Effortless ways to remove crayon stains left by the grandkids

The holidays are over and the grandkids have gone home, but what about those pesky crayon stains?

If your grandkids are crafty, you’ll know all too well just how messy crayons can be.

Removing crayon stains from clothing, furniture and the walls doesn’t have to be a hard task.

Here are some simple tips on how to get the stains out.

Clothing

Crayola has come up with a simple method for removing its crayon stains from clothing. All you’ll need is dish washing liquid, warm water, a stain remover such as OxiClean or NapiSan and your washing machine.

Start by scraping as much of the crayon off as possible. Then, work dish washing liquid into the stain and let it stand for a few minutes. Rinse the clothing under warm water and then put it in the washing machine.

Using the heaviest stain setting possible, wash the clothing in warm water with a stain remover such as OxiClean or NapiSan. You should air dry the clothing, and repeat the washing process if the stain is still visible. Apparently, vinegar is also a good way of removing crayon stains from clothing. All you have to do is grab an old toothbrush, soak it in vinegar and scrub the stains before you wash the clothing.

Furniture

WD-40 has many uses, and removing crayon from furniture is one of them. Spray the WD-40 on the stains and wipe it off with a clean cloth or rag.

If you’ve got crayon stains on your wooden table, try lemon essential oil. Use your finger or a rag to rub the lemon oil on the stain and within seconds the crayon will be gone.

What about crayon stains on your microfibre couch? A little bit of rubbing alcohol will do the trick. Just spray some of rubbing alcohol on the stain, scrub it with a brush, allow it to dry and brush it with a new scrubbing brush to make the microfibre soft again.

Walls

From time to time kids like to switch from their colouring-in book to your clean, mark-free walls. Instead of panicking and despairing about what products you’ll need to buy to remove the stains, take a look in your cupboard. Chances are you’ll find what you need to get your walls looking as good as new.

Did you know toothpaste can be used to remove the crayon from your walls? Squirt some toothpaste on the wall and scrub the stain with a scrubbing brush. Rinse the wall with water — and the stain will be gone!

Baking soda works just as well. Just use a damp rag, dip it in the baking soda and scrub the stain lightly. Interestingly enough, mayonnaise also works. Rub mayonnaise on the stain, let it soak for a few minutes and wipe it off with a damp cloth.

Why not try the most obvious solution? Just grab a pencil eraser and eraser the stain until it’s gone. As with your furniture, WD-40 will also do the trick.

What about your carpet or windows?

For crayon stuck in your carpet, you can use a brown paper bag and an iron. Place the brown paper bag on top of the crayon and put the iron facedown on top. The heat from iron will draw the crayon wax from the carpet and it’ll stick to the bag.

WD-40 again works well on windows, but if you don’t have any laying around, try wiping down the window with dish washing liquid and warm water or vinegar and warm water.