How to remove crayon stains, including a crayon through the dryer

How to remove crayon stains

1. 1

   Scrape off the crayon

   Lift crayon off the fabric with a dull knife or spoon.

   Why: Removing the wax mechanically leaves less to dissolve.

2. 2

   Work in dish soap

   Apply liquid dish soap, work it into the stain and leave it a few minutes. Then rub the fabric against itself under warm running water.

   Why: Dish soap emulsifies the wax binder and loosens the pigment. This is the crayon maker's own fabric method.

3. 3

   Wash hot with oxygen bleach

   Machine wash on a heavy-soil setting in the hottest water the care label allows, adding an oxygen bleach.

   Why: Hot water softens the wax so detergent can carry it off, and bleach handles the pigment.

4. 4

   Treat leftover color

   If color remains, launder with chlorine bleach if safe for the fabric, or soak in an enzyme product or oxygen bleach in the hottest safe water, then launder again.

   Why: Once the wax is gone, any tint left is pigment.

5. 5

   Air-dry and check

   Air-dry and check before using the dryer, and repeat if needed.

   Why: Another dryer cycle would re-melt any wax and spread the color.

Why crayon is wax plus color

A crayon is a stick of wax, usually paraffin, mixed with color pigments. Like candle wax, the wax is oil-soluble, won't dissolve in water and melts with heat. That puts crayon with the wax and resin stains, and the Kentucky extension guide treats it as a combination stain: get the wax out first, then deal with the pigment.

That's why a crayon through the dryer is such a mess. The heat melts it and spreads waxy color across the whole load and onto the drum. The fix is the same chemistry at a bigger scale: hot water and soap to remove the wax, then bleach for what color remains.

A crayon went through the dryer

Don't run anything else through the dryer until it's clean. Rewash the affected load in hot water with laundry soap and 1 cup of baking soda, the American Cleaning Institute and Texas A&M whole-load method. If color remains, launder with chlorine bleach if safe for the fabric, or use an enzyme or oxygen bleach soak.

For the drum, unplug the dryer, let it cool and wipe out what you can with paper towels. The crayon maker then suggests a melamine-foam eraser used per its directions, followed by a cycle with clean, dry rags to pick up any residue. Check the rags before drying clothes again.

Crayon on every surface

The method changes with the surface: fabrics can soak, carpets and mattresses can't. Pick yours for the full steps.

By situation

Dried crayon marks

Crayon is already dry wax, so the method doesn't change: scrape, dish soap, then a hot wash with oxygen bleach.

Just a few spots

You can also treat crayon like candle wax: sandwich the spot between paper towels and press with a warm iron to melt the wax into the paper, or dampen it and rub with bar soap before washing.

Whites versus colors

On whites, chlorine bleach clears leftover pigment if the label allows. On colors, use oxygen bleach or an enzyme soak.

Crayon on carpet

Scrape, then follow with a dry-cleaning solvent on a cloth and a dilute dish-detergent solution, the Carpet and Rug Institute's order. See crayon on carpet.

Silk, wool and dry-clean-only items

Scrape gently and take them to a cleaner. Avoid ironing heat on heat-sensitive synthetics.

What not to do

• Don't run a crayon-stained load through the dryer again before checking. Heat re-melts the wax and spreads the color.
• Don't use the dryer until the drum is clean. Wax left on the drum transfers to the next load.
• Don't pour solvent onto carpet. It can damage the carpet backing. Apply it with a cloth.

Other methods that work

Iron and paper towels

Melts the wax into absorbent paper, the same as the candle wax method. Move to clean paper as it picks up color.

Caution: Pigment can spread; use plenty of clean towels.

Petroleum-based lubricant spray

A popular tip, since petroleum solvents dissolve wax. No cited stain guide recommends it, so it's traditional, with weak evidence.

Caution: It adds an oil stain that needs detergent, and it's flammable.

Stain still there?

A greasy, colored ring remains

Wax is still in the fibers. Work in more dish soap, rub under warm water and rewash hot.

The whole load has faint colored spots

Rewash with laundry soap and a cup of baking soda in hot water, then use chlorine bleach on whites or an oxygen bleach soak on colors.

Safety

• Unplug the dryer and let it cool before cleaning the drum.
• Ventilate when using solvents, and let them evaporate before washing or heating.

Never mix cleaning products; see chemicals you must never combine.

Questions

Other wax, gum and resin

• Gum stains
• Tar stains
• Tree sap stains
• Wax stains