Here are responses to a user that left crayon in her clothes pockets when doing laundry.
One product on the market that works for me is Lestoil. I found it at K-Mart I believe. My husband works in a greasy, grimy factory and it removes all of it. Crayons are "greasy too. I'm betting that Lestoil will work. Be forewarned that it has a gasoline-like smell. I've found that a couple of regular washings after Lestoil use will remove the odor. I've used it on my kid's clothing... (01/21/2002)
By las424
If you have patience, you could iron them out. This works with candle wax-it should work with crayons, which are also made of wax: Place a paper bag over the crayon stain. Iron, then lift off paper bag with
crayon.
My friend uses Dawn Dish Soap to clean most greasy/waxy stains. If that doesn't work, you could just dye the clothes in the washer the same color of the crayons. (01/29/2002)
By Kimdedo
I had red crayon that melted in the dryer and was all over my dryer and my children's clothes. For the dryer I used soft scrub with bleach and water. For the clothes I washed them in hot water with tide with bleach, and oxiclean THREE times. It all came out) (06/04/2004)
By red crayon
Use WD-40 to get the crayon out. It works awesome. Same thing happened to me. Put it on all the spots you got it on and then scrub a little bit. Re-wash all items and it should come out. (06/17/2004)
By WD-40 is the best crayon remover.
I had great luck today getting the crayon out of my dryer with a wet rag & toothpaste! Worked on some of the clothes, too. (08/14/2004)
By Kim
I have run into this problem many times but not as bad as last week when I washed all 4 kids best jeans for vacation. They came out with the worst red crayon stains I have ever seen and thought all was lost. After searching for what to do I eventually put the worst pair in the sink with HOT water, vinegar, and dish soap... let them soak till the water was cool then rinsed in hot water and let hang to dry. All of the stains came out!! I was so impressed I had to share this with you as it might save a few loads of laundry for some others. (12/03/2004)
By Kelly
The WD40 worked great, how do i get rid of the WD40 smell now. I've washed the clothes at least 5 times and they still smell. I'm afraid to dry them! (12/12/2004)
Yes, this too happened to me today! Green crayon all over my kids khaki uniform pants. I used Goof Off 2 water-based multi- purpose remover. It worked great! Pretreat then wash in hot H2O. Now, I have to get the green out of the dryer. Any ideas? (12/16/2004)
By Lisa in La.
This is a really useful site! I've just had a close encounter with an orange crayon in the kids' laundry. I tried vinegar water hot soaks, boiling water and even peanut butter (Hey, it works on bubble gum!) None of it worked well. What wound up working best was just letting the clothes soak in the washer in water with a standard enzymatic detergent, then washing in the morning. Two cycles got the crayon out of everything but the socks and underwear; I guess cotton is tougher. (01/05/2005)
By Lars
I am struggling with this also. But just a warning to everyone! Do not mix OxiClean or OxiBrite with chlorine bleach! There is a clear warning on the label about this. A janitor in one of our schools in Canada recently died when she mixed bleach with another cleaning chemical. Please be careful! (02/03/2005)
By Be Careful
I just got brown crayon melted in my sons good pants. My entire dark load was thought to be ruined. I found that hot water soak with dish soap, let cool, then rinse hot, worked wonders. The crayon is gone excepted from the tag and pocket of the pants that had the crayon. Wonderful (02/07/2005)
By Jennifer, Ahhhh crayon!
I too washed a load of my sons clothes and threw them in the dryer not knowing there was black and red crayons in one of his pockets. I had both colors dried on all his clothes and my new dryer was now a nice black and red swear color. I used oxyclean and soaked them all in hot water for several hours (did it twice) and 95% of the mess came out of the clothes.
By Mckenzie
I found a package of restaurant crayons in my dark load after washing and drying. A HUGE mess! Most of the stains came out with Scrubbing Bubbles Tub Cleaner and a tooth brush (without removing the color from the clothes). The rest faded with repeated washings in Oxyclean.
