Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Getting Crayon Out of Washed and Dried Clothes....



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.

304 comments:

  1. 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. :)

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    1. ALMOST the same exact story- my youngest w/ 4 crayons...LAST wkend, and almost gave up hope to ever get my favorite denim capris back after only ever getting to wear them once! I tried just Oxiclean alone and read this suggestion while that load was washing- which was very tricky w/ my HE washer... that melted some of it away. So I pulled together all these ingredients as best I could- only had apple cider vinegar on hand- and read through more responses to see how people did it w/ he topload washer. ALMOST ALL marks came out completely, so I went ahead and ran through again now. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE ON HERE for the variety of tips!!!

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    2. Unfortunately, I found this method completely unhelpful. My daughter's dress still had the stains, and the studding on rt the dress fell off after this treatment. It was a last ditch effort after trying the traditional pretreatment with Shout, so I guess I was going to lose the dress anyway.

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    3. I have never taken the time to post a reply to any helpful information off of the internet, but this one was worth it. I used boiling water like you suggested and let it soak for like 20 minutes, and after the cycle was done, there was only color on my swimming trunks...I have to work tomorrow and my work uniform would have been ruined if it wasn't for this quick fix! Thanks a million!!

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    4. I was not so lucky to have saved my sons most loved clothing, of course some of the items I could care less about came out good enough

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    5. I NEVER reply to helpful posts that I find on the internet, but I just had to thank you! My 8 year old had a red crayon in her pocket and the entire load of very light colored clothes were completely covered in red spots. I really thought I was going to have to throw them all away. I found your blog after reading a few other unbelievable suggestions, the worst being the idea of ironing the clothes with a paper towel? I'd rather throw them away. After I found your blog, I figured, what could it hurt? I did exactly as you said and couldn't believe how well it worked!!!! I will be passing this on! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

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    6. Thank you so much you saved my kids khaki pants from the red crayon mess..i even shared this on my facebook so my family and friends know there is help after a crayon meltdown..lol

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    7. This seriously saved my life...washed my two boys school uniforms and after drying found red melted crayon everywhere. As everyone knows I was devastated that they would not have anything to wear the next morning. I followed the directions above and rewashed and all the red spots were gone!!! Saved my life!!!

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    8. Thank you so very much! I thought I was going to have to buy a bunch of new school clothes. You saved me a lot of money!

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    9. I just had to say thank you for sharing! My son had the 4pk red/blue/green/yellow restaurant crayons in his winter coat pocket. And unbeknownst to me, when I pulled it out of the dryer after washing it for the first time, they had melted all over his bright red coat! I was devastated! I truly couldn't afford to buy another new winter coat. So I turned on my laptop and prayed I'd find a solution using the things I had at home. Voila! I found your recipe! I have a front load he washer so I read some of the other posts and figured it would be okay. Dawn dishwashing liquid, Tide detergent pod, vinegar... In it went! And presto! Out came his coat with only one leftover stubborn spot of the red/blue/green/yellow crayon mix. After running it through once again, even that spot has disappeared! Thank you again!

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    10. I have two girls.I always wash their clothes together because of all the bright colors they wear. My youngest had a red crayon mixed in her laundry. I started to take the clothes out of the dryer and noticed red crayon all over the clothes! Most of them were new ones from Christmas. I saw this post and decided to try it before I threw all the clothes away. I'm so happy I did because it worked! I just added a scoop of oxyclean and a cap of clorox 2 bleach to the directions since the stains were so heavy and bright red.. Thank for this post, it made my day!!!

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    11. I tried this and had no success, any other tips ? Several outfits have been ruined due to the green crayon that was left in a pocket

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    12. Thanks, it work! I belive any thing is possible! My first crayon experince. Thank You

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    13. Lol! Some of these posts are funny but I too found myself freaking out after an entire load of jeans (several new) had bright hues of blue, red, yellow & purple!
      I am, at present, taking these multi-colored jeans to the wash with the instructions I have found here. Even if it doesn't work, which I'm staying positive it will, at least I'll never make the mistake of NOT looking through the jeans of a 5 & 2 year old no matter how tired I am! Lol! It was a good laugh and no one got killed so we will move on... brightly colored jeans and all!!!

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    14. Lol! Some of these posts are funny but I too found myself freaking out after an entire load of jeans (several new) had bright hues of blue, red, yellow & purple!
      I am, at present, taking these multi-colored jeans to the wash with the instructions I have found here. Even if it doesn't work, which I'm staying positive it will, at least I'll never make the mistake of NOT looking through the jeans of a 5 & 2 year old no matter how tired I am! Lol! It was a good laugh and no one got killed so we will move on... brightly colored jeans and all!!!

