Melted Crayon in My Dryer!

My 6 year old left an orange crayon in his pocket and I had the same mess. I used Spray & Wash with Resolve on the clothes, let it sit for about 30 minutes and washed the clothes in hot water with regular detergent. The only clothing that it didn't come out of was the clothing with white trim or white stripes. In the dryer, I just used my dishcloth (it has the "netting" on one side, got them at WalMart) with a little of the Spray & Wash and it took 90% of it out.

I'd like to endorse the idea of a glass of wine! Or maybe two...three.....?
My first instinct when I read this was to try to dry a load of wet rags. I think it will be easier to remove when it's warmed up. Those Magic Erasers are AWESOME--try O. of those!

Crayons are basically colored wax, so this might help. For candle wax on table cloths or clothes, you layer several paper towels or brown paper bags below and on top of the cloth then run an iron on very low settings over it. The wax melts and absorbs into the paper towels/brown bags.

Would toothpaste work on the dryer? A white semi abrasice paste, as opposed to a gel might work. We used it to take crayon off walls before - and I assume it would be less flammable than some of the other options.

N.,

I would call the dryer manufacturer.

I'd also be very careful before turning on the dryer again, as a lot of those "goo gone" type products are FLAMMABLE, and I don't know what the heat of the dryer plus the chemical you used will do when put together.

I would suggest you call the manufacturer of the "goo gone" product you used as well...tell them what you did, that you put it in a dryer and what should you do.

Once you make sure that your dryer is SAFE to turn on, perhaps a clean rag in there will attract the crayon that will remelt with the new heat. Alternatively, if you turn on the dryer and get it going/warm, perhaps you can turn it off and scape off the remelted crayon.

JUST MAKE SURE YOUR DRYER IS TOTALLY SAFE TO TURN ON BEFORE YOU DO IT.

Good luck.

N.,

I have soooo been down this road, to clean out the dryer you need to spray some paper or an old rag with a non flammable cleaner and wipe out the dryer. Never spray directly in the dryer, you do not want a fire. I would start with like a grease cutter of some sort. Ask.com suggust wd40 but that I know is flammable. When this happened to me I ran old towels through until it stopped marking them. Also you may want to try a combination of Tide and oxiclean on your clothes in the hottest setting allowed for your clothes. This always seems to happen to my "jeans" load as the crayons are in the jean pocket.I have had success getting the stains out in the past, don't give up. Good luck and try that website I listed above.
T.

Hello! I had the same problem once. If you go to Crayolas website, they give you instructions on how to get it out of all kinds of things. I am pretty sure it is www.crayola.com. Good luck!

That's tough! I feel for you. Have you heard of goof off? It is really strong (smells that way too, get a mask) and works wonders. I have no idea if it will get crayon off your dryer, but it is worth a try. You can find it in most hardware stores. No advice about the clothes. I have to check every pocket religiously because my husband and daughter carry tissues year round. Nothing compared to crayon, but annoying nonetheless. Good luck.

Hi- don't fret but there is a treatment for this. Unfortunately I forget but surf the net and ask directly that---"how to remove crayon in the dryer" You'll have instant answers. I do recall reading about that but surf the net.

Good luck.

Martha Stewart had a show that featured a guest showing moms how to handle this very problem. I don't remember the solution, but it worked. Perhaps her website would have info or you could call the show for the episode. The problem is that it was about a year ago that I saw it! Good luck!

Try the magic eraser on the clothes dryer. It works wonders on crayons. If the crayon is rather thick I would try a plastic knife to take away teh excess.

try 100% mineral spirits which can be purchased at a hardware or Lowes i believe. It gets tar out easily and has never left a stain.

Try Greased Lightning. It's in with all of the other cleaners, like shout, but it works wonders. I use it for everything. I've had some clothes with stains I just couldn't get out. I sprayed that on there, and it took it right out. Our water in the shower turns out shower green, nothing but Greased Lightning takes it away.

I had the same thing happen with a green crayon. There is a whole method to get this out. Throw away anything that isn't worth the effort. The method involves Shout and alcohol. There are several steps. Google crayon stains and you will find it. Works like a charm, but it takes a bit of effort. I threw away my t-shirts, but saved my husband's button downs. Good luck!

been there, done that...a crayon once, but lip balm plenty. Go to Crayola.com, they can tell you what to do. Run your dryer with an old towel and once its heated, it should wipe right off, the hardest part of that is trying to fit your body in the dryer! The clothes are harder, I know I tried different thing, and I can't remember which worked best for the color, but the greasy or waxy part, Dawn dish soap works the best. With a toothbrush I just "scrubbed" the waxy stain (works for the lip balm really great too) and re-washed. It took a couple of times on the spots with a lot of color. I will tell you, I ended throwing away the things that I really didn't want to drive my self crazy over.
Good Luck, and please let us know what worked for you, I'm sure it's not the last time for this for some of us.

