Knowing how to remove crayon from clothes that went through the dryer can save you from a lot of frustration and wasted clothes. Sometimes it’s the kids, and sometimes it’s the adults. Whatever the situation may be, it can be tricky because crayons can color clothes quickly if melted. Discover how to remove crayon from clothes easily and with little frustration.
How to Get Crayon Out of Clothes? How do you get crayons out of clothing?
- The Freeze and Iron Method
There are several methods of getting melted crayon or wax from clothes. Since waxy substances naturally resist the mild application of soap and water, there are extra steps that we have to take to ensure that the stain is removed from the fabric. If you are dealing with a relatively small crayon melt on an even smaller spot, we recommend that you try freezing the wax first.
After freezing, get any scraping tool and try to remove as much of the crayon as possible from the fabric. It should only take about five minutes for the wax to fully harden in the freezer. If you are dealing with multiple bad stains on different spots of the clothing, then you have to freeze the fabric longer. Place the fabric in a zip lock bag, wait a few minutes, and scrape off the crayons.
After removing most of the crayons from the fabric, you will notice that there are still left-overs that are stuck deep in the fibers of the clothing. This is the right time to use the hot method of removing wax. Get a regular iron and set it to warm and allow the metal to heat up for a few minutes. Please don’t allow the metal to produce any steam because then it would be too hot to use.
Place a thick paper towel over the stain that you want to remove. Iron over the paper towel to simultaneously melt the wax and transfer it to the layer above. Carefully remove the paper towel to check if the transfer occurred.
If there are still some leftover crayons, shift the paper towel, and use other portions and repeat the ironing. You can also use additional sheets if you want the removal to be quick and painless. If you are not careful, the melted wax from the previous sheet may begin to spread to other parts of the fabric, and this isn’t something that we want.
- The Washing Method
If you want to wash your clothes instead, you can do that, too. The first step is to use a pre-wash, spot-cleaning, anti-stain solution. Apply the anti-stain gel on the waxy area and leave for a few minutes.
Check the instructions on the back of the package for the exact duration needed to make the anti-stain formula work. Some manufacturers will also instruct that you blot or remove most of the moisture from the stain before treating it with an anti-stain formula. If this is the case, then you need to employ the previous method first to get rid of most of the wax.
After pre-treating with an anti-stain remover, place the clothing in the washing machine and add enough detergent for one washing load. Add one cup of baking soda to the washing machine for good measure. The reason for this is we need something safe but abrasive to break up the wax stuck in the fibers of the clothing. The addition of baking soda will make stain removal easier.
Set the washing machine to hot. We need the heat from the water to melt and loosen the crayon that has stuck deeply into the smallest fibers of the clothing. If you have delicate fabric on your hands, your only other choice would be to bring your clothes to the dry cleaners. They would know how to get rid of most stains, and crayon stains are exceedingly common, anyway.
After washing, examine the clothing to see if there are any stains left. If you see any stains on the fabric, you can use either bleach or color-safe bleach to remove the faint traces. This should be enough to deal with the most melted crayon stains.
The ideal duration for soaking tougher stains is thirty minutes. Keep this in mind when spot-cleaning stained clothes as this may spell the difference between a single successful wash and multiple washes. The anti-stain gel needs sufficient time to break down the wax and the pigments before washing.
- Cleaning with WD40
Yet another method for removing wax is using WD40 and dish soap. Try this method if you don’t want the ironing method. Lay the fabric on a safe working space and spray generously with WD40.
Allow the WD40 to soak for just ten minutes. Drop dish detergent on the area and rub directly into the stains. You should be able to see the wax rubbing off as the WD40 breaks down the wax. When the stain is virtually gone, you can wash the fabric as usual without any additional steps. However, if the fabric is heavily stained, you may want to add a cup of baking soda for good measure.
How Does Baking Soda Remove Crayon from Clothes?
Removing crayon from clothing can be done with baking soda. Baking soda is a universal cleaning agent, and it has been known to remove a variety of stains from silver tarnish to molds and mildew. It works so well, even though it is one of the gentlest cleaning agents around. If you want to try spot-cleaning clothes with melted wax, you can try this method.
Create a baking soda paste by combining 3 tbsp of baking soda with a teaspoon of water. Adjust the water if necessary, until you get a consistently-formed paste. Apply this paste directly on the stained area and allow the solution to work on the stain for a few minutes. Gently scrub the area and see how much crayon has been removed from the fabric.
Repeat the process as necessary until the stain has been completely removed.