Hope it helps! (02/16/2005)
By Rachel
I have tried almost everything to get the crayon out of clothes. I finally just tried going back to primitive times. I just soaked the items in very hot water for 15 min. then just used any dish soap to scrub the spots. It seemed the toothbrush I was using was doing an OK job, but then I started to scratch the spots with my fingernails and they came right out. I was very happy. I am from now on going to buy only Washable Crayons, they seem to come out easier than the regular kind. Hope this helps. (02/18/2005)
By Jamie
I dried a hot pink crayon and ruined a whole load of laundry. Then I used Dryel stain remover and washed the entire load again in Tide with bleach. Every single mark came out and you can't even tell it happened! It is a very tedious job because you have to touch each mark but it worked. (02/25/2005)
I have found a solution for removing melted crayons from clothing. My grandson left a hand full of crayons in his jeans and the whole load of jeans had many colors of melted crayon all over them. I found an all purpose cleaner at a NAPA Auto parts store called MACH III. I diluted it, put it in a spray bottle, sprayed it all over the jeans and used a tooth brush to work on the spots. All eight pair of jeans are free from any melted crayon. This cleaner did not alter the color of the jeans either. (03/12/2005)
By Beverly Eraser
CAN'T believe that toothpaste took the blue crayon off the inside of my white dryer. It is almost 99% gone. Should have known as parents anything new would get broken, dented or plain ruined. Brand new HE dryer only 6 days old and streaked inside by a crayon in a pocket. My husband may never notice thanks to the toothpaste. (03/18/2005)
By jgarciakeener
To remove melted crayon on dryer - toothpaste works! Thanks to those who suggested it. I recommend pasting on a generous amount of toothpaste in your drier, spin it on high heat for a couple of minutes, wipe clean w/wet towel. (03/24/2005)
By Kim in OR
Thanks so much for the tips in soaking the clothes in Oxy Clean. It worked great. The few items that didn't come clean which were white I washed in bleach and they came out fine. Ended up just throwing away a pair of socks. Thanks again! (04/13/2005)
By Sandy
Something else to try: Mr. Clean's Magic Eraser. It worked for me.. the inside of my dryer was completely red from a crayon. I knew this product was a miracle worker for my walls.. and at the day care I work at, so thought I would try it on the mess in my dryer. How can one little crayon (it wasn't even a whole one) make such a huge mess??? lol (04/15/2005)
By Lee
How to remove Crayons (Regular) from fabrics-fresh stains/heat-set stains (melted):
Procedure
Place the stained surface down on pad of paper towels, spray with WD-40, let stand a few minutes, turn fabric over and spray the other side. Apply liquid dishwashing detergent and work into the stained area, replacing toweling as it absorbs the stain. Wash in hot water with laundry detergent and bleach for about 12 minutes (use heavy soiled setting if there is no minute timer on your machine) and rinse in warm water.Special Note:Heat-Set Stains-Clean the drum of your dryer to remove any remaining wax residue. Spray a soft cloth with WD-40, and wipe the drum. Run a load of dry rags through a drying cycle to ensure that your drum is clean. (07/15/2005)
By Karen P - Valpo IN
Something that helps to remove the waxy part of crayons or candle wax is to put a paper towel down on the surface of the object with the wax. Then take an iron on as warm a setting as the material will allow and melt the wax with the iron. The paper towel will soak up the wax. This won't remove all the stain and it won't necessarily remove color but it does help a lot. (08/13/2005)
By KD
I just had a red crayon melt in my new dryer also. I rewashed the entire load in 20 MULE TEAM BORAX. It all came out except the pocket the crayon melted in. Washed the shorts again, then it all came out. Hope this helps someone. (08/17/2005)
By Trisha C.
On my birthday last week my husband decided to be sweet and do the laundry. He is unfortunately not used to checking pockets before washing clothes. On the last load (almost entirely my daughter's new school clothes) we were dismayed to find that a red and a green crayon had been dried along with the clothes. We had not only heavy crayon spots, but also a thin layer of crayon on almost every item.