Fels naptha laundry soap (I could be spelling it wrong). It's a bar laundry soap, it takes out greasy things like lipstick and crayon stains. You find in the grocery store near other laundry detergents.

N.,

I use to work at a factory that has tought me a great deal about removing nasty things from surfaces and clothing. Try using Isopropal Alcohol! I can guarantee that it will remove the crayon from your dryer and possibly even your clothing. Isopropal Aclohol will remove permanet marker from all kinds of items and is also very safe and works pretty quickly too. It is not flammible after the alcohol evaporates, but if you want to, you can just wipe the dryer out with a damp cloth after the alcohol evaporates. Hope this tip works for you. Good Luck!

Maybe a glass of wine - for you, not the clothes.

Unfortunately you may have to work at it for hours with goo gone, I did. That is the only thing that worked for me.
Chris

I don't have any advice, but I just wanted to offer "sympathy" for the clothes that you may have to pitch. I had to throw away 3 pairs of khaki uniform pants and 2 white uniform shirts once because of my forgetfulness. Green crayon everywhere!! Luckily, it blended ok with the navy blue pants and navy blue shirts. Goo gone didn't work for me, but had I not lost my patience 20 minutes into the cleaning it may have. Good luck, and next time pray for kleenex and money left in the pockets!

Hello Natalie,
I'm sorry but i have no help for you about the dryer, but i do for your clotes, what helps get crayon off of clothes is ironing, what you do is but a piece of cardboard between the clothes so that when you do iron it does go threw the fabric, and the you put a paper towel down on top of the stain, and you put wax paper on top of that, when you iron the clotes the wax from the crayon will melt and goon the paper towel and what ever goes through the bottom will go on the cardboard and not on the back of the shirt, it might take long, but it's better then trying to replace all of the clothes, i hope this helps good luck to you
S.

THere are 2 products that you can try. both are designed to remove sticky, gooey, waxy stuff. One is called De-Sol-it and the other is called Goo Gone. I can't remember where I purchased these products, it's been so long. I'm sure if you google either name it will pop-up and you can find a store near you that sells one or the other. Best of luck!!

L.

Try WD-40 which you can find in the automotive stores or auto dept. of Walmart. this should take it off. My sister in law had crayon all over her walls from kids of course.
Good luck! In the same crayon subject...to avoid those melted crayons on your car upholstry; try putting colored pencil in the car for the kids instead of crayons.
H. L.

I woul try running the dryer fo a few miutes to heat up the crayon. Then, it should com off easier. You could also put an old towel or something in there to help take it off. Good luck.

To clean the drum of your dryer to remove any remaining crayon, spray a soft cloth with WD-40, and wipe the drum. Run a load of dry rags through a drying cycle to ensure that your drum is clean. If your dryer is gas, allow it to air out for a few hours after using the WD-40, before starting it up on a heat cycle.

I would try using something like a fingernail or some other object that won't scratch the metal to get off the thicker bits. Then try a Mr. Clean magic eraser. They do wonders. It will still take a little work though.

As for the clothes, check on Crayola.com. I checked there once for some other product they have and getting it out of clothing. Unless they changed it they have advice on how to get most of their products out of clothing and other household items.

Good luck.

Have you tried letting the dryer cool down and then scraping the crayon off with your fingernail (so as not to damage the dryer)?

don't give up on the clothing just yet! I once accidentally washed and dried a pair of khaki shorts with bright pink lipstick in the pocket. I thought for sure that they were done for. But I washed the heck out of them and noticed that a little more came out each time, until they were finally completely rid of lipstick. I'm thinking if lipstick comes out, crayon will... I didn't use bleach or anything, either, just regular detergent and long cycle.

Hope that helps... sorry I don't have any tried-and-true crayon-removing techniques.

Ok I have been through this plenty of times with my daughters with lip balm, lips smackers, crayons, you name it and has melted in our dryer. Try letting the dryer run without anything in it. it should heat up the crayons and while it's still hot it should wipe right off. Since you put the goo gone on it you might want to read the back of tthe label. I'm not sure how it's going to react to the heat from the dryer. As for the clothes try using Grease lighting it works really well on those kinds of stains. I buy it by the gallon and add it to my wash with the detergent. It does a really great job with stains. I also use the spray n' wash with resolve to get stains out. the both work pretty well.