Pilot FriXion Erasable Pens: A Comprehensive Guide

Pilot’s proprietary FriXion ink uses several tricks of chemistry to cleanly “erase”. It relies on three types of chemical compounds that react to acidity and temperature: 1) special types of dye that change color upon reaction with acids, 2) compounds that act as acids to produce the color change, and 3) compounds that regulate the temperature at which the color transition will take place. When you rub the ink with the hard rubber "eraser," heat from the resulting friction causes the temperature-sensing compound to activate the acid compounds, thus neutralizing the dye. That’s how the ink virtually disappears!

Watch the video above to learn more about FriXion ink and product lines.

Even if you write with a heavy hand and create indents on the paper, FriXion ink will disappear so long as heat is able to reach it. The "erased" sections can be written over and "erased" as many times as needed.

This comes with an important caveat: because of its heat-reacting properties, the ink may disappear if left out in a hot car or by a heater (the official temperature at which it “erases” is 60°C/140°F, but it's better to be safe than sorry). Give the page a few seconds to cool after "erasing" before you write in the same spot, as lingering heat may affect the ink. We also don't recommend writing on the back of the page when using these pens, because the heat may transfer to the other side and cause unwanted erasing. Conversely, the ink can reappear when temperatures reach below -10°C/14°F.