The Milan 1220 is the plain, single-piece kneadable eraser: one soft grey block in a sealed film wrapper, with the model number and "made in SPAIN" printed on the paper band so you know exactly what to order again.

It works by pressure rather than friction. Press it onto a shaded passage and lift, and the tone comes away without disturbing the paper underneath. That is why it sits beside the pencil case of anyone working in graphite or charcoal, where scrubbing with a firm rubber would flatten the surface.

Warm it in your fingers first. Straight out of the wrapper the block is firm; after ten seconds of kneading it softens enough to pinch into a point for a small highlight, or to flatten and press across a broad area to bring a whole tone down a step.

Keep the wrapper. Kneadable material is slightly tacky and will pick up dust, lint and loose graphite from the bottom of a pencil case within days. The sealed film it arrives in makes a perfectly good pouch to return it to between sessions.

Milan numbers its erasers, which helps when reordering. The 1220 is the kneadable; the 403 Gigante and the 406 are the firm synthetic rubber blocks for everyday pencil work. Because the number is printed on the band rather than only on a shelf label, you can check you have the right one before you buy.

Why this product is worth considering