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    15. Lol! Some of these posts are funny but I too found myself freaking out after an entire load of jeans (several new) had bright hues of blue, red, yellow & purple!
      I am, at present, taking these multi-colored jeans to the wash with the instructions I have found here. Even if it doesn't work, which I'm staying positive it will, at least I'll never make the mistake of NOT looking through the jeans of a 5 & 2 year old no matter how tired I am! Lol! It was a good laugh and no one got killed so we will move on... brightly colored jeans and all!!!

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    16. Lol! Some of these posts are funny but I too found myself freaking out after an entire load of jeans (several new) had bright hues of blue, red, yellow & purple!
      I am, at present, taking these multi-colored jeans to the wash with the instructions I have found here. Even if it doesn't work, which I'm staying positive it will, at least I'll never make the mistake of NOT looking through the jeans of a 5 & 2 year old no matter how tired I am! Lol! It was a good laugh and no one got killed so we will move on... brightly colored jeans and all!!!

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    17. Thank you! It worked for me but I didn't use the liquid soap just vinegar and detergent on the santize cycle. Again thank you!

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    18. Does this shrink clothes?
      I really need to know.

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    19. Someone please tell me,my 2 favorite shirts are stained
      with hot pink crayon.

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    20. How do you clean the dryer out after this happens?

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    21. Does anyone know how to clean the dryer out after this happens?
      I'm only 10 and I was washing laundry while my parents weren't around,and you would think my mom's not to happy with this crayon mess (she's mad).
      Anyway I don't know much about chemicals so can anyone tell me how to clean out the dryer after crayon's been through it???

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    22. Use a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser to get the crayon out. If you don't have that, then Goo Gone will remove it too but don't breathe it in.

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  2. AHHHHHHHHHHH! 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!! :)

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  3. Just 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!

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  4. You. Are. Amazing.
    99% 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. :)

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  5. 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!!!
    Thanks, Jennifer

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    1. Another saved situation Thank-you so much for your help

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  6. 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!

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  7. What kind of dishwasher liquid? Any kind?

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    1. dish WASHING liquid. Dish soap. Dawn or Ajax or whatever brand you use. I use whatever the dollar store has. :)

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  8. Omg!! It's a miracle!! Thank you!

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  9. I 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.

    Now, 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!"

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  10. 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!!!

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  11. Thank 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!

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  12. I followed the instructions given and washed the clothes several times and I had no luck getting the green crayon out of our clothes :-(

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  13. I 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.
    I 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!

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  14. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! I cannot Believe how well this worked. Took out every last spec!!!!

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  15. Thank 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!!!! :))

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  16. Did 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

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    1. What difference does that make? It's a washer and dryer with hot water.

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    2. It 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.

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    3. I'm wondering too!

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    4. I have been doing the soak in my sink since I can't figure out how to soak clothes with my front load washer. After the soak I take the clothes to the washer. So far this is my 3rd time through and most of the clothes have been saved. I have one that it looked like it took the most of the crayon and it has lightened a bit but I think it is a goner. The jeans were saved along with a few shirts. It looks like my swimsuit is a goner. But I would say 75% of the clothes were saved so it is more than worth it. Otherwise they would have been garbage! Thank you soo much for this helpful article, I only have so many clothes and can't afford to buy more.

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    5. Does anyone know how to clean the dryer out after this happens?
      I'm only 10 and I was washing laundry while my parents weren't around,and you would think my mom's not to happy with this crayon mess (she's mad).
      Anyway, I don't know much about chemicals so can anyone tell me how to clean out the dryer after crayon's been through it???

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  17. I 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.

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  18. Awesome! 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.

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  19. Ours 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?

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    1. Yes, 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.

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  20. Thank 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!

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  21. What type of vingar did you use?

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  22. Oh 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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  24. We just tried it and it worked like a charm!!! Thanks!!!

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  25. I 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!

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  26. I 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!

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  27. This 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.

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  28. It 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!!!!

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  29. It 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!!

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  30. Im 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

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  31. I 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!

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  32. Bule crayon all over a load of my own clothes!! wanted to die! but thanks to you, i'll live!! smart lady you are!

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  33. I 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!!!

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  34. Am 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.

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  35. In 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!

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  36. Almost 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!!

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  37. I 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!

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  38. Can 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!

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    1. ...and what brand? I've heard it's bad news to put dishwasher liquid in the washing machine but I'm not sure why.

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    2. I used dishwashing soap, sorry I will correct that. Dawn the stuff on the counter.

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    3. Fantastic! Thank you!

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  39. Wow!! 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!

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  40. Thank u so much I thought I was going to have to fo buy my daughter a whole new wardrobe thank goodness. This really works

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  41. Just tried this, and sadly it did not work. My son had a brown crayon in one of his pockets.

