accompanying explanation in the ads for it. I appreciate that it at least said it in the name, as many of the erasable pens sold on Temu don't mention heat at all.
The green pen arrived broken (see below), in pieces that I couldn't put back together again, in my massive Temu bag, while other pens were scattered, but thankfully stayed whole, because the packaging for the pen had somehow opened.
My guess is that the package had been a return, and hadn't been closed properly, because the packaging for the pen itself was a good-quality reusable one.
h
I did a quick test of the ink, and saw that the black ink still came out a bit faded, and the green ink from the busted pen also didn't come out smoothly or as dark as from the other pens (see the image below, to the left).
After trying to erase the ink, I didn't think that it erased very well. You can still see their markings on the page, particularly in areas where you go over parts with the pen more than once, and the surface of the paper is still rubbed off a bit, resulting in bits left on the page (see the image above, to the right).
The first two pen sets don't look that different from each other at first glance, but you can see minor differences when putting them side by side.
The first pen from set 1 (featured on the left) is smaller in size, has a smaller, rounder eraser tip and different design, and doesn't say "erasable pen" on it. It is also non-retractable, which I discovered I don't like, because I accidentally dropped the lid of one of these pens one morning and was too busy to search for it until the end of the day, and discovered that the pen's ink looked very faded when I tried using it again afterward. It had originally been black, but came out greyer than it had been initially. I read an article that said that the ink for retractable pens is different because it is designed not to dry out even when uncapped, so I would choose the retractable versions of these pens, if I were to buy erasable pens again.
I used the ink from these pens in the three tests I did that I already showed above, so you can use those images to judge their effectiveness. I don't think the ink from the black pen wrote or erased very well, as it looked faded, and some was left behind even after heating the section with steam.
I don't think the ink from these pens disappeared any better than the ink from the first set.
The third set I received came after I had already returned my second set, so I couldn't compare all the pens side by side. A notable difference about these pens is that their erasers are colored, instead of clear and uncolored like the first two. The packaging was also different, and not ziplocked like the first two.
Pictured below is a side-by-side comparison of a pen from set 1 (on the left), and a pen from set 2 (on the right). As you can see, the pen from 2 set says "erasable pen" on it, doesn't have a lid, and has a colored eraser at the end.
I can't comment on the pen's ink or erasability, because when I tried to click the pens to make the tips come out, NONE of the clickers worked, such that I couldn't test or write with any of the pens. I was very surprised, because this wasn't just the case with one of the pens, but with all of them. I even asked my man and another person to try one, and they couldn't make the pens work either, confirming my suspicion that they simply couldn't be used. I don't know how I ended up with such a dud set, since I didn't see any reviews about this particular pen set mentioning the problem I experienced with the pens' clickability, but I did see that the packaging looked like it could have been previously opened, making me think that I may have received a returned set.
I suspect that Temu might sometimes resell defective returns, as I have in the past received items that appear to have been returned, and have funky issues with them.
Other Deceptive Types of "Erasable" Pens
It is important to note that not all erasable pens work like the heat-sensitive ones on Temu. I've actually tried another kind of erasable pen that uses "ink" made of rubber cement, back when I was in high school. I think it was the "Erasermate" kind by Papermate. The pen had been my dad's, but I'd somehow ended up with it, but I remember never using it, though I carried it with me in my pencil case, because I didn't like using it, finding that it didn't work well. I don't have the best memory, so it's possible my recollection may not be completely accurate, but from what I remember, I really disliked using the pen. because it was very hard to use, because the ink did not run smoothly and would start and stop working, and the ink also flowed unevenly, sometimes coming out blotchy. It also did not dry quickly, and would stain the side of my hand and pinky finger while writing with it. I don't even remember how well it erased, because I didn't think it was worth using, and stopped using it. This kind of pen can apparently be erased for 10 hours after using it, until the rubber cement completely dries, and thereafter becomes permanent. I didn't know any of this back then, only feeling that it felt annoying and troublesome to use. I don't know if the technology has improved since then, so I can't comment on whether or not that version is the better of the two options. Its temporary impermanance, as I mentioned, made it smudge and stain easily, and it still doesn't seem like a truly erasable pen, since the ink eventually becomes unerasable.
Because it had been years since I'd had my disappointing experiences with the erasable pen from my dad (leaving them a very distant memory), when I saw erasable pens sets selling on Temu for very low prices, I decided to give them a try again, not even really remembering my past disappointments with the other kind of erasable pen.
Review
Pros:
-Come in many different colours, providing an assortment to choose from for multiple occasions. For example, I like having orange and purple as "Gem or Junk" colors, red for making corrections, blue and black for regular writing, etc.
-Can use different colors to represent different categories of things when taking notes, designing, organizing, etc.
-Can buy pen sets with multiple refills in all the ink colors, to replace ink with when it runs out or dries out.
-Can choose to buy pens with one refill of each color, or even 5 refills of each color, allowing you to stock up in advance, for a very good price.
-Allow you to write in ink, with the ability to erase with an eraser tip like with a pencil.
-Each pen comes with an "eraser" tip on the bottom that makes most of the ink appear to disappear when rubbed over it, though traces of ink and some outlines of the writing usually remain, but it's good enough to write over without the erased sections getting in the way.
-Doesn't leave behind eraser debris after erasing (although erased-paper debris can still result).
-Ink doesn't smudge, like with other erasable pens.
-The pens write pretty smoothly and nicely.
-Can use cooling spray, or put in fridge or freezer, to make "disappeared" ink reappear.
