Messy Monday: How To Get Crayon Out Of Your Laundry

The moment all mothers dread. You pull a full load of laundry out of the dryer & realize there was a crayon in the load. This happened to me not that long ago, but to harden the blow, about half the load was new school clothes. You know, worn once. I was in a state of shock. I wanted to cry, scream & drink a bottle of wine all at the same time. 

This is a photo of my dryer. I didn't even think to take one of the clothes that were inside it, but you can imagine just how awful it was. But the good news, is that I got it out. Almost all of it too! The only thing I wasn't able to remove the crayon from, was a house sweater (you know, that hideous sweater you wouldn't be caught dead in outside of your house but it's so warm & comfy that you just can't get rid of it), most likely because of the material it was made from. 

Now I know you're dying to find out how on earth I managed to not only get the crayon out of my laundry, but out of the dryer too! 

For the Clothing

•Start by spraying the areas of clothing that have crayon on them with a pre-treater & then let them sit for 15-20 min. 
•After spraying your clothing, start filling your washer with HOT water (the hottest possible water setting that could possibly be recommended for the clothing).
•While the washer is filling, add your laundry detergent (a tad extra than you usually use) & LA's Totally Awesome (found in most dollar stores & is extremely effective). If you need some extra assurance, you can add some Borax & Super Washing Soda as well.
•After the pre-treater has set in, place the clothing in the washer & begin the cycle just enough to make sure everything is thoroughly soaked. 
•Stop the washer & allow the load to soak for 1-2 hours.
•Finish the cycle & begin another one with just laundry detergent (or more LA's Totally Awesome if you can still see some crayon).
•Be sure to check the clothing before tossing it in the dryer again. 

For the Dryer

•In a large bowl, combine warm water with some Borax, Super Washing Soda, vinegar, LA's Totally Awesome & lots of salt. 
•Grab rubber gloves & a sponge with a scrubber side. 
•I never thought I was going to get the crayon out of the shiny smooth surface of my dryer, but the trick is to make it an abrasive scrub (hence all the salt). So just be sure you scoop up a bit onto your sponge to scrub with. 
•It's going to be messy & you're going to need a lot of elbow grease on top of being able to twist & turn inside your dryer (just as an FYI). Have some large bath towels handy to try to keep the watery mess inside to a minimum while you're scrubbing.
•When you think you've gotten all of it, grab an extra towel or two (in addition to the ones you were using), wet them & toss them into the dryer before turning it on. This will help clean up any of the scrub that was left behind. 
•If need be, give it another light scrub, a wipe &/or another dry cycle.