How to Remove Crayon Marks

In this article we will go over how to remove crayon marks. A box of crayons, a simple stationery item, can turn into your worst nightmare, especially if you have kids at home. The joy of discovering how to use crayons makes kids test the colors on every surface they come across – walls, boards, clothes and just everything else! Do you get angry about seeing crayon marks all over your home? Well, you are like millions of other parents on this globe.

However, we present to you some easy tips in the following article to get rid of crayon marks on any surface. This should definitely make you smile, as you don’t need to have any apprehensions while enjoying with your kids. Take that crayon, draw and color with your kid anywhere you want, and evoke the child within you, for such moments are precious. Take out all stress from your mind about the stains these crayons would leave behind, thanks to these simple tips.

Using baking soda

Baking soda has to be your go-to ingredient for all cleaning-related requirements.

• Soak a clean rag in warm water.
• Dip this rag in a bowl containing some baking soda.
• Scrub the damp, baking soda-filled rag on the crayon marks.
• Keep scrubbing for about 10 minutes or more depending on the size of the marks.
• The crayon marks start to disappear from the surface gradually.
• After scrubbing about 2 or 3 times (10 minutes each time), please remember to replace the colored warm water with a bowl of fresh warm water.

Using toothpaste

• Apply a generous amount of non-gel toothpaste on the crayon marks. Add a few drops of warm water to the marks.
• Use a high-quality scrub brush to scrub the stains nicely for about 10 minutes.
• The crayon marks will start to come off gradually now.
• Keep repeating the process and check after every 10 minutes to see if the crayon marks have disappeared completely.

Removing crayon marks from clothes and fabric upholstery

Getting rid of crayon marks from clothes, especially white clothes, may be a challenging process; however, if you pretreat the stains properly, and follow the right steps as the ones mentioned here, you can get back sparkling white clothes within one wash.

• Spray WD-40 directly on the crayon marks on the garment. Spray some on the back side of the stains as well. Instead of WD-40, you can also dab the front & back portions of the crayon marks with a little oil, butter, or mayonnaise.
• Let the WD-40 or oil soak in the garment for at least 15 to 30 minutes. The chemicals in these substances will help break down the stains well.
• After 30 minutes, scrape off any dried crayon marks from the garment using the blunt edge of a knife.
• Pour some liquid detergent or dish soap on the pretreated crayon marks, and rub the detergent well with your fingers or a soft-bristled toothbrush.
• Let the detergent work on the stains for about 15 minutes, before you proceed to wash the garment as per its normal wash cycle.
• The crayon marks would have mostly gone from the garment when you follow these steps. These work perfectly well to get rid of crayon marks from fabric upholstery as well. However, if some stains are found on the garment, soak the stained garment in a solution of warm water and oxygen-containing bleach.
• Let the garment soak in this bleach solution for a few hours, or throughout the night, depending on the extent of stains still found on the garment.
• Wash normally to notice that all crayon marks have disappeared!

Removing crayon marks from leather upholstery

When using chemical or bleach-based cleaning agents on leather upholstery, you should be careful as these chemicals can do more harm than good to the material. The best way to clean crayon strains from leather upholstery is the following:

• Make a paste containing equal amounts of lemon juice and cream of tartar.
• Apply this paste directly on the crayon marks on the leather upholstery.
• Let the paste settle in the leather material for about 10 to 15 minutes. This paste emanates a very strong smell.
• After 10 minutes, you will notice that the crayon marks start lifting off the leather material.
• Use a scrub brush or a toothbrush to gently rub the paste well on the stains to get rid of them completely.

Removing crayon marks from furniture

Kids love to scribble with pencils and crayons on chairs, tables and other furniture pieces that are easily accessible to them. This is how you can get rid of crayon marks in this case:

• Pour a generous amount of wine vinegar directly over the crayon marks on the furniture pieces.
• Wait for about 10 minutes, and then use a clean rag to blot the stains. Don’t scrub or rub the stains. Blotting helps the wax in the crayons to break down.
• Use a scrub brush or toothbrush to gently wipe away the stains, and your furniture is as good as new!

Removing crayon marks from walls

• Apply some full-fat mayonnaise on a clean, white cloth.
• Rub the crayon marks on the walls with this cloth for about 10 minutes.
• Dip a clean cloth in water, and rinse the mayonnaise-filled stain marks thoroughly.
• You will notice that the crayon marks have lifted from the walls. If some marks remain, you can repeat the process of applying mayo and rinsing until all stains have been removed completely.

Removing crayon marks from the dryer drum

In all the steps mentioned above, the last step to is wash the garments as per their usual wash cycle. When you keep washing stained clothes in the washing machine, traces of crayon marks are sure to spread to the dryer drum as well. If this is not cleaned properly, the crayon marks from here may spread to all the other garments you put inside the drum for washing. How do you get rid of crayon marks in the dryer drum? These are the steps for the same:

• Soak a soft & clean rag in warm water and wipe the insides of the dryer drum completely. This will ensure that all oily or waxy residues of crayons are removed.
• Put some old clothes and towels inside the dryer, and allow them to get heated at a high temperature. If there are any oily residues in the drum, they will get transferred to these old clothes in this process, and your dryer is clean!