Hi Janet, this one tickled me. I have moved from erasers to bottle corks. I did find the erasers crumbled, but maybe I used the wrong ones? Or maybe my bite was just too vicious? (Pretty sure they were Staedtler, but not sure about the exact type. Are you talking aobut the white ones with the blue-and-white sleeve? Best erasers I know, but maybe not for sticking between teeth.) As it happens, my bottle corks are German, too. Very firm and not at all crumbly ;-).