If you have little kids, you know the messes they can create. Little hands put little bits of everything into little pockets, and sometimes those little things can go overlooked and end up in your expensive washing machine. You’ll probably notice that a crayon has been washed when your laundry begins to look like a rainbow. Here are some instructions for removing melted crayon from your washing machine to help you keep your sanity.
Don’t Give Up!
First of all, if you’ve washed a crayon, it will keep turning up until you remove any and all traces of it. It may even seem as if the crayon is hiding somewhere in your washing machine. Fear no more, you can find every trace. Your first step should be to remove the crayon from the clothing. Use a butter knife and scrape as much of the wax off the clothing as you possibly can. Then, spray with a pre-treatment laundry spray and let your clothing soak for a while.
Remove All Traces
Next, you’ll need to find the culprit in the washing machine. Search under all seals, under all lips and ridges, and take any removable parts out and wash them as well. Use baking soda and water to make a thick paste. Use this paste to coat the inside of your washing machine. On the hottest setting available, run a long load on normal with no laundry inside. Feel free to also add about half of a box of baking soda into the water.
Take Care Of Your Clothes
In order to keep the crayon stains from coming back, wash your clothes with the other half of the box of baking soda and with 1 cup of white vinegar. Add your detergent as usual and wash on the hottest and longest setting. Don’t dry the clothing if the stains do not disappear, or you will have crayon in your dryer as well. This will also set the stain even deeper into your clothing.
Elbow Grease
Finally, use a lot of elbow grease and WD-40 to remove any lingering stains inside your washing machine. Make sure you completely remove the WD-40 from inside the washing machine before you wash another load of laundry. Toothpaste is also helpful to remove crayon stains from clothing. Just remember to keep your clothing out of the dryer or you’ll have double the mess to clean up!
