Melted Crayons in Wash!

Updated on August 25, 2008
A.A. asks from South River, NJ
26 answers

Okay, I accidently washed a load of laundry and didn't think to look inside my son's bathing suit pocket. Unfortunatley there were blue and green crayons in his pocket and now our family clothes are covered in melted blue and green crayon. Does anyone know the best way to get this out? Also our dryer is now lined with melted blue and green crayon. Fun times.

16 moms found this helpful

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So What Happened?

Thanks everyone for your responses, I really appreciate it! I ended up using the following mixture and it removed 90% of the stains.
2 max amounts of laundry detergent
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup oxyclean
1/2 cup lestoil
1 cup shout

I have to admit, however, that the lestoil was stinky. I also tried cleaning my dryer with magic eraser, soft scrub, lestoil... it's still green. But the crayon stains in the dryer aren't making their way onto my clean laundry. I didn't use the WD-40 because I was afraid of using a flammable liquid in my dryer - although I do think that was what the makers of Crayola recommend.

Thanks again!

Thanks again everyone!

Featured Answers

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N.

answers from Minneapolis on

I've had this problem too. I carefully used some WD-40 and then wiped the area well with soap and water to remove any residue. When my daughter left a crayon on my leather car seats I discovered Amodex which worked great and removed the crayon without ruining the leather!! It is just a heavy duty soap. It gets tough stains like ink out well too. I got it online or at the Paradise pen store at mall of America. I think they now have it at Office Max & Bed Bath & Beyond since their website says that.
http://www.amodexink.com/

My husband always has ink stains on his shirts/coats so I keep it on hand to remove them.

Both Oprah & Martha Stuart like this stuff. ;)

2 moms found this helpful
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S.N.

answers from Decatur on

PLEASE be careful mixing chemicals all. I teach companies how to deal with Hazardous Material Incidents and trust me...household chemicals can be among the most dangerous combination. Know if there is going to be a reaction before mixing them.

1 mom found this helpful
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C.B.

answers from Rochester on

The products that I use from Melaleuca get crayons and marker off walls and tiles - they may get crayon off clothes as well....what a mess, eh??!!! The company I get these from also provides us a way to be able make money from home - if you like the products - you tell others.....the company pays you to do that.........what a concept!!

1 mom found this helpful

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L.P.

answers from Kansas City on

I had a red crayon get ALL OVER a load of laundry and my dryer - found it as the clothes were coming out of the dryer and noticed everything was RED including the dryer. Sol-U-Mel from Melaleuca is what got all my clothes clean, and my dryer. No major scrubbing, and you can't even tell. It also took off the mystery blue color that was in my dryer from before!! I think I've recommended Sol-U-Mel at least a dozen times on this website - it just works for everything. My mom is a "preferred customer" so we get the products at discount if you are interested.

4 moms found this helpful
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K.W.

answers from Dallas on

Hi A.,
I had this happen to me a year ago and tried everything from magic eraser to 409. After hourse of hard scrubbing, nothing worked. Then I searched online and someone mentioned toothpaste. Believe it or not toothpaste worked like a charm with out hardly any scrubbing. I used a regular toothpaste (not a gel or color to it, just plain white). Try it you'll be surprised.
Have a bless day. K.

A little about me:
I'm a SAHM with 3 princess (3y, 6y & 9y). I also work from home and suggest anyone who wants to work from home or make additional money on the side of what they currently do to please contact me! I have a wonderful & handsome husband.

3 moms found this helpful
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C.F.

answers from Phoenix on

I know this is a way old request but I jus tread it. There are 2 products that will clean anything including wax out of carpet. Its goo gone and goof off. The goo gone will do the job on your washer and dryer. Try it if you'd like.
Good luck
C.

2 moms found this helpful
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D.M.

answers from Stationed Overseas on

Wow... you already have a ton of responses but I couldn't help but share mine. My friend found a bag of baby clothes that her daughter had out grown. She decided to wash them up and pass them on to me. (How sweet huh?)

Anyways... blue crayon all over everything... dryer clothes etc. She just found some sort of all purpose cleaner at the Commissary called Greased lightening. Well... long story short the white baby gap pants she gave me are sparking white... no blue at all. I was so impressed I picked some up too. Besides laundry they say you can use it all around your house. So far so good. :)

2 moms found this helpful
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S.R.

answers from Syracuse on

Yikes! I would be a little paniced if this happened to me! So I looked online and Googled your subject line and found this topic on a forum. Here is a link...http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf001203.tip.html. There seem to be several tips that have proven to work.

Good luck!
S.

2 moms found this helpful
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S.C.

answers from New York on

Try toothpaste, it really works!!!

1 mom found this helpful
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R.T.

answers from Dallas on

I guess I missed this one the first time around....
I've done this several times and I have a gas dryer.

The Magic Eraser really does work and would be my first choice. It takes some elbow grease, but it get off what your other method has not.
I've also used the toothpaste method. You use a paste and not gel toothpaste, coat all the spots, then run the dryer on high. It sort of dries out the toothpaste. Then you take a clean, damp cloth and clean off all the toothpaste and the crayon comes with it. It also leaves your dryer smelling like mint for a while after.

I was able to get the crayon off our clothes with a mixture of laundry detergent, borax and baking soda in the wash. I think it was a regular measure of detergent, a coup of borax and a half box of baking soda.

Good luck!