-Can use hairdryer to make written-in documents near-blank again, restoring them to their near-original state.
-Good for making to-do lists and notes in calendar.
-Good if you don't like crossing out mistakes and writing over them.
-Ink dries fast, which minimizes smudging.
-The eraser never runs out/stops erasing.
Cons:
-Pens break relatively easily, as seen with the pen that broke during transport.
-Pen ink does not remain permanently erased, and returns after being exposed to cold temperatures.
-Pen ink disappears with heat, making it possible that writing will disappear in important situations.
-Pens can't be used on cheques, exams, official documents, and other important documents.
-Pens don't erase completely, so that they can't be used for secret messages or when writing things that should be kept confidential.
-Things that are erased will reappear when exposed to cold, causing previous layers to reappear, as well as the parts that were meant to be kept.
-Pen ink dries out very quickly, and fades quickly, when the pen is uncapped.
-Pen ink does not last as long as regular pens, requiring the use of refills.
-If you accidentally leave your papers in a hot car, near or under a hot laptop, on a radiator, on a toaster oven, near a heated vent, under a hot food or beverage item, or anywhere hot, your work could all potentially disappear, and if you try to use a freezer to revive your disappeared ink, it will also bring back all the mistakes you had chosen intentionally to erase.
-If you're someone who takes copious notes like I do, and intends to keep them indefinitely for future use, that would make me pissed to lose my notes and only be able to retrieve them with unreadable parts and mistakes, due to the reappearance of erased errors.
-If you used the pen to write on both sides of a page, erasing will erase both sides of the page.
-Some erasures can reappear unintentionally if you place the paper near an air conditioner.
-Pages with erasable ink can't be hot-laminated or photocopied, or the ink will disappear.
-If you aren't aware of all the situations when such pens should not be used, you could experience sometimes-huge unexpected problems.
-Using the pens for quilting can cause pieces to not be able to be showcased competitively, as cold temperatures can bring markings back.
-Specific stain removers might need to be used to remove ink if used on fabric.
-The flamboyant design of the pen might make it unsuitable for use in very professional settings.
-Some of the retractable models may fail to work to push the nibs out, making the pens impossible to use.
Gem or Junk?
For us:
Junk (2 1/2 stars out of 5)
The false label for such pens, and their deceptive advertising, make me unable to give them a higher rating. I think that the advertising should have made it clear that these pens don't actually permanently erase, and that whether or not whatever you write stays erased depends on the temperature whatever you use to write on is exposed to. I had actually considered filling out my actual tax documents with an eraseable pen in case I made mistakes while filling them out, and am so glad that my accountant used a regular pen instead. I think that the pens should come with a warning, or at least disclaimer, that they shouldn't be used for permanent, government, or legal documents, or in writing tests. I am also disappointed by how quickly the ink dried out when uncapped, and have also heard that the pens run out of ink faster than normal pens, and require the use of refills. I also don't like how easily one of the pens broke, though I appreciated the refund I received because of it. I also don't like how the ink can still faintly be seen even after being "erased," such that it isn't even useful for writing confidential secret messages, or for reusing workbooks or puzzle books.
Gems For Who:
1) People who want a way to save paper, by using the pens to write on them again and again.
2) Kids who want to write secret messages to each other for fun.
3) Families who employ hand-me-downs, to allow them to reuse workbooks or practice books (though old answers might potentially still be partially visible).
4) Parents with kids who are learning to write, who might feel more confident writing with pens that can be erased.
5) People who are tight on cash, and want to reuse as many items as possible.
6) For people with a lot of kids, who could reuse old items by wiping them clean with heat.
7) People who want multiple uses of word search and crossword puzzles, being able to wipe them clean with heat and pass them on.
8) People who like to donate items, who could donate books and games that might otherwise have been recycled or thrown away, by making the ink disappear so that others can enjoy them (though a note should be left explaining how the book has been filled before, and what to do to be able to enjoy it again without a problem).
9) People who love novelty items, and just want the pens because they're cool, and want to play around with them
10) People who live in moderate and stable climates and environments, where temperatures will not cause the ink to disappear.
11) People who want to try erasable pens for a low price.
12) People who like having an assortment of pens colors and varieties to work with.
13) Left-handed people, for whom smudgy ink is a problem.
Conclusion
Honestly, my experiences with such pens simply leave me not wanting to use them at all, and stick with regular pens and pencils.
I think that erasable pens should come with warnings and disclaimers, and really shouldn't be called "erasable" at all. The erasable pen I tried in the past was only temporarily erasable, while the ones from Temu are more like disappearing-and-reappearing-ink pens. I think that both are disappointing, and come with their own sets of problems.
A commenter on a thread about erasable pens captures the problematic nature of heat-sensitive erasable pens well: "A handful of my professors don't allow us to use this kind of pens, especially for major examinations. The issue was the ink disappears when exposed to heat. Yes, you could place the paper in a fridge when that happens but what kind of professor will have time to do that? Other times, some erasures unintentionally appears just by placing the paper near an A/C.
I never use these pens anymore because of it's weird use case: writings which doesn't need to be kept long-term and at the same time you're sure will be handled properly (temperature-wise)."
I will be releasing a Part 2 article to this next week, that will share ways you can take advantage of these pens' heat-sensitive nature, and use them for their temperature-changing qualities, as opposed to their supposed "erasability."
If you're still interested in trying out these pens for a cheap price and haven't already signed up for Temu, then please use my referral link to get a bundle of coupons worth $100 in savings to use toward your purchases: https://temu.to/m/ubwjywyuh4x
See you in my next post!
