Erasers are so typical that sometimes they are overlooked, and we think any eraser can work fine for our drawings. However, your eraser quality is essential for your sketches, and it can help you improve them.
In this post, you will find lots of information about erasers and their uses. But if you are in a hurry, here’s my short recommendation for picking the best erasers for you: get one vinyl eraser and one kneaded eraser, as the vinyl one will erase almost anything, and the kneaded eraser will help you add highlights and fade shades away. I consider the best are the Tombow Mono Zero – Precision Vinyl Eraser $6.46 (link to amazon) for precision, the Staedtler Mars Plastic Erasers $9.99 (link to amazon) to erase broader areas, and the Faber-Castell Kneaded Eraser $9.45 (link to amazon). Honestly, you won’t probably need anything else if you have those two.
But if you’re here for the details, then let’s see why it’s crucial you have these three different erasers and why those are the best picks.
Different Graphites And Pencils Need Different Erasers
As a drawing artist, you know there are many different pencils to use, and that’s why there’re many different erasers. In fact, the reason why drawing pencils don’t include erasers is in part because of this. To illustrate which eraser is best for each particular pencil or graphite, I will show you a table and some pictures of how they perform. The table is based on how good they erase a line completely.
| Pencils \ Erasers | Vinyl | Kneaded | Rubber | Gum |
| Charcoal | Hard | Hard | Hard | Hard |
| 6H to H | Easy | Easy | Medium / Easy | Medium / Easy |
| F | Easy | Easy | Easy | Easy |
| HB | Easy | Easy | Easy | Easy |
| B to 4B | Easy | Medium | Medium | Medium |
| 5B | Medium | Medium | Hard | Hard |
| 6B | Medium | Hard | Hard | Hard |
| 7B | Medium | Hard | Hard | Hard |
| 8B | Medium | Hard | Hard | Hard |
As you could see, vinyl performs best in every lead tone when it comes to erasing the graphite entirely. Rubber and gum erasers don’t perform too well because they’re softer, so you have to erase for more prolonged periods until the lines are wiped out. The kneaded eraser is more for adding highlights, but it’s great to erase tiny details if you use a 2B pencil or a lighter one. Check the images below to see how they work.
As you can see, if you try really hard to erase graphite using the kneaded eraser, you can somewhat accomplish it, but you shouldn’t use the kneaded eraser for that but rather to add highlights or fading shades, as shown at the bottom right of the image. So it is proven now! You only need these two erasers for your drawings.
What Vinyl And Kneaded Eraser Should You Choose
When it comes to quality, almost every vinyl/plastic erasers (they’re the same) or kneaded erasers perform great, but some work much better than others.
For vinyl/plastic erasers, I would recommend you get two of them in different formats—one tailored to erase small areas with accuracy and another for erasing broad areas.
Vinyl Erasers
My best picks for vinyl erasers are the following.
Tombow Mono Zero – Precision Vinyl Eraser (link to amazon)
Tombow is the best vinyl eraser I’ve ever used. It is designed not to damage the paper, and it is strong enough to erase lines and shades entirely. Not only that, it allows you to be very precise when erasing little areas or details in your drawings without touching anything else because of its design. Preciseness is HUGE for me, and I bet it is for other artists as well. It comes with two eraser refills.
Staedtler Mars Plastic (link to amazon)
Same eraser quality as Tombow’s eraser, but in this case, these Staedtler erasers will allow you to erase broader areas quickly and easily. They come in a pack of four, and they will last for ages.
Kneaded Erasers
In this category, most name brands will work stupendously. I have personally used the Faber-Castell kneaded erasers for years, and I have no complaints about it at all.
Faber-Castell Kneaded Eraser (link to amazon)
You have already seen how well it works above. These kneaded erasers come in a very convenient package that protects them from the environment and elongates their lifetime. It comes in a pack of four kneaded erasers that will last a long time.
Tip: Try always to keep your kneaded eraser in its package and also in a cold and dry place. Kneaded erasers enemy if the heat, and if they receive too much of it, they won’t perform as they would typically do.
Tip 2: It’s really fun to play around with them, but if you keep them in your hands too much time, they will start to melt from your hand’s heat. Do it, but don’t overdo it.
Final Thoughts
These erasers are great for erasing, but I want to encourage you to view them as a drawing tool for enhancing your drawings and not just a means of erasing mistakes. Add highlights or create blurry effects with them; what you can achieve with these erasers is incredible.
If you’re looking to get some new erasers, do consider getting the ones recommended here, I have used them for years, and I have nothing but gratitude for how useful and good these erasers are.
If someone tells you you’re bad at drawing because you erase too much, they just don’t know how art is created. Erasers exist because humans aren’t perfect, and art is beautiful because it isn’t perfect.