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    1. :( 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!!!

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    2. Just 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.

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  42. I 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.

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    1. Honestly 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.

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  43. i hope it work or

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  44. After 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:)

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  45. I 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!

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  46. Victim 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!!!

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  47. Has 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?

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  48. This worked*! Thank you!!
    I 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!

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  49. Thanks for telling us how to get crayon out of clothes, I am trying it know.

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  50. amazing!!! worked wonders on a load of my kids clothes! thank you!

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  51. This didn't work at all. HUGE disappointment!

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  53. I 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!

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  54. Thank 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

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  55. So 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!!

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  56. IT 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! :)

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  57. Give 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!

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  58. I 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...^_^

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  59. Thanks 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....

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  60. Wow...thanks.
    My 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.

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  61. 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!

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  62. Thank 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!

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  63. Thank 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!

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  64. Thank you so much. It worked for me with green crayon marks throughout a load. I ran the load twice with the soap combo because some clothes still had green on them. I really was doubting it would work and was thrilled to see it work. Thank you so much, I thought my kids were going to be wearing green spotted clothes.

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  65. Worked for me! GREEN AND RED on whites! Thanks a million!

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  66. OMG.......THIS really does work. I have asked everybody how to get green and red Crayola out of my clothes, and I never Google stuff but I was really wanting to save my favorite pair of white jeans so I looked on this site and tried it and now I don't have to throw them away!!!! yeaH

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  67. Did anyone pretreat the crayon stains prior to rewashing? Also did anyone let t he clothes soak in the solution over night?

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  68. Will this work in a he (high efficiency) washer?

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    1. I did it in my front loading washer. I did heat some water on the stove to make sure it was really hot. I put my clothes in the washer and poured in the boiling water followed by the dish soap and vinegar right on the clothes. I used my regular soap dispenser for the detergent and used my sanitary cycle which is the hottest I have and takes almost two hours. It got probably 95% out the first time and the second time only one stubborn shirt had spots. I got out the WD-40 and it got those spots out. Whew.

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  69. For all of you people a little freaked out about putting dish soap in your front loading machine:

    The reason you can't put just anything in a front loader is that it will suds like crazy and you'll end up with a mess of bubbles to mop up.

    Vinegar, in addition to being an efficient cleanser on it's own and about the best laundry booster money can buy, will severely supress the bubbling action of dish soap... and every other detergent I know....

    Seriously, try it: run some water in your kitchen sink with whatever dish soap you have sitting on the counter. Just a squirt and about two inches of water should do for this experiment. What you want to do is make a bunch of bubbles, alright? Got your bubbles? Good... now wwatch them pop for a few minutes... it takes a while, right? But now you've got a sink of soapy water with no bubbles... what's the point? Get a cup or a wisk or something and aggitate the water. It was pretty easy to make a bunch more bubbles, right?

    Following me so far? Now dump in a slash of vinegar and try to make more bubbles. Try it. I dare you. Not so easy... Vinegar will make it almost impossible to pile up the bubbles like before.

    I discovered this accidentally while handwashing. I've got one of those rapid wahser laundry plunger thingies, and they produce a lot of bubbles... unless you use a little bit of vinegar. I started using vinegar as a laundry booster to avoid bleaching and ironing when I switched from wearing mostly jeans and t-shirts to mostly wool and linen suits and poplin and silk shirts...

    Toddlers are not kind to clothes, no matter what they're made of, though, so... yeah.... Vinegar and dish soap is safe for your front loading machine AND your most delicate fabrics. If you can't use hot water to help it along, use a longer soak. Soak it overnight if you have to. It's a weak enough solution that it won't eat your clothes like bleach ca, and a little goes a long ways... I usually use just half a cup of vinegar per load... and the stuff costs just about three cents an ounce, so this is a super cheap fix!

    Vinegar on it's own will not clean clothes, though. It doesn't work the same way that a soap or detergent does. So do use it as a booster, but don't try to use it as a stand alone alternative... you won't be impressed with the results.

    So, recap of the ramble: vinegar prevents nightmare bubbles.

    You can put it strait into the drum with thte clothes or put it in the top (if you run it through the softener slot, it will clean out some of that and make your machine happier, too), because it won't damage your clothes or be splotchy and uneven.

    It's awesome. Vinegar for the win!

