Yes it is possible. I had this horrible moment yesterday. I pulled my son's light clothes out of the dryer, his white uniform polo shirts, khaki uniform pants, underwear, socks, his Taekwondo uniform, all of it was marked up with red crayon. Red crayon also marked up the whole inside of my dryer. After an initial freak out I decided it was time to clean up the mess. I used a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser to clean off the drum of the dryer because my experience has been there is very little Mr. Clean can't clean. All the red came off easy. Then I got online to see if anyone had advice about how to get the crayon off the clothes. What did I ever do before the internet? Sure enough I wasn't the only person who had ever had a kid sneak a crayon in the wash via pocket, and after scratching any ideas that seemed super tedious (scrapping all the crayon off by hand) or involved ingredients I didn't have (glo be gone) here is what I finally settled on.1) Put the clothes in the washer, and set the water to hot. I'm thinking as hot as you can get it to get the wax melting. If you are worried about your water getting hot enough consider adding a pot of boiling water. I didn't, but I like things to be easy.
2) Add your laundry detergent (I just used what I had on hand which was All Free and Clear), a 1/2 cup of vinegar, and 4-6 Tbs. of dish liquid (the stuff sitting on your counter that you would wash dishes by hand with).
3) Let the clothes soak for 10-15 minutes.
4) Let the wash run normal.
I followed the instructions but in the back of my mind I thought I was done for. I just knew all of the clothes were going to have to be replaced. I was a fool to doubt. When I pulled out the clothes almost all of the red was gone. Considering the mess I started with it was a miracle! Those pieces that were clean I just sent through my newly cleaned dryer. Their were a few pieces that still had a few traces of crayon on them. I threw those ones back into the washer and did the process again with them. Eureka! Everything was then clean. Thank you internet!!!
*This post is by far my most popular. It hasn't worked for everyone but at least three times a month I get an e-mail or a comment from someone saying it saved their bacon, so hopefully it will work for you. Since the original writing of this post I've had to do this three more times. I have four kids, am notoriously bad about checking pockets, and find that those crayons from restaurants have a way of sneaking home in pockets. So far it hasn't let me down.
You are a genius! I found myself in the same situation, and, through the magic of google, cam across this post. The other solutions I found all seemed very complicated, and many used products I would have to go buy. Your solution was perfect! Thank you! I ended up running everything through twice, because there were a few marks left after the first time, but everything looks great! (with the exception of 2 shirts, which still need a little work). Thank you, thank you, thank you! Now I don't have to sell my oldest child. :)
ReplyDeleteAHHHHHHHHHHH! You are a life saver! A blue crayon ended up in my dryer this afternoon and panic ensued! I also found your post through Google. Thank you, thank you, thank you!! :)
ReplyDeleteJust realized I washed and dried a whole load of my sons clothes and they ad green crayon all over them! I thought I would have to throw away all the clothes, then I came across your post! You are a life saver! All the other answers on getting it out were too time consuming! Your solution worked after one wash! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteYou. Are. Amazing.
ReplyDelete99% came out completely. Some pieces had to take two trips, but I never believed the clothes could be saved.
I can't thank you enough.
btw, our crayon was orange. :)
You are awesome! I was very distraught after I opened my dryer and found red crayon all over my sons clothes. My sister found this post and I tried it right away. Very easy to follow. Life saver!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jennifer
I just discovered yellow crayon all over all our whites, I will have to try this! Hoping it works, I will have one happy husband!
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of dishwasher liquid? Any kind?
ReplyDeleteOmg!! It's a miracle!! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI am so happy to have found this! I have a load of clothes that were washed and dried with a blue crayon...gonna try this as soon as my husband is finished cleaning the WD-40 out of the dryer.
ReplyDeleteNow, how do I get Goo Gone residue off my floor?? My husband left a 12 oz bottle on the counter while he was cleaning the dryer (despite my repeated warnings to stop leaving cleaners, etc. out), my 3 year old got it while I was at the store and sprayed it all over the tile floor...and the wood floor...and the carpet...and the furniture...and herself. Sigh! I couldn't even work up a good "I told you so!"
