Talk:Melamine foam

Nosebleeds
Anyone heard of a Magic Eraser giving someone a nosebleed? A friend of mine apparently inhaled abrasive dust from the eraser and began bleeding from both nostrils. A. L. Bean - Student At Large 03:48, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

Response: The material has the strength of glass and easily broken down. So these small particulates can cause respiritory if inhaled in a dry state. Sharp particulates may be cutting the nasal pathways and depending on size could reach the lungs. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Special:Contributions/ (talk)

Safety
Can using product without gloves or contacting the residue left after cleaning result in any trace chemicals absorbed through the skin?

Do standard water treatment facilities filter the product back out of the drinking water? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.110.250.74 (talk) 11:14, 25 August 2012 (UTC)

As a result of the current pet food crisis, there would be an obvious need to re-evaluate the safety of a melamine-based product like this. Don't be surprised if the product is withdrawn from sale...-69.87.200.185 12:34, 7 May 2007 (UTC)
 * Yes, because if someone added gasoline to catfood, this would be a reason to remove gasoline from the market. Uhuh. —SlamDiego&#8592;T 05:13, 6 March 2008 (UTC)
 * Wow, that was kind of a harsh response. I would encourage you to relax your responses on future occasions. 66.188.254.197 (talk) 16:46, 24 July 2008 (UTC)

Formaldehyde release
Question: What is the breakdown process of melamine foam sponges? When one uses them for cleaning do they release formaldehyde? Is the presence of formaldehyde the reason that melamine is toxic, or is formaldehyde added to create the melamine foam or resin? Also, I thought that I had read one sponge manufacturer's MSDS and it didn't mention formaldehyde while others' did. (Scotchbrite vs. Mr. Clean). Regardless, I don't get the sense that this product off-gasses. Can anyone confirm or deny? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Alpinebixby (talk • contribs)

Melamine formaldehyde is about as toxic as salt(sodium chloride, also of a slightly dangerous solid and a toxic gas). IE, not very unless you eat a whole sponge of it. Similarly, it won't outgas formaldehyde unless you melt it or use it in a chemical reaction that liberates the formaldehyde. 98.28.246.175 (talk) 05:02, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

Environmental Issues
I'm just wondering what is the environmental impact of this product. rickbruner 7:00, 25 November 2007 (UTC)

pH?
I have been unable to find an authoritative source for the pH of this stuff. Could anyone direct me to one? —SlamDiego&#8592;T 05:08, 6 March 2008 (UTC)

pH is only meaningful in aqueous solution. As we are talking about an solid, the concept of pH is not valid. 195.66.97.153 (talk) 13:45, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Melamine foam is not toxic
It's like melamine plastic, non-toxic. The pet food problem was caused by melamine, not melamine plastic which is a polymerized version that is non toxic and is used in kitchen countertops and utensils. This should probably be in the article considering all the concern on this talk page. Gigs (talk) 10:22, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Edited to make it seem less like an ad and more like an article about a specific material
I don't see why there's a reason to mention a brand by name, when they hold no patent on this application. I wasn't able to retrieve a source for the percentage share for melamine foam manufacturers, nor whether BASF was the first to manufacture the product, so I left the specific mention of Basotect in. I was able to verify that other companies in the chemical industry do manufacture the product, which I included in the wording. Chazisop (talk) 12:57, 26 June 2016 (UTC)
 * I've restored the link to Mr Clean. A 60 year history of this as the first, only notable, and by far the best known brand deserves mention. Andy Dingley (talk) 19:20, 26 June 2016 (UTC)
 * This seems reasonable to me. I'm not carrying any water for Mr Clean (in fact, I hate his guts) but he is the most notable brand. Herostratus (talk) 21:11, 26 June 2016 (UTC)
 * The claim for 60 years is absolutely false. Mr. Clean Magic Eraser was only introduced in 2003 (http://www.mrclean.ca/en_CA/through-the-years.do). Therefore, I reverted to the old version. Chazisop (talk) 02:18, 27 June 2016 (UTC)
 * I'm in the UK, I'm unfamiliar with Mr Clean - it's a US brand, we don't have it here. I only know it though references like Apocalypse Now, a 1980 film about the 1960s, where the brand is well known enough to produce a character nickname. Melamine foam, as a material, dates back to the 1950s. My understanding, largely from the WP article, was that US Mr Clean had been the first melamine foam cleaner and it dated back to the appearance of that brand - as one of those many US products which we simply didn't have as a concept in the UK, like nylons or rock-n-roll.
 * Now if I'm wrong here, and melamine foam wasn't used as a cleaner until 2003, then I'm wrong. We also need some better sourcing to support that. However I don't think that changes the article (i.e. it should be in the state before your last change) - as it was still Mr Clean, and not other brands, which produced melamine foam blocks as a household cleaner and established them under that genericised brand name for such products. Andy Dingley (talk) 08:13, 27 June 2016 (UTC)

Removing Light Scratches from Matt Computer Monitor using Melamine Foam
I noticed that with a light pressure, a piece of melamine foam (moistened with a drop of water) can be used to completely erase light scratches from a matt computer monitor LCD panel. Using light pressure and moving the moistened melamine foam along the scratch, it takes only a few minutes of work to remove light scratches (longer for deeper scratches, perhaps an hour). This scratch-removal technique seems mainly useful for matt LED screens: the melamine foam is working as a very fine abrasive, so it might not be suitable for screens with anti-reflective coating. — Preceding unsigned comment added by PeterKnaggs (talk • contribs) 01:00, 9 March 2021 (UTC)

How is it made?
There is nothing in this article saying how the foam is made.

Can someone who knows add this please?Lkingscott (talk) 10:56, 27 May 2023 (UTC)