Monday, October 13, 2014

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.

35 comments:

  1. I am totally using this. I can't tell ya how many times I have washed crayons.

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  2. Great information here, and, boy, could I have used this when my kids were little! I had no idea how to get crayon out.

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  3. I had to pin this because i know there will be a day i will need it! I once put a blanket in the dryer after it had been outside by a fire pit.. dumb me... and it turned our dryer black! These tips help!

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  4. I would probably kill my son if he did this to my dryer. His crayon usage is on lock-down after he colored on his untreated wood door.

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  5. Oh goodness! I haven't had to deal with this YET but I dread having to! I know it's coming so hopefully this will help!

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  6. well that sounds simple enough for a mess that would have driven me crazy!
    I can't believe vinegar was used to help! thanks for saving my sanity with this post

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  7. I have to admit I would have had no idea how to get crayon out of the laundry at all so thank you so much for those tips. x

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  8. That's a really good idea. This happened to me years ago and it ruined all of our clothes.

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  9. wow great tips here. I always wondered if crayon was removable from a dryer.

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  10. What a great tip, I know exactly what you are talking about too, that cleaner has been their for ages. Also, the magic eraser works too - been there, done that! lol

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  11. Oh NO!!! What a feeling to see such a mess, but these are great tips, thank you!

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  12. I guess that means I am not the only one that has done this. I will definitely bookmark this for when it happens again.

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  13. This is some great information. I always worry about this when my nephew sleeps over because he likes to put stuff in the machine.

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  14. I have always been wondering about this. I need to get some crayon off our wall upstairs. Amber N

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  15. Glad I don't have kids yet. But when I do, I will know how to be rid of crayon from dryers, haha! Thanks for sharing :P

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  16. I haven't washed crayons in a very long time. Ink yes! And lots of other things. These are really great suggestions and I am sure people will be able to use this info.

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  17. I've never had crayon problems besides on the walls but I've had pen ink before. Now that it's happened to you I'm glad that you were able to get it out, and now if it happens to me too I'll know what to do. Thanks for this post.

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  18. OH NO!!! With 3 kids, this hasn't happened yet. We have had chapstick though. ICK!

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  19. I have never washed a crayon with 5 kids. I've washed rocks and legos. No crayons, knock on wood!

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  20. I definitely need this, I've washed crayons one too many times! Thanks so much for the detailed instructions!

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  21. Well my daughter no longer uses crayons, but this is a fantastic tip to know!

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  22. Oh my goodness, you are speaking my language. My toddler is always hiding his crayons around!

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  23. Eek, I would have panicked then cried, lol
    Thanks for sharing this information - with young children you never know! x

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  24. Thank you for this laundry washing ideas for crayon stained clothing.

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  25. I've never had crayon in my washer or dryer. I can only imagine the mess of it. I have had some pretty strange things to clean out though.

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  26. Oh my gosh, this is a good post. My husband just had several work shirts messed up because of crayon. I pitched them, but now I know better!

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  27. You poor thing! I honestly don't think we've washed a crayon yet...but a blue ink pen did go in alongside my Ernie Banks jersey once. :(

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  28. OMG! Somebody would be in big trouble. Great post!

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  29. Oh no!! That's great though that you found a way to get it out!!

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  30. Would suck to have crayons in the washer! lol But good to know there are tips to get rid of it!

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  31. This is such an useful post. I got lucky that when I washed a crayon, I discovered it before it got to the dryer.

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  32. That feeling you get when you realize there was a crayon in there is awful. I'm so glad there is a pretty easy solution to fixing it.

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  33. Thank you for this awesome tips. My girls are above the stage of using crayons but I will share this with all my friends who have little ones.

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  34. I'm totally pinning this. I just know I'll need this at some point in my life.

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  35. Wish I had known about this earlier. We had the very thing happen.

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