Our fiasco included a red crayon and a huge load of darks (thankful). I'm trying today, and feeling much more hopeful since reading the comments here! Thanks so much!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much!!I opened my dryer at 6 am today to find that all of the new clothes I bought my kids yesterday were covered in red crayon. I was so upset but this worked!
ReplyDeleteI followed the instructions given and washed the clothes several times and I had no luck getting the green crayon out of our clothes :-(
ReplyDeleteI thought you were crazy. I did exactly what you said and the stains didn't budge. BUT, because I was already late for work I just left the wet clothes sitting in my washer until I got home.
ReplyDeleteI trudged down the basement steps just knowing I had a long, long fight ahead of myself (WD-40, irons, stain removers, etc) and miraculously most of the stains were GONE! I treated the left-over stains with OxyClean Stain Remover and we'll see what happens. But ALL of the jeans came 100% clean and 90% of the shirts did too. The stains that were left were stubbornly clinging to the print-screened portions of t-shirts or the printed-on tags in the back. Thank you!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! I cannot Believe how well this worked. Took out every last spec!!!!
ReplyDeleteThank You soooo very much! I had put a load of wash in... all brand new clothes, cause I have recently lost alot of weight. I put my clothes in dryer not looking at them, as i was on phone with my mother. Next morning, when I saw all the clothing had red,blue & yellow crayon all over them. I was so upset. I was late for work so I put the clothes on hot wash,& went to work. When I got to work,I did a search on Google & I came across your post. When I got home, I immediately did what wrote to do...Your post saved my clothes!! I only had apple cider vinegar, but still worked! Again, THANK YOU SOOOO VERY MUCH!!!! :))
ReplyDeleteDid you have a front end loading washer and dryer? I want to try this with some clothes that have crayon all over them but I don't want to ruin my washer and dryer
ReplyDeleteWhat difference does that make? It's a washer and dryer with hot water.
DeleteIt matters because front loading washer take a special kind of detergent (he). If you put dish soap in it, it could possibly ruin the machine. I'm reading all of these reviews because I am wondering the same thing. If anyone knows or has done it in their front loading machine, please let us know.
DeleteI am in the process at the moment...hope it works. Red crayon got on my fave khakis and both my boys uniform pants. Let you know how it turns out.
ReplyDeleteAwesome! Just used this on a load of my daughter's clothes (+ hubbie's white dress shirt!) and almost every item came out free of the red crayon that caused the damage... Not gonna worry about the 3 shirts that hung onto a few spots.
ReplyDeleteOurs was blue on a whole load of light uniforms for 5 of my kids. 5 soaks and washes later.....they only came 80% clean. Maybe it is because I have a high efficiency top loader?
ReplyDeleteYes, those with high efficiency washers- you'll need to soak the clothes in a bucket or your kitchen sink, then run them through on the least efficient settings you have. It may take several soaks/washes but eventually you'll get it out.
DeleteThank you so much! Yet again I found a crayon in the laundry, I was about to scream when I came across your post! I'll be trying this tonight!
ReplyDeleteWhat type of vingar did you use?
ReplyDeleteOh My Gosh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My twin sons and husband came back from a weekend away. I washed all their clothes in one huge load only to discover the 3 free crayons you get at a restaurant was now washed and dried all over the huge load of clothes. I threw the clothes in a garbage bin then thought I would have a wee peek to see if there was a miracle out there that could possibly save the clothes. I found quite a few but none I wanted to try; I have no interested in freezing an entire load of clothes, nor do I want to boil them, scraping seemed like a complete waste of time... and then there was you! I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It actually worked! First try! I don't know how you came up with such a recipe, but you are awesome! Thanks oodles!!!!!!!!!! I will never fear the crayon again!