I came to this web site, read suggestions and then tried an idea of my own. IT WORKED LIKE MAGIC! I put each item in a large bowl and poured on Krud Kutter. This is a general purpose cleaner that I buy in the paint department at Home Depot. I put on enough to saturate the items and sort of swish it around. If there was a heavy spot of crayon, I scratched it with my nail. Every item came completely clean with no fading or bleaching of the items. I then rinsed the clothes in clean water and washed them again normally-in cold water. I am so thrilled and surprised with the results that I had to share! Even the rings on my fingers look like new. Also, I wiped down the inside of the drier with Krud Kutter and it looks like new. I hope that this helps someone else who is in a similar messy situation. (08/23/2005)
By Rebecca Breyer
90-95% of the crayon came out with one wash using the 20 mule Team BORAX - it is a laundry booster found in most laundry sections I guess (that's where I found it). BEWARE: it is hard on the clothing though - 3 items were damaged beyond fixing - it seemed to eat through some of the fabric that it sat on directly or something. If there was a worn place in your fabric before all this happened, it will be a hole when you get done. I used about a cup on a cold medium sized load, washed them a second time in my infant care fabric (since the crayon was in with my two year old's clothes.) I also pretreated a lot of the spots with oxyclean stain remover, and I also heard oxyclean worked well - they also have a liquid form. (09/01/2005)
By chezabou
OH MY GOODNESS! The toothpaste idea was absolutely perfect. I did not think that the dried stains would come off with simple toothpaste. I have used toothpaste to clean before, but never in a million years would have thought that it would work. I got all of the stains out of my entire load. It took me a while to get done because I had so much of it everywhere. I sat each item in a sink of warm water and applied the toothpaste with a toothbrush and scrubbed. Good Luck. (10/02/2005)
By LWilliams
Wow! The internet is awesome! I discovered an entire load of my NEW WINTER SWEATERS ruined with dark red crayon in the dryer! I was almost sick to my stomach when I thought I might have to throw them away! Logged on, did a search, found this site and I went out and bought 20-mule team borax detergent. ONE WASHING took out about 98% of the dried on crayon! Did one more wash to get the rest out! I'm SO THANKFUL for everyone on this site for their help! THANK YOU! (12/04/2005)
By 3doxiemom
I used WD-40 on a pair of cream colored jeans to get black crayon off the crayon is still there and the WD-40 left orange spots. What went wrong? (02/14/2006)
By Tasha
I came to this site to seek help in removing yellow crayon out of my son's white uniform. Thank you all for the great tips. Some of you have remnants of crayon in your dryer and need help there... use regular strength baby wipes! Don't try cheap store brand, buy the good name brand wipes. They also take ink and food stains off furniture and some markings on walls. I dread to think what is in these things that I'm using to wipe my child's rear, but they sure work. Good luck. (03/16/2006)
By Ellie
You guys will love my husband for this. I had melted crayons all over my white shirt, my son cords, my daughter tights, skirt, her yarned sweater, and white shirt the color was florescent orange and it sat in my laundry basket for a week until i could go online and look up a solvent, and then my husband suggested ORANGE FAST the hand cleaner so I tried it with a little nail brush and it removed all of the caked on crayon. It did take some scrubbing but all of it came out... It also took some of the old stains out of my daughters school jacket it worked on red marker and the dirt that is always caked on the sleeves it also works on grass stains. I tried it on all of my stains so I could write all of you to tell you it does not do so good on chocolate stains, but hey, you can't have everything. (03/26/2006)
By Chashawna Andrade
For the dryer itself, I started with toothpaste then Comet. But I had the best results with Soft Scrub. (04/18/2006)
By
Day before yesterday, I washed and dried a dark blue or black crayon in a load of clothes. Everything seemed to be ruined. I called my mom and her friends at work and they directed me here to this page. Triumphantly, I want to let you guys out there know that I have conquered the washed then dried crayon stains left on an entire load of my 3 years olds clothes!