1 mom found this helpful
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M.P.

answers from New York on

This happened to me once so I looked online. I seem to remember using WD40 on my pants but I had to use it outside because of the smell. If you google laundry tips I think you'll find a solution. Good luck.

1 mom found this helpful
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L.J.

answers from Detroit on

Hi A., I am sorry this is such a late response - but I have the ultimate answer. After finding our clothes with purple crayon in the dryer I was sick. I googled "crayon in dryer" and came up with using wet dryer sheets along with a few wet hand towels. It worked almost 100%. I just took a wet dryer sheet and scrubbed the warm dryer. Presto! It was gone. I didn't use any harsh chemicals as I was afraid of fumes with our gas dryer. The clothes, I was able to salvage most of those with Oxi-clean spray. I always check pocket now, just takes one time with a mess like that!! Good luck, hope this helps you out in the future.
PS this method also works for gum left in pockets - found that out the hard way too ;)

1 mom found this helpful
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L.M.

answers from Austin on

This happened to me. The same day I accidently washed a pullup. (it was a banner laundry day). Anyway, I used plain white Colgate toothpaste and lots of elbow grease on the dryer. It totally got off the crayon in my dryer. It was much nicer to smell than cleaners. After I just put a few wet towels in and ran a dry cycle, and it was all cleaned off. I used WD40 for the clothes. Luckily, it was mostly old play clothes so I just worked on the better clothes and left the rest with a few spots.

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S.B.

answers from Kansas City on

I'm not sure about crayon, but a wet dryer sheet got gum out of my dryer. I just rubbed at it for 10 minutes or so. good luck!

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L.N.

answers from Houston on

I used finger nail polish remover in my dryer when my husband left a pen in his pocket. The pen was washed in the washing machine and then exploded in dryer.

L.

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J.R.

answers from Washington DC on

I know you've tried a lot...but I just read this. I did the same thing. I researched and found to use NON-acetone nail polish remover. I did-I kept it open, for a day or two-because I was still afraid of fumes. It worked great. Then I just ran a couple of loads of something that i wouldn't mind losing if there were remaining bits in the holes of the dryer. Hope it helps:)
J.

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T.P.

answers from Binghamton on

Mr. Clean magic erasers are wonderful for removing crayon out of washers and dryers take something to get the clumps out first then magic eraser to take the rest out it takes awhile but ive done it

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S.H.

answers from Albany on

I must have missed the original request but a Canadian company has a product called Winning Colours that is extremely effective at jobs like that. My daughter spilled dark fushia nail polish on a brand new beige rug and it took it out in seconds. It's enzyme based and safe although the odor isn't too pretty.

S.

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J.B.

answers from New York on

A. -
I have no clue but PLEASE share with the group once you do get an answer! I'd love to know in case it happens to me! Hope you can get it off - will ask my house cleaner Thursday!
Fran

C.O.

answers from Washington DC on

A.:

Hello! I feel your pain! I too forgot to check pockets! You're lucky! my son had a four-pack in his pocket which didn't come out in the wash (uh-oh!) and melted in the dryer.

My husband used toothpaste and soft scrub - it took A LOT of elbow grease, but my dryer looks brand new!

As for the clothes - I'm not sure we got all of the color out - but, for underwear and play shirts, I didn't bother trying to get out the color. Luckily, none of my husband's work clothes were in there. Mine were - I used Spray and Wash Resolve MAX and HOT water. for the stuff I couldn't get out, I just tossed. urgh!

Take care!

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A.D.

answers from New York on

Hi A., This JUST happened to me last week!
I used WD-40 on the crayon stained items - both inside and outside. Then I used some dish detergent - both inside and outside. And I worked the dish detergent into the stained areas a little bit with my hands. Then I ran the stained clothing through the wash on HOT water cycle with regular detergent (we use Tide) and bleach, actually I ran them through about three cycles because the WD-40 smell was pretty strong.
All of the crayon stains came out of the clothes!!! I was thrilled. The worst part was the WD-40 smell but I think I may have used too much that's why the smell was so strong - try using a small amount at first.
GOOD LUCK!

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S.M.

answers from Detroit on

my aunt says to try brown paper bags and heat

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E.V.

answers from Roanoke on

I just saw your update...not the original post! Wanted to tell you that Magic Eraser was great on my front door w/crayon. I live in a trailer and who knows what the heck my door is made of, but NOTHING was working. Another thing that worked on my trailer-wallpapered walls was just a plain pink eraser! Good luck and have fun! You'll probably need to get the big pack on the magic eraser!

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L.S.

answers from San Francisco on

Try nail polish remover in your dryer and goo gone! Those works on pen. Good Luck!

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M.C.

answers from Houston on

I have a green dryer too. I was devestated when this happen to me too. It took me 5 wahses to get most of it off with hot water and baking soda. Now for the dryer that was totally green like the incredible hulk color. I used shout it out and 409 spray to get the green out it took lots of scrubbing and wiping. The smell will kill you so cover your nose. Good luck. It did work.

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S.B.

answers from New York on

SOL-U-MEL!!!! It will work on getting the crayons off the inside of the dryer. Since the clothes were dried and the crayons are set in you will probrably have to do a couple of treatments with pre-spot and sol-u-mel to get it out. Spray it on, let it dry and repeat the process 2 or 3 times before washing it again. Please e-mail me to find out where you can purchase this wonderful product.

Sue

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