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    2. I still am having a problem with bubbles in my he front loader. I even soaked the clothes in the sink in the above given solution instead of doing it in the washer because I don't have a soak option. I drained the water and put the clothes in the washer with even more vinegar (about a cup) to hopefully prevent extra bubbles from forming. But I had to stop the washer after 10 minutes to take out about 8 liters of extra bubbles. Thenn I added around another cup of vinegar and have a large amount of new bubbles forming as I type. So not sure what the solution to this is but to anyone else reading this who has a Frigidaire he front load washer, you will have lots and lots of bubbles :/

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  70. Thank you thank you thank you!!! Your blog popped up on google search and I was in tears and thought what could it hurt as I'm looking at all of my daughter's clothes stained with either red or pink crayon! Well I'm on my second soak/wash and I'm pretty sure when I go down to check it almost all of the stain with be gone. I'm so thankful I came across your website!! Don't know what my mom did without the internet when I was a child!! I guess there were a lot more knowledgeable "older" generation moms around :) So happy this worked!!! Thanks again!!!

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  71. Hey I found your blog with Google, My five year old left a BROWN crayon in his pant pockets and it was not nice how i just found out. Is all over my work clothes, just everywhere I'm going to leave some clothes overnight... the rest ill try tomorrow. Seeing all this reviews made me feel like there is hope. :) thank you so much!!

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  72. I have a front loading washer and so I just soaked the clothes in the bathtub (added in some boiling water for good measure). You just saved a whole load of laundry! Thank you!

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  73. Great tip! It worked perfectly! You are a life saver!

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  74. our crayon was purple..... thank you!

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  75. Well im trying your method out right now praying it works fingers crossed :)

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  76. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  77. It works! I dried red crayon in my sons new summer clothes as well as two work skirts and a nice shirt- this took the crayon out - thanks so much!!

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  78. I bought a bunch of new clothes for my 2 yo and threw them in the wash with some of her dirty clothes..after drying them and starting to fold them I noticed green crayon marks all over her new clothes! After feeling like I just wasted $80 in new clothes and wanting to scream, I asked my hubby to look up on Google about crayon removal....this blog came up first and I did as instructed but since it was so late I just let the clothes soak over night and started the washer back up in the am...It worked!!! Its a miracle and my $$ wasn't wasted ! Thank you so much for this tip!!!! I will share!! :)

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  79. Thank you! You just saved an entire load of my kids' laundry! Silly blue crayon!

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  80. Thank you. Trying it now! Darn those restaurant crayons!!

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  81. A great place to wash your clothes, if you're rushing for time, is Coin Laundry Singapore (aka Mr Dobi). Their machines are fast and it's really time-saving.

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  82. This DOES NOT work in High Efficient washing machines. I put 1 cup of vinegar with 2 tbsp. of Dawn dish soap and left my washing machine on self dispense for the laundry soap. After running the first cycle (I went to work while it was running), I came home to some partially removed stains and a wet floor. I assumed the washer had just leaked due to a small tear in the liner (work order is in). I thought I'd run it again to see if I can further pull the crayon out of the clothes. I wasn't gone nearly as long this time and came home to suds literally oozing out of the washer, probably through the tear. I stopped the cycle and opened it up to a disastrous mess. I wish I could post a picture! Moral of the story, it did not work in an HE machine with the settings I set. However, the crayon did come out of some of the clothes.

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  83. It took the red and orange crayon right out of the thicker type materials that it got on such as my husbands jeans and khakis along with darker clothes but white underwear, basketball shorts that are a mesh type material, I am resoaking due to it still having spots but OMG this saved me from my husband who would of been mad for days if he was to come home tonight from work to his clothes having crayon on them YET he was the one who had the crayon in his jean pocket!! Yup it wasn't my fault my husbands!! Anyway, I am glad google brought this page up as the first result cuz I don't need to go to the store and get any crazy ingredients cuz this worked. Thank You again!

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  84. I did follow your directions for the most part the only thing I did different was soak them in a big deep storage container (lid off) for an hour and it washed right out. Thank you!!(I had other laundry to get done while they soaked that's why I put them in the storage container instead.)

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  85. Tossed 1 pair of jeans at a time into my camp washer (I have an HE machine) with a little laundry soap, a little dish soap (a tbsp or 2) and some vinegar (didn't measure). I added boiling water (NOTE: remove hubby's wallet first!) and let soak for... a couple hours?

    Washed on hot, dried as usual. WORKED! I've done 2 pair so far. I have 2 more pair + a pair of denim shorts to do. Thank you so much!

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  86. trying this tomorrow. just washed a load of laundry with a hidden BLACK crayon. :-/

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  87. Can I use apple cider vinegar, probably a silly question but im desperate to save my sons uniforms for school that starts tomorrow!

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  88. Can I use apple cider vinegar, probably a silly question but im desperate to save my sons uniforms for school that starts tomorrow!