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ReplyDeleteWe just tried it and it worked like a charm!!! Thanks!!!
ReplyDeleteI just had to say thank you, thank you, thank you for posting this! Last night I pulled a huge load of my kids' clothes out of the drying only to discover that a purple crayon had been in someone's pocket. Yours was one of the first things that came up on a google search, and by far the easiest solution! I used 1 cup of vinegar, but only because I forgot the directions between the computer and the washing machine. I have a front-loading washer, so I wasn't sure how to leave the things to soak, but it has an autosoak cycle, so I just put it on that. Everything soaked for about 1 hr, and it all came out perfectly! No more purple AT ALL!!! I'm now trying this method out on my mother-in-law's Christmas tablecloth, which has two large spots of melted red candle wax. Hopefully it will work for that, as well! I'm going to post about this on my blog, but I will credit you with a link. Thanks for sharing your solution!
ReplyDeleteI never do these comments but I tried this when green crayon was found covering my sons clothes and it REALLY did work! Thanks for this idea and if you read it and have doubts like I did, try it anyway!
ReplyDeleteThis just saved my relationship. My boyfriend is a server and he left a kids orange crayon in his white apron and I washed a load of whites and it was not pretty. But i did this method and my clothes look brand new. Thank you so much.
ReplyDeleteIt worked it worked it worked!!! A green crayon somehow made it's way into the washer and dryer with my kids' clothes. I did what you said using dawn dishwashing soap and a little more than half a cup of distilled vinegar. I let them soak a good hour. Voila! They came out sans green! There were two very faint spots left on a pair of pants that honestly would go unnoticed by anyone else. But being the perfectionist I am, I repeated the process again. Thank you so much for posting this! You are a budget saver!!!!
ReplyDeleteIt worked like a charm!! Oh I'm so relieved!! Just follow the steps and it will work!! I freaked out when 5 pairs of my boys brand new jeans and pants were covered in red and orange crayon. You saved our clothes and my sanity!! Thank you!!
ReplyDeleteIm trying it right now i have a load of whites with dots of almost every color crayons theres even uniform shirts and my most favorite favorite shirt crossing fingers ill update
ReplyDeleteI am SO glad that Google led me to your blog. My husband washed a huge load of our clothes that a red crayon wandered into. I was so upset! We're talking jeans, sweatshirts, dress pants, you name it. This worked amazingly! There were 2 items that I'm doing again, but everything else was red crayon free. Thank you, thank you!
ReplyDeleteBule crayon all over a load of my own clothes!! wanted to die! but thanks to you, i'll live!! smart lady you are!
ReplyDeleteI washed some clothes for my daughter since her washer broke. Little did I know that my grandson decided to put crayons in some socks to "keep them nice!". So I kindly washed her clothes and she took them home to dry them...SURPRISE!! All sorts of colors all over the clothes. I went online to see what we could do. This remedy is TOTALLY genius. Thanks so much!!!
ReplyDeleteAm trying this now - my son had a red crayon in his jean pocket and when the clothes came out of dryer they were covered in red. Hopefully this will work. We have a new washer that is a "HE" washer. I don't like it because it never gets the clothes clean - never enough water, so hopefully this will work.
ReplyDeleteIn the process of doing this right now, went to take a load out of the dryer only to discover a blue crayon All over my kids clothes! I was totally ready to just toss the whole load out into the trash bin, but thought I'd google first to see if anything can be done...hopefully this works. By most of the comments of those who have tried it, It seems as it just might save me from spending money I don't have to replace my kids clothes...here's to hoping!
ReplyDeleteAlmost died 10 minutes ago when I went to get the clothes washed by my husband (who does not check pockets) out of the dryer only to find several colors of crayons on everything...after my initial meltdown I found this post...I am definitely trying this ASAP!!
ReplyDeleteI found this after my kids clothes came out the dryer with blue crayons over everything. Well I gave this recipe a try and it worked I saved almost everything except 1 pair of pants and leotard. Made me so happy!! Thank you for this amazing recipe!
