I opened the dryer to find an entire load was washed with guess what, crayons in a pocket! So far, I have not had any luck getting the crayons off the clothes or the dryer drum. Lots of things work to get the blue and yellow off the dryer drum, but not the red. I've tried WD-40, toothpaste, a citrus solvent, Soft Scrub, a degreaser and nothing works. On the clothes, I've rewashed the clothes twice with detergent and Oxy-Clean in hot water and now I'm trying it again with baking soda and vinegar. Can anyone help?
Marla from Rocklin, CA
For cleaning black crayon marks that covered the entire inside of our dryer we found the combination of Colgate toothpaste (white paste type) AND Oxy spray cleaner for bathrooms (yes we stumbled on the combo) finally worked. We rubbed the toothpaste all over the inside, waited about 10 minutes, then sprayed the Oxy cleaner on top of that. We waited about another 30 minutes, With lots of rubbing the marks finally started to come out. We wiped the whole dryer clean with cool water. It took a long time and lots of elbow grease but it worked! (08/05/2006)
By Pat
I don't understand how I've gotten this far without having this problem before (5 kids, all teens). Anyway, ceramic/glass cooktop cleaner works like a charm on the dryer. Same idea as the slightly abrasive toothpaste. (08/15/2006)
By Zack
This weekend I opened up my brand new dryer and found it covered with green crayon. I thought I would have to get a new one. The repair man cleaned the blades for free. I went to the Internet and found one website that suggest WD-40. It did not work. Then I found this site. Mr. Clean Magic Eraser work wonders. Thank you. (08/25/2006)
By Danna
I tried 100% acetone for cleaning crayon out of dryer. WORKS better than WD-40 and Mr Clean magic eraser. Just make sure you are in a well ventalated area, the smell is awful. (09/02/2006)
By Lynanne
I'll toss in my two cents. Running the dryer a little to warm the crayon seemed to help a bit. The Colgate worked great once I switched from a toothbrush to a scrubby sponge. It still required a lot of elbow grease, though. (09/11/2006)
By NoJoy
You shouldn't use GooGone or Gasoline or anything flammable! The dryer itself has a warning to NEVER dry anything with anything flammable as an explosion might occur. GooGone has a warning to never use near heat. (10/19/2006)
By Monica
I used Colgate Luminous toothpaste and it took the black crayon residue right off that the magic eraser couldnt get off. Dryer is just like it didnt happen. I washed the pants that had the black crayon on it in HOT water and it took 100% of the crayon out of the jeans and maybe 50% of it out of my favorite work out pants but its ok they are only my gym pants right. I am just so happy it didnt happen to the light, white, or bright loads. Good luck everyone toothpaste who knew! (10/23/2006)
By Shannon
I just learned that my 18 mo old daughter puts crayons in the legs of her pjs. I had a purple dryer! I used Comet, hot water, and a scrubber sponge. I was afraid I'd end up scrubing for hours. But everything came off in about 10 minutes with very little effort! It looks like new! Hope it works as well for you! (11/04/2006)
By Beth
My daughter asked me to 'throw her shirt' into the dryer, she works part time at a restaurant, and I didn't notice the blue crayon in her pocket. Needless to say... big mess in the dryer. Tried the toothpaste with a teflon scubber, and it worked great. (11/25/2006)
By Dennis
When my daughter left a blue crayon in her pocket, I spoke to someone who told me to use WD-40 before washing the clothes a second time. Spray the WD-40 on the clothes and work it in with a little detergent using a toothbrush. Then you may have to wash the clothes a couple of times to get the WD-40 out. (11/25/2006)
By Mel
I could not believe that I googled "clean crayon out of dryer" and this page came up as the first hit. I thought I was done (clothes and dryer). I read through the posts and tried what I had. Magic Eraser and Toothpaste had NO impact at all. Thanks to the person who said ceramic cooktop clenser. I had Bar Keeper's Friend clenser. It worked perfectly!!
Thanks. (11/29/2006)
By Tracey
As a career Firefighter, I certainly hope none of you have truly put WD-40, Goo Gone, or Goof Off in your dryers. If I were a dryer salesman, then yeah go ahead. Anyway, I used Ace Hardware Floor Stripper on my crayon incident (green, and by the way, and it was in MY pocket) wiped of in less than 5 minutes...And I DID try WD-40, Goo Gone, Goof Off, toothpaste, stove strubber stuff, eraser pads. Yeah I know, do as I say, not as I do, why do you think FFs get burned at home! (12/28/2006)
By Tim
I tried the magic eraser first, did not work. switched to white ultra brite toothpaste from the dollar store and it worked great! I followed up with some oxiclean to clean off the toothpaste. (01/27/2007)
By trisha
Everyone please don't use any chemicals that are flammable or explosive in a dryer. Even if you wash the drum out, there could still be residue. I don't want anyone getting hurt or dying because of a crayon. I did use the toothpaste on a sponge and IT WORKS! The mint fumes did burn my eyes a little though. (02/11/2007)
By paulkellar
This just happened to me i'm still trying to get it out of the clothes, my dryer was orange, I found the Mr. Clean magic eraser worked wonders on the dryer too bad it didn't work on the clothes, just follow the directions on the box and wipe it out you really don't even have to apply pressure (02/22/2007)
By Kris
On the dryer we used canola oil on the crayon smears to thin them out and then cleaned it all off with Fantastik original spray cleaner. It's cleaner now than before. (02/28/2007)
By Anne
I open up my brand new "white" dryer to find purple crayon on all my light colored clothes & all over the inside of my dryer. I used Bar Keepers Friend on it with a damp cloth and it came out the dyer insantly. I hope that I can it comes out of the clothes now. "I am so glad that I am not the only one this has ever happened to." (03/10/2007)
By Tara
My 6 yr. old son left a red crayon in his pants and they were dried. My dryer was dark red. I tried everything listed and the magic eraser worked pretty good, but Momet with bleach worked the greatest along with some scrubbing. My dryer is now red crayon FREE! (04/10/2007)
By Stephanie
Misery loves company and we just joined the party today. We were able to catch the culprit because 1/2 the crayon was still in the pocket. Thanks for all the advice this is what we did: Simple Green (undiluted) with the Mr Clean eraser took the black crayon right out of our white dryer with very little elbow grease. Note our drum has a textured surface. The door with the smooth finish was very easy to clean. We also ran a load of work cloths through before any good went back in. And my white work shirts will be hung dry for a long time. For the cloths we used Simple Green (undiluted) with a toothbrush to scrub it out. And while tedious we put on a movie and brushed the rest of the day away - Hoodwinked is a very funny movie if you have not seen it. (04/15/2007)
By Tom
I just used Barkeepers Friend and a scrubby sponge. It was pretty quick and easy. I wiped it clean with a wet towel and put a test white tee shirt through the dryer. (05/06/2007)
By TB
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