Getting Out Melted Crayonby Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger 06 Apr 2007 04:09 PM This morning when I emptied the very old dryer in our new home, the clothes tumbled out in a rainbow of colors. Yup, apparently someONE had a pocket full of crayons that I missed in my sleep-deprived-just-moved-in-state. Our most-loved clothes were in that load, from my daughter's favorite shirt, to my husband's comfy pj pants, to my wear-everywhere jacket, to the first pair of brand new jeans I have had in six years. Everything was splashed in neon pink, light blue, light green and yellow, the colors of my two-year-old Molly's Cinderella coloring book set. The heat of the dryer melted and baked the crayons firmly into the clothes. This is another case for hanging laundry. Sigh. Nevertheless, we don't have a laundry line set up at the moment, so I did use the dryer; the very ancient dryer that operates on a flip switch instead of a dial. The ancient dryer that, although it did not completely dry the clothes in 45 minutes, still managed to wreck havoc with the crayons. My first instinct was to cry. My second instinct was to toss the clothes out or turn them into rags or rugs or maybe funky purses. My third instinct was the really frugal one--trying to save the lot and transform them back into wearable clothing. After all, those clothes cost money. Since all three of the jeans that I own were in that wash, we made a quick trip to the Goodwill where I picked up two pair of nearly New Eddie Bauer jeans for $5.99 each. Hopefully, they can be an addition to my wardrobe instead of a substitute for the others. So I did some research on the subject of getting out melted crayon in clothing and called some friends. The one solution that kept coming up was to rewash the clothes on hot water with one cup of Tide and one cup of Shout. So, I am trying that now--wish me lots of luck! If the clothes come out well, I will just go ahead and hang them on the branches and trees in the backyard. The dryer will have to be cleaned. It still looks like a bunch of Disney princesses exploded in there. So, I'll go now and run the dryer on its hottest setting to re-melt the stuck on crayons and then wipe it all down with a white cloth. Has anyone run into this situation before? Do you have any sure fire tips for getting out melted crayon? Please help! Related Articles: How To Frugally Fix a Laundry Mishap - Stains Frugal Laundry: Make Your Own "Detergent" Learn more about Mary Ann Romans  Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat. Relevantfrugal tags User Comments ajphebus (20) 06 Apr 2007 04:23 PMThis tips is for candle wax, but it might work for crayon. I've heard that if you iron the spot with a paper towel between the iron and the cloth, the wax will heat up and stick to the paper towel. I've done it for candle wax on carpet and it worked for me...  Andrea Hermitt (5512) 07 Apr 2007 04:36 AMI have only gotten crayons off of walls, by heating it with a hair dryer and using 409 and a mr clean eraser.  Mary Ann Romans (26886) 07 Apr 2007 05:18 AMI thought about using the iron trick, but with so much color everywhere, I figured it would take months. I am happy to report, though, that the recipe above in the article worked fantastically! There is no a trace of crayon on any of the clothes! Whoo hoo! Mary Ann Romans (26886) 08 Apr 2007 05:01 AMThanks! i was pretty excited to find that it worked. Of course, I still haven't gotten around to cleaning the dryer, so I had to hang the clothes on trees! dorenet55 (5) 25 Oct 2008 11:41 PMMy daughter left a box of crayons in our car, which melted down the plush fabric, backseat. I used mineral oil and it removed the dried melted crayons, without staining the car seats. She also had gotten dark red lipstick on her dress, and the mineral oil removed it also, without ruining her dress! Mary Ann Romans (26886) 26 Oct 2008 09:08 AMThat is wonderful. Thanks for the tip. I will try it the next time I can't launder an item! batavias (5) 22 Jun 2009 05:17 PMMy kids left red crayons in the car... my wife used Goo Gone and it came out with no problem.. u can pick this stuff up from walmart Community Tags frugal, laundry, melted crayon Discuss this article
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