I used two cups of Purex Detergent and 1/2 cup of Borax Laundry Booster. Nearly all of it came out. I washed it one more time with one cup of Purex and another 1/2 cup of Borax and all of the stains were removed. Both loads were washed in HOT water and rinsed in Cold.
Thank You! (04/21/2006)
By Sydney's Mommy Steffannie
A full round of restaurant crayons found its way into a load of my husband's uniforms and knit shirts. We scraped off what we could. Each stain was scrubbed with the Shout scrubber before adding the item to the wash. I used HOT water and the wash cycle for 30 minutes. One cup of baking soda, 1/2 cup of dawn ultra dishwashing liquid and the shout gel removed every spot. I use Dawn (2TBS, low setting, HOT water) to get greasy stains out of my child's knit shirts. After reading about spots and clothes tearing up I was willing to try it for the crayon stains first. (04/22/2006)
By Bubba's wife
I had no idea that my friend had talked one of my kids in to taking their crayolas from a restaurant. I found one crayon, but didn't realize there were two more to melt all over. Wahoo! The OxyClean worked. I had a whole large load of jeans that had orange and red crayon melted all over it. I soaked the load in hot water & OxyClean (in my washer) for 3 hours... sure enough it worked! (04/22/2006)
By
I have just experienced the joy of discovering melted crayon all over my dried clothes! The tips worked -- thanks! Here's another tip to erase those crayon stains from the dryer -- wipe with a damp Mr Clean Magic Eraser sponge. It took the stains right out! This sponge also works well on crayon and dirty fingerprint stains on the wall! (04/24/2006)
By Amy
Just a warning for all of you using OxyClean products. DON'T wash anything that has been washed in even the tiniest amount of chlorine bleach. Your clothes will come out in shreds! (04/26/2006)
By Melba
I had a full load of laundry that a bright pink crayon went into. I came over to this site to read the tips of crayon removal. When I read most of these I said to myself this is way to much work for me. Who has that kind of time. So then I went over to crank my hot water heater up to the max, threw the whole load of damaged clothing into the washer and tripled the amount of laundry detergent. I also used bleach because the load was all whites. I then set the washer at the hot setting and washed the clothing as usual. I had to do the rinse cycle a couple of times, But sure enough everything came off. (05/01/2006)
By Jackie
I had a red and green crayon melt in the front seat of my car. I tried WD40 and then dawn to remove the grease. It got all of the melted crayon off but still left stains. I tried rubbing alcohol with cotton balls and it completely removed all of the red crayon without damaging the fabric but left the green. Then I tried toothpaste on the green and it did get most of it out. There is so little left now that you barely notice it. Hope this helps! (05/12/2006)
By Debbie Maddox
I used mr. clean magic eraser and it took fresh crayon stains out of my white dress shirts, maybe it would work for you (06/11/2006)
By Alyssa
Soak in hot water with 2 scoops oxyclean, about 2 cups white vinegar and 1cup rubbing alcohol. Let soak until water turns cold. Refill with hot water and wash in regular cycle. For spots: soak in vinegar, hot water and dawn dish soap until water cools. It should come off with a little pressure and a cleaning toothbrush. (06/14/2006)
By rlwarewolf
I pretreated a variety of clothes with Shout, until I emptied that bottle, then I used some Windex Multi Task. All but one item came completely clean after washing in extra hot water. I used double the detergent, (Purex with bleach) and I started the wash cycle over just before it started the rinse cycle. It was probably in the hot water for a good 20 minutes. All that other stuff just seemed like too much work. If you try this and it doesn't work, then you can try the other ideas. (07/30/2006)
By Tonja
Hairspray works like a charm. Spray area, rub gently, put a drop of dishwashing detergent on the area, rub gently, rinse with cold water. If there is any residue, repeat the process. It works. (07/31/2006)
By lesley
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