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  89. An entire load of school clothes for a sweey 4 year old... RUINED by a purple crayon? Nope! Not with this awesome blog post. After everyone told me it couldn't be done, I proved them all wrong. "Thank you" will never seem like enough for this blog, but thank you all the same.

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  90. I can not believe it! Every bit of the crayon came out the first try. I am so happy. You made my day! I have four kids too but this is the first time the crayon made it into the washing machine even though I am awful at checking pockets. Thank you soooo much!

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  91. Another thank you here! I used a front loading machine and used my sanitize cycle (hottest setting), takes almost two hours. I also poured in some boiling water before starting the cycle. It got out over 90% on the first try and the second time I just used a regular cycle on hot. One stubborn shirt (my husband's nice dress shirt, of course) held on to some spots, but another trick is to use WD-40 which got the spots out of that one.
    THANK YOU! So relieved...and I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one. :-)

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  92. This trick really worked! I only had a couple of t-shirts and my husbands work pants that all the crayon did not come out of. I shouted those spots and scrubbed them with a toothbrush, rewashed and that seemed to do the trick. Everything else came out great! THANK YOU for this easy and inexpensive idea. I will always double check my 4 year olds pockets from now on. This saved my morning! THANK YOU again!

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  93. THANK YOU for this post!!!! Red and yellow crayon on all four of my girls' uniforms for school. I will be using this method - instead of running to Walmart for new ones - as soon as I get them in bed!

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  94. IT WORKED! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! Not having to run out to buy all new uniform parts for my ds - priceless!

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  95. First try got it all out of everything but the khaki uniform pants. Soaking them for the second time now but thrilled with the outcome so far!!!

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  96. This saved a huge load of my kids' school clothes. I was so upset that we would have to replace them all but thankfully, we don't. Bookmarking this because I'm sure I'll need it again!

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  97. Awesome going to try now. Just got a load out of drier with orange crayon well I think and hope it was a crayon lol will find out thanks.

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  98. Another thankful reader! This took the dreaded red crayon out of all but 4 items. THANK YOU THANK YOU!!

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  99. After i just Blew a gasket I totally hope this works as i now have BLACK crayon decorating my dryer & my girls entire white woredrobe including their polos :'(

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  100. Was having a bad day already when I opened the dryer and found orange crayon all over our light colored clothes. My daughter was sorry, but we still had to come up with a solution. Just found your blog. I'll try it tomorrow morning and let you know how it goes. I have an HE top-loading brand new washer. Thank goodness it does have a soak setting. Updates soon.

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  101. So shared this you saved my sis this morning with this post

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  102. Thank you, so so much. My 2 year old had crayons from the restaurant in his pockets and I didn't realize it until too late. In all honesty, I forgot about going to dinner a few days ago. I'm out of vinegar, but so picking up some this afternoon to try. Here's hoping it works!

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  103. Your miracle formula saved a very expensive dance leotard and a load of my children's most loved clothes and blankets! You know... "the" blankets they cannot live without?? Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! (Of course it had to be a RED crayon) I usually never post or comment EVER on ANYTHING online but this was way worth it. Thanks again!!! :)

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  104. I wish I would have seen this sooner! Could have saved some of my favorite clothes I haven't tried it yet, but I can tell by the posts that it is possible! Phew! What a relief.

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  105. I tried it and it made no difference whatsoever

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  106. I have done this several times, and every time the crayon has come out, can't even tell. I've had to do red, green, black, purple. And every time it came out. Thank you. So glad i found this.

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  107. You saved my super comfy go to dress from the dreaded black crayon in my sons pocket! I have passed this recipe off to my mommy friends. Thank you so much for posting!!

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  108. This is an amazing recipe to fixed the dreaded "crayon in your laundry" problem. I did a large load of laundry Friday night and upon opening the dryer found the damage that one small piece of red crayon can do to a WHOLE load of laundry- ever shirt, pant and sock in the whole load.
    First we used a total of 3 magic erasers to get the red out of the dryer. Next I split the load into 2 batches and used: HOT water, 1/2 cup white vinegar, 6 Tbsp. Dawn dish soap, Tide laundry soap and a couple Tbsp. of baking soda (mentioned in another post) and did a HOT, long cycle and ALL the crayon came out. Amazing, some old clothes and other brand new clothes all look great. Thank you!!! ~Becky

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  109. I am running the washer under your instructions right now and praying. Hot pink crayon all over my daughters' clothes including their brand new black coats >=[

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  110. **UPDATE** I followed these instructions almost exactly and it worked! It didn't get the crayon off of their older clothes but it saved about $300 worth of brand new clothes, including 2 brand new black coats. You are a life saver!!!!!

    **My hot water heater is turned up almost to max so I didn't need boiling water, I also added about 1/3 of a cup of resolve stain remover since I was out of baking soda.