ReplyDeleteCan anyone please advise...did you use dishWASHING liquid (hand soap), or dishWASHER liquid (for the machine)? I need to try this tonight after a purple crayon I'd never seen in my life magically appeared in the dryer and did its thing. Thanks!
ReplyDelete...and what brand? I've heard it's bad news to put dishwasher liquid in the washing machine but I'm not sure why.
DeleteI used dishwashing soap, sorry I will correct that. Dawn the stuff on the counter.
DeleteFantastic! Thank you!
DeleteWow!! This worked fabulously! You're suggestion has saved my daughter's favorite blankets from the blue crayon monster. THANK YOU!! The offending bib needs a second go-around, but that is so little in comparison to a whole load!
ReplyDeleteThank u so much I thought I was going to have to fo buy my daughter a whole new wardrobe thank goodness. This really works
ReplyDeleteJust tried this, and sadly it did not work. My son had a brown crayon in one of his pockets.
ReplyDelete:( Sorry it didn't work for you. I wonder if it has anything to do with the color of crayon, if some colors are harder than others to get out. I did have to wash some of the clothes a second time to get it out of everything, and I used super hot water. Maybe there is something else out that will work. I have heard of people scraping it off or using glue be gone. Frustrating. Other things I've had to deal with in my laundry that I haven't had nearly such success with...pen (thank you doctor hubby), gum (still have a few blue spots on my of my hubby shirts, a pad. It didn't stain anything but fluff everywhere was just gross!!!
DeleteJust a quick reply on pen...spray heavily with pump hairspray and wash as usual. Most ink pen marks will come out and ink blotches will come out after two washings.
DeleteI have an HE top loader where I put the laundry soap in a little tray that pulls out. Will I put the laundry soap in the tray as normal and then put the dishwashing soap and vinegar directly in the washer with the clothes..not in the little tray? Thank you so much can't wait to try and see if this works.
ReplyDeleteHonestly I'm not sure. I've never tried in a HE washer but if it were me I'd just throw it directly in the washer. Hope it works.
Deletei hope it work or
ReplyDeleteAfter the reviews I am trying it right now at midnight... yep midnight! Five kiddos asleep and I am attacking what Rainforest Cafe crayons did to brand new never worn clothes. Well, Except the ones my daughter was wearing that she so kindly saved the crayons in:) I will let ya know if it worked like the others. However, thanks for being the saving grace by providing this hopeful cure....I was a wreck when I saw the laundry:( And now I feel at ease that not all may be lost:)
ReplyDeleteI am in the navy and just got issued brand new uniforms, so new that they are not available to buy yet so no replacing them. I washed them with a load of dark's and unbeknownst to me a red crayon. Discovered the horror after pulling clothes out of the dryer. I immediately went to Google and found this solution. It saved my uniform and my butt at work. You are a lifesaver thank you so much. I have shared this with all of my friends and co-workers. Thank you again!
ReplyDeleteSAVED me! Thank you so much!
ReplyDeleteVictim of a RED crayon here! Maybe that's why Gain has started making a dish soap, in case you have to use it in the laundry. Thank you!!!
ReplyDeleteHas anyone had an issue with black crayon? I have two loads of stained clothes from it. Also, I have HE washer how would that work?
ReplyDeleteThis worked*! Thank you!!
ReplyDeleteI was folding laundry at 4:30am (easier in a quiet house) when I discovered the red wax all over our clothes. I immediately sat down at the computer and asked google. Your blog showed up and best of all, no weird ingredients I didn't have on hand.
The stains were out that morning **on the clothes with coarse or heavy fabric**. The crayon did not come out of the soft tees or the underwear, but it came out of the canvas pants and polo shirts--basically, the things it would hurt to replace (and can't be worn stained).
Also, for other people reading for tips, I had to rinse the clothes a few times, probably because of the dish soap.
THANK YOU!
