How to Remove Crayon Marks from Clothes

Crayons are sneaky little things.  They randomly end up in the dryer and can easily ruin a whole load of clothes.  Or your little one ends up with more crayon marks on her shirt than her paper.

Crayon marks are one of those stains that can be very difficult to remove.  Hopefully, your crayon colored clothes haven’t gone through the dryer yet.  The heat can set the crayon stains permanently.

I have some good tips for removing crayon marks from clothes, so keep on reading!

➡ Browse through all of the Laundry Stain Removal posts here at Mama’s Laundry Talk.

 

How to Remove Crayon Marks from Clothes

For crayon removal, you’ll need:  a sharp knife, a bar of good quality soap, Oxi Clean and premium detergent (Tide or similar – nothing generic)

1.) If there is a lot of waxy crayon build-up on the stain, remove as much as you can with a very sharp knife.  Gently lift up as many of the waxy parts as you can with the pointed end of the knife.  Be careful not to poke a hole in the fabric.

Yes, I realize that I told you not to use a sharp implement when you remove candle wax from a tablecloth.  Crayon wax tends to be thicker than candle wax, making it harder to remove.

2.) Wet a bar of soap and rub the soap directly onto the stain on the front of the fabric and the back.  You want to completely drench the stain in bar soap.  You can use Fels Naptha, Zote, Dial or any good quality bar soap.

3.) Wash the garment in the hottest water the fabric can tolerate.

4.) Make sure you hang the item to dry and don’t dry it in the dryer until you are pleased with your results.

If the crayon stain is still there, proceed with The Stain Removal Soak and that should take care of any remaining stains left on the fabric.

The Whole Load

But what if the whole load is stained?  What if there was a crayon in the dryer and now you’ve got a huge crayon mess on your hands?

All is not lost.

Try this:

1.) Put the whole load back into the washing machine.

2.) If you have a top-loader, fill the drum with hot water and dissolve an entire scoop of Oxi Clean.  Let the clothes soak for several hours.  Then wash the load with premium detergent on the longest wash cycle possible, so the clothes are highly agitated.  Between the water temperature, the Oxi Clean/detergent and the agitation of the washer you’ll hopefully end up with a load of crayon-free clothes.

If you don’t have a top-loader, your options are to spend a few hours at the laundry mat using one of their top-loaders or finding a friend with a top-loader who will let you come over for awhile.

Side Note:  I don’t recommend using a front-loader in this instance since you can’t soak loads for long periods of time.  Front-loaders are fabulous for many reasons, but not being able to soak a load of clothes is a huge drawback, in my opinion.

3.) After the washer cycle is complete, ensure the stains are removed to your liking before drying them in the dryer.

Even though it’s time consuming, you could go over each piece of crayon-stained clothing with a bar of soap in the method described above.  If it’s a load of nice quality clothes, it would be worth your time to do so.