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  111. I am doing this as we speak because my son decided to leave a brown crayon in his pocket and ALL of the whites are brown spotted. I was so mad but I will wait to see what happens when I pull them out and I am praying that all of this load is going to come clean. Thanks.

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  112. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!!!! Just had a breakdown after pulling out my 2 1/2 year old and 2 months old girls clothes from the dryer! Red and Yellow crayon on EVERYTHING! I just got them back in washer according to your directions! Really hoping for same results as you!!! So many nice barely worn clothes in there! THANK YOU AGAIN!!!

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  113. I will be trying this tonight as my daughters snow suit is covered in red...ughh fingers crossed it works!!!

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  114. Ditto everyone else's responseson here - a HUGE THANK YOU! It worked the first time and we were freaked out because it was a GIANT pile of clothes that would have just been ruined. Phew. Life saver.

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  115. Can you do this in a high efficiency washer?

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  116. I am the proud victim of red, blue, green, and yellow crayon!!!! Almost had a heart attack when I pulled the cloths out of the dryer!!! In the process of trying this method I hope it works

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  117. After the second hot water soak didn't get all the crayon (dark brown) out...I used a full cup of vinegar and 1/4 cup of dishwashing detergent and some oxiclean for good measure (adding the laundry detergent as well)...then soaked the clothes in hot water for 30 minutes...let them agitate for a few minutes...then soak another 30 minutes...agitate again...then one more soak at 30 minutes...then let the washer finish that cycle. That finally got most all of it out...

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  118. Bubbles, bubbles, who's got the bubbles?! My Frigidaire HE washing machine does! :/ I soaked the clothes in the sink in the above given solution instead of doing it in the washer because I don't have a soak option. I drained the water and put the clothes in the washer with even more vinegar (about a cup) to hopefully prevent extra bubbles from forming. But I had to stop the washer after 10 minutes to take out about 8 liters of extra bubbles. Then I added around another cup of vinegar and have a large amount of new bubbles forming as I type. Now I have a washer literally 3/4 full of bubbles. Yikes! So not sure what the solution to this is but to anyone else reading this who has a Frigidaire he front load washer, you will have lots and lots of bubbles :/

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  119. Genius!!!! You just saved my clothes. I thought for sure they were done for...including ll he new ones just got .for Christmas...I was beside my self trying to figure out how to Tell my husband how a purple crayons ruined our clothes but Now I won't have to! Thank you a million times over!

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  120. Thank goodness I found this! My husband has 3 pairs of good jeans, and 2 of those pairs are brand new...a whole load of laundry was ruined including his new jeans...I havent told him about it yet cause I knew he would freak. I am going to give this a shot, and hopefully it works! I NEVER check pockets..like ever. Im so bad about it that my husband recently took the back of our dryer off and puller out a handful of screws that came out of his numerous pairs of work pants...whoops....Thanks again for this, you may have just saved my life! lol

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  121. Thank you for this post!!! I pulled our clothes out of the dryer with blue crayon ALL over them....came to google and found your post. I did this twice and there maybe be one or two blue spots left on clothes. I can't believe it was so easy.

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  122. Sweet! My kids have done this too many times!!! After I was done yelling and all of them for doing this AGAIN and looking not-so-forward to the next 5 hours of scrubbing...I found this post. I am so happy!!! All good except 3 items with a few spots will run the process again---but you seriously saved me time and money. Thanks a million!

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  123. So happy worked for me the first time Thank you so much

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  124. Pure genius!!! All of the crayon came out on the first try for anything that wasn't pure white. I'm just washing the white clothes again - 98% came out on the first try. I can't thank you enough.

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  125. Do you think it will work on sweaters?

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    1. To be honest I'm not sure. I have found sweaters to be notoriously hard to remove other stains from. Sorry I don't have a good answer for you. Best of luck.

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  126. I pretreated with Shout and added some baking soda to the wash cycle. THANK YOU! Saved over a week's worth of my kid's school clothes. Giving up on the shirt that actually had the crayon in it. But, other than that... awesome!

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  127. I think a leprechaun visited my house this St. Pattys Day because I did a large load of all whites, washed and dried, and found green crayon all over them.....AHHHH! I am trying this now, church clothes and everything. I hope it works! Thanks!

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  128. Over $600 in jeans that were washed & dryed with a crayon! This worked! Thank you!

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  129. Worked like a charm!

