Here’s the Tape Measure Hack You Always Wanted in Your Life

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In the viral Instagram reel above, the creator shows how he uses the rubber on the grip of his tape measure to erase a pencil mark from a piece of wood, which many viewers in the comments section are adding to their “things I wish I knew before” list. The question is, does it really work?

We tested the tape measure eraser hack to see if it actually makes pencil marks vanish using a common No. 2 pencil on three types of wood: a hardwood deck, a softwood 2×4 and an even softer wooden window shim. While the hack does work, there are a few caveats.

The tape measure easily erased the marks on the hardwood deck and the softwood 2×4, but it did not work on the shim. Erasing the marks also began wearing down the rubber grip. It’s just cosmetic damage, but if you were doing this tape measure eraser hack frequently, it might make your grip less agreeable over time. It didn’t, however, seem to damage either of the woods that I tried it on.

While this hack works in most circumstances, it’s not something many of us would ever need to do. There’s a reason construction pencils don’t have erasers on them because they’re not all that necessary. If you make a mark incorrectly, you can usually just remark it, leaving the old mark in place. If it seems too confusing for your project, you can flip over the board to mark the other side. Plus, marks usually disappear when you cut through them or screw something into them.

But, if you are doing a project that has to be cosmetically clean, this tape measure eraser hack would certainly work, so long as you aren’t using super soft wood or wood with a fuzzy finish.

How Does Rubber Remove Pencil Marks?

The rubber on the tape measure removes pencil marks from wood like a pencil eraser erases marks on a piece of paper through the rubber’s abrasion against the pencil’s graphite.

Will The Tape Measure Eraser Hack Work on Chalk Lines?

No, you can’t remove chalk lines with the rubber on a tape measure. A damp towel or a scrub brush is a better bet for removing construction chalk lines.