Thanks for telling us how to get crayon out of clothes, I am trying it know.
ReplyDeleteamazing!!! worked wonders on a load of my kids clothes! thank you!
ReplyDeleteThis didn't work at all. HUGE disappointment!
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ReplyDeleteI was a moment from flipping out after I saw red crayon on all our clothes, but I found this and it worked!! Thank you so much for the great advice!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this post...it saved my children's wardrobes and my sanity. I did just what you said including the boiling water and it worked like a charm in just one wash. Now I won't have to take my kids everywhere in clothes covered with green crayon
ReplyDeleteSo happy that I found your post! I'm a kindergarten teacher and accidentally had a purple crayon in my pants. We washed all of our professional clothes (slacks, dress shirts, etc) separately so we were in BIG trouble! I used Dawn Power Clean that says it's an overnight soak in just 5 mins. Just using vinegar, laundry soap, & Dawn didn't work for me :( BUT .... I soaked with all ingredients (except vinegar, I omitted it) plus borax. After quite a few soaks and washing, I saved all but two shirts!!
ReplyDeleteIT WORKED!!! I found out after I washed and dried a load of white clothes that somehow a brown crayon had ended up in the washer and without realizing it I dried the clothes. I thought for sure they were all ruined but I decided to google how to get it out and your blog was the first one that came up and so I went to the store got the vinegar and decided that since I have a HE washer I would soak them in my sink with the ingredients you suggested. I boiled a large pot of water and soaked them for 30-40mins because the stain didn't look like it was doing anything and was all over the clothes still so I drained it and put them in the washer set it on HOT and washed it as normal and it came out of every single piece of white clothes!!! I am so thankful for you post! :)
ReplyDeleteGive credit where credit is due! I just got done doing a few loads of laundry when i noticed a small patch of orange on my jeans. I then realized that all of my jeans and all other clothes washed in the load were covered with orange crayon stains, and this was AFTER drying my clothes. I thought I was done for....about $300 or more in clothes ruined! I then ran into this post, which didn't seem too half baked, but at the same time seemed really easy! I followed the instructions and used Tide, some Dawn Oxy dish-washing soap, and some cleaning vinegar. I got out about 90-95% of the orange stains...pretty much to a point where it was unnoticeable! Kudos to this post!
ReplyDeleteI am about to give this a try. Wish me lots of luck a pair of my son's pants got in the mix w/ my (Marine husbands uniform) and wouldn't you know it...yup RED...^_^
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, this recipe worked great! My daughter is learning how to do laundry and a red crayon went through the washer and dryer. This worked like magic to get it all out! God bless you....
ReplyDeleteWow...thanks.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter had a couple blue and yellow in our wash...i though there was no way I could get any of it out. Thanks to Google and a smart mom, I saved my clothes.
I might not have had the miraculous results others had with this method, but I consider it a big success considering the complete and utter mess I started with. One completely liquified purple crayon in a load of lights, mostly kids khaki uniform pants and white polos, some white tees and white underwear and socks. Everything was completely covered with purple blotches! I laughed out load at the suggestions of scrubbing the spots with wd40. I tried this method. Our hot water doesn't get really hot, so I decided to add 2 pots of boiling water to the loads as well. I also used 1 cup of vinegar instead of half and added a cup of oxyclean as well for good measure. (Like I said, it was BAD!) Ran it though the machine and it saved about half the load. Repeated the process again on the rest and ended up salvaging about 2/3 of the stuff total. Not too shabby! The white cotton tees and white underwear were most of what was unsalvageable. Thankfully those aren't too pricey to replace. Overall very pleased with the results!
ReplyDeleteThank you!! Just got white crayon out of a load of dark dress clothes. It looked someone had stood and dripped it while spinning the drum. Now? All gone!
ReplyDeleteThank you! It was a big $$$ wash that got hit with red crayon! My daughters jackets, hoodies etc. Everything came out 90% better on the first go!
ReplyDelete