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  130. This works! I'll admit, I was skeptical, but was willing to try anything after I found my kids' school uniforms covered in yellow crayon. Aaahhh! After my five minute freak out, I got to work. I put the clothes in my front loader HE washer. I then placed my detergent in the drawer and added to that 1/4 cup dish soap and 1/2 cup vinegar. I then placed the setting on sanitary (super hot water) and also set it to auto soak. While the clothes were washing, I used a magic eraser to clean out the dryer. I also dried some towels on hot to try and work out any melted wax that I missed. The clothes took two and a half hours, but they were completely CLEAN!!! No yellow crayon to be found anywhere! Thank you so much for this post!!!

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  131. You helped me save my boyfriend's best pair of dress slacks! I gave you total credit on my own blog on WordPress.
    http://thegirlwiththegolfclubs.wordpress.com/

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  132. WOW!!!! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! This really works & saved a whole load of my husbands jeans, shirts...that were put in the dryer with red crayon in the pocket. He was so frustrated when he saw the mess last night that he just went straight off to bed. You should have seen the look on his face today when he came home from work to find his clothes all miraculously "fixed". I'm sure he'll be checking his pocket now before he quickly throws in his wash.

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  133. Thank goodness for the internet! Today after a great vacation I found a purple and a green crayon that had been in my youngest son's pocket had melted in the dryer and stained all of the kids clothes from the trip. I was in tears! I found this blog and started cleaning. I pretreated all stains with Tide Boost and then since I have a new HE washer I used Oxyclean and color safe bleach and warm water and the steam for stains feature of my washer and IT ALL CAME OUT!!! I was so excited and I didn't have to disown my youngest son afterall! :) Thank you for giving me hope when all hope was lost! :)

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  134. I am SO in your debt!

    I found pink all over the load of jeans I washed and dried today. In the lint trap I found the evidence of a paper wrapper confirming crayon.

    I treated everything heavily with Shout Advanced stain-lifting foam spray (great stuff) and let it sit while I scrubbed out my dryer. Thankfully, I don't think the crayon was all that big...

    I followed your formula and almost cried when I realized I'd had the washer set on cold water. So I added a kettle of boiling, and hoped for the best.

    I just checked everything as I pulled it out of the washer. No more pink! Yay!

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  135. Orange. Must've been the restaurant... I was racking my brain. Will try this formula first. Argh.... (I'm currently trying to breathe through my freak out session, seeing how, these things happen.) But, AAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!! I hope this works... Thanks for the advice.

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  136. I had a GIANT orange crayon and a load of whites. It was a disaster. This post saved my sanity. I had to wash a few items twice but it definitely works. I used a magic eraser and WD-40 on the inside of the dryer barrel and that did the trick. Thank you for making my Monday suck a little less!!

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  137. Wow. Truly impressive. My teenage son washed his jujitsu top and ended up with rainbow-colored crayon spots all over it (and the dryer!) I put it in a bucket, added the soap/vinegar mixture, boiled two large pots of water, poured the whole mess together, and waited about a half hour. Then I poured the contents of the bucket into the HE washer, bleached the crap out of it...and presto! Only a few tiny spots left. I'm repeating it one more time, but honestly, if this is as good as it gets, I'm satisfied. Amazing results!! Many mahalos from the Big Island of Hawaii!!!

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  138. Some how one of my grandson's crayons made it into the drier...I can't wait to try this!!!

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  139. You are my hero! Thank you so much. I had to use goof off to clean the actual dryer (magic eraser didn't work) - but my clothes look good as new. Thank you thank you thank you!

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  140. Thank you for posting this! You have saved the most prized ballerina outfit that had orange crayon on it. I had to to do it a second time, but the first time got about 90% of it out. This is so much better than having to get expensive stain remover! (Gotta make every cent count with three kids!)

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  141. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! We are a little strapped for cash right now, so I wanted to just sit and cry when my husband (yes, my husband helps with the laundry ;) ) told me that a whole load of laundry was ruined from a crayon. It had my son's school clothes, my work clothes, my husband's work clothes (uniform), my other son's clothes, basically a little bit of EVERYTHING! There was no way we could afford to buy more clothes right now. Now we don't have to! Just tried this tonight, and it worked like a charm!!!

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  142. THANK YOU SO MUCH. This just saved a whole load of my son's clothes from having brown stains all over them!!

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  143. I am going to try this with the dreaded toploading HE washer. We are trying to remove turquoise crayon from a large amount of clothes. After reading all comments, I am going to try the hot water in the tub to soak then to the washer. I hope & pray it works! I wil post results.

