Multiple crayons went through the washer and dryer (yes, I should have checked the pockets, but sometimes it just doesn't happen and this one I'm going to pay for all the way around). I'm resolved that the clothes are toast (now dust rags for sure) and it burns me up b/c there were several new pairs of shorts in there. But what about my dryer? It looks like a rainbow threw up in there. How do I get the residual crayon off the sides? Any suggestions would be appreciated!
So, I tried a little bit of everything. WD40 didn't work to well for me, so I moved to Goo-Gone and a Scotch Bright Brillo pad for the inside of the dryer. It came right off with a lot of elbow grease. Then I spot treated the clothes with the Goo-Gone (some were just so bad that I threw them away, which was just a terrible feeling). I let the clothes sit for 10 minutes or so and then poured boiling water over them (some advice from my dad, and it also works for wine and grape juice). That took out most of the crayons, but then I spot treated with blue Dawn dish washing liquid and let them sit overnight. I ran the load in the morning and 99% of the crayon spots came out. I was able to save about half the load; thank goodness it was darks. The lighter items, like a gray sweatshirt were just toast and got tossed.
Thanks for all the input. I will be double checking pockets from now on!
When this happened to me, I used a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser on the dryer, and it did work like Magic! I also used WD-40 on the clothes as per the Crayola website. Some of the stains came out really well...others frustrated me, so I threw them in a bag in the garage with the WD-40 still on them. A week later, I decided to wash out the WD-40 so I could use the clothes as rags, and after one run through the wash, the remaining stains came out!
Is this...by chance...a maytag dryer? (Sorry--couldn't resist.)
Try a Mr Clean magic Eraser--those things clean just about everything.
Buy two!
Been there, done that,, Be sure to cut off the parts of the clothes that have crayon on them before you use them as rags. Or when you wash the rags, they will melt the crayon and youll be back where you started. I think the WD40 works great. Also if you run the dryer empty for a couple minutes it will warm up and soften the crayon making it easier to remove.
Hey T.,
WD 40 and baby oil with both remove crayons from the clothing and the dryer. The baby oil is a little easier on your lungs (no fumes) when cleaning out your dryer.
i just did this two weeks ago.
For the inside of the dryer, Use white paste toothpaste on a little wet rag. I heated it up, i scrubbed my magic eraser to crumbs. But the tooth paste worked and was so easy. minty too!
WD40 in the dryer scares me, or on your clothes for that matter.
my crayon mess wasn't as huge, you might try scraping the cold dry wax off as much as you can with a knife, but then, run a super HOT load with Borax --20 mule team-- and your detergent, and i threw in a few old towels to maybe soak up some wax. My jeans look ok now, no streaks of crayon, so it might be worth a try.
makes you want to cry doesn't it! HTH
I've had this happen to me. We used nail polish remover on a cotton ball. Worked like a charm. Of course, after I was finished, I wiped the inside of the dryer down with a wet washcloth to remove any risidual nail polish remover.
Good luck!
All your clothes and the dryer will be fine!! I've had several loads of clothes get washed and dried with crayons. First go to the Crayola website. They tell you how to remove the crayon off of everything. For the clothes all I did was first spray all the spots with WD40 and let them soak for about 5 minutes and then used regular dish soap and started to rub with a wash cloth. Some of the spots came right off, some needed a little elbow grease but 100% of it came off of everything and I had a variety of colors and fabrics in those loads. I now triple check pockets!
my suggestion is to start the dryer, get it hot, and then wipe off the melted crayon. The clothes may not necessarily be toast. Let it cool and then try to break it off. That might work with jeans especially. Check www.askheloise.com for a more professional answer. Or try the crayola website. I bet they have tips.
I would scrape off the chunks, then use WD-40 on the marks. Then you have to use something else to take off the WD-40 greasy residue. I'm sure by now there is something better than WD-40, but when my kids were little, it was MAGIC! It really works great, with absolutely NOTHING left behind, and you don't have to scrub and scrub.
I heard a used dryer sheet works wonders! I would love to hear what worked, as I have a 4 yo and a 6 month old and one of them will probably do this!
Good luck!
R.
From ask.com:
For the dryer -- scrape off crayon with a credit card or spatula; use a blow dryer to heat remaining crayon; spray WD-40 on a clean cloth and wipe off the drum (WD-40 is flammable, do NOT spray directly into the dryer, only onto the cloth, and be careful around a gas dryer); follow up with a general household cleaner or dawn dish soap and warm water. Dry a batch of old rags to make sure all the crayon came off.
For the clothes -- spray WD-40 on both sides of the stain and let sit for 3 to 5 minutes; use dishwashing liquid and rub into the stain with a clean, soft cloth; repeat as necessary; apply a gel or spray stain remover (like Spray 'n Wash) and let sit for 3-5 minutes; wash with water as hot as the label allows.
WD40--It got black crayon off of my white couch, and it is what the Crayola website recommends.
When my darling youngest child was 2, she dumped an entire box of those chunky toddler crayons into the dryer with a dry load of whites and turned it on. I tried many different ways to get the crayon off, and the only surefire way I found was to sit there all day scraping it off the dryer drum with a butter knife. :(
Don't give up on the clothes though - wash them a few times. If the crayons are washable, you may be surprised at how much will come out. I did have to turn some of the clothes into rags, but some of them actually came clean!
I don't think so, but try rubbing alcohol.
I'd suggest "Goo-Gone" and a clean rag or two and some elbow grease. What a drag! Good luck!
Maybe you can try some Goo Gone on a rag and wipe the inside of the dryer with it. It says on the bottle that it removes crayon, but doesn't say in a dryer. If you are not familiar with this product it is a spray gel that removes sticky, gummy, greasy, gooey stuff of clothes and furniture. I have used it before and it does work! Good luck and with a lot of effort I'm sure you'll be able to save your dryer.