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  144. My 9 year old daughter is in total tears right now. Her older sis just cleaned out her closet and gave her all the good stuff. She was doing mommy a favor and decided to do her own laundry, and was super excited to get a dresser full of "new stuff". to her dismay when she opened up the dryer, all her things were spotted with orange and red. She had done a very industrious move by taking 2 restaurant crayons out of a jacket pocket before washing, and set them on top of the dryer. As her things came out of the washer she unfortunately, laid the wet stuff right on top of those 2 sneaky crayons.... and as she loaded up the dryer....they went right inside with her wet-clean clothes. We are SO hoping that this will work. I agree, thank God for the internet connecting all of us mommies together into one big village!!!!!! :)

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  145. 5/5/2014 - OMG! This is so AWESOME! it worked. I rarely post feedback, but this was such a lifesaver had to share. I dried my son's uniform clothes along with some other nice laundry, and once it was done boom red all over. I was ready to just get rid of it all until I decided to look on line and so glad I did. If your not one who believes what you read on line, Believe this! Thank you for sharing your magic secret! Sincerely, A Thankful Parent

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  146. I have never commented on anything before , but I just washed all my 2 little girls jeans for school in 1 load. Much to my dismay, when taken out of the dryer they had red crayon everywhere. I do not have the money to replace clothes. I was so upset. Decided to look for a fix online.. Sooooo glad I read your post. Followed your directions exactly. One try and all the reds gone!!!!!! Yeah!!! Thanks so much!!

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  147. Omg 8am we go to get out school clothes out the dryer and everything is completely red!!!!! Ugh I coulda rolled ovr and died :) this is the first post ive read and ill b tryin. It. It cant hdo more damage considering idthrow um out anyways. Sooo heres to this!! Wish me luck and i hope this is the trick :) I ty ty again and heres to nothing lol

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  148. Here I sit crating over the entire load of clothes that I presumed were a loss! Thank you for sharing!!! Keeping my fingers crossed it works for me! And not to mention my brand new dryer that is the prettiest colors of red and pink swirls! Any have that though! Thanks for sharing!!!! Tickled Red in Washigton...

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  149. Amazing!!! I figured I'd be the one that it wouldn't work. Well it did and I couldn't be happier. It was a full washer of new clothes all yellow, but not anymore. Thank you so much for sharing.

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  150. Thank you very much. I had to do this this morning. I had red crayon all over the entire load of clothes. The only thing I did different was I took a toothbrush and scrubbed In the Dawn Ultra dish detergent and then sprayed with Shout greasy release. I used tide laundry detergent, with white vinegar, and dawn ultra detergent, washed in hot water and soaked for 10 minutes. Everything was completely stain free when washer was finished. THANK YOU SO MUCH. ( I also read about the iron w/paper towel -don't do it - I tried and it didn't work after I washed the shirt the crayon came out but left a grease spot where I ironed it. Glad I only tried one stain.

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  151. Thank you so much for the information! IT WORKED!!! We are going out of town and I had a "last minute emergency load of laundry". My son put 1/2 of a blue crayon in his pocket and i washed and dried the load. :-/ But thanks to Google and this site I was able to get 99.5% of the blue crayon! I followed the directions but added a scoop of Oxiclean "just in case". I read several pages before i made the decision on what to do with them. This concoction sounded the best and the most gentle on my fabrics. Thank you again!

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  152. Clothes are still in the washing process, but what I can tell readers is a surefire way to get the crayon stain off your dryer components:

    Run the dryer for 10 minutes empty on high heat to loosen the wax
    Use a magic eraser to get the big stains
    Then use a rag to apply diluted bleach all around.
    Last soak several rags and a big towel (things you don't mind bleaching out) in the diluted bleach, lightly wring out and then use the dryer to dry them.

    The tumbling will scrub the dryer better than you can.

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    Replies
    1. The tips here did the job on the clothes - they aren't perfect, but all wearable - glad I found it.

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  153. Thanks for sharing this info! After putting our crayon covered full load of darks through 4 cycles with the suggested mixture we were able to salvage 99% of our clothes...which was a good thing as they were mostly work clothes!! Thanks again!

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  154. thank you. This worked great. Saved my son's 6 pairs of pants and his 2 favorite minecraft shirts. Thanks for posting this. (found this site when I googled how to remove melted crayons from clothes)

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  155. Thank you thank you thank you! Ours was a green whiteboard crayon (more oily and waxy than a standard crayon)...all over the 4 year old's sheets, and blankie, and favorite bear. Worked perfectly on the sheets; the blankie and bear needed a second go-around. You saved us! :) Many thanks!

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  156. Just wanted to say this worked okay. The first wash got most of it out. Washed the whole load again after first spraying all the spots with WD-40 and that got every little spot out.

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  157. I to have just fallen victim to the Crayola villain!!! My husband’s white dress shirt, my daughter’s white uniform shirt and a whole bunch of newly tie dyed other articles. I am trying your remedy as I type this message and from reading all these encouraging posts, I am a believer that all will be well when I open the washer!!!! Thank you for the posts.
    Dee

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