How to Remove Crayon Stains from Your Carpet and Walls

Posted on 18/01/2016

Easy Tricks to Get Crayon Marks Off Your Wall

Imagine the following scenario: you leave your children for 5 minutes with their crayons and colouring books. You return to the room and see that they have been practising their painting skills on something that is different from the colouring books. Before you give in to panic because of this fearful sight, you should consider some stain removal techniques first.

A lot of parents have been met with such a scenario in their home. Children do love crayons and you have to accept the fact that sometimes they like to use them in a way that will make you want to scream. Using the right method for cleaning and stain removal can easily fix the problem, however, as there are no proven ways of handling such situations. Here is how to clean crayons depending on what their colour has ended on.

- Upholstery - should you find that your upholstery has acquired a new drawing with crayons, you need to follow several steps to ensure it’s clean. First, you have to use a dull knife or spoon to scrape off the excess crayon. In case the crayon is still soft, you can freeze it by using some ice from the freezer. For the remaining part of the stain, you will need a dry cleaning solvent and a clean cloth. Using the blotting technique (applying gentle pressure on the stain with the cloth), you can fully absorb the stain. Make sure the solvent is safe to use on your upholstery by testing on an inconspicuous area first.

- Carpet - you need to follow the same procedure for getting crayons off your carpet as upholstery. There is a trick that can help you remove even more crayon after scraping, however. Here is how you do that: first, use a clean white cloth to cover the area. Touch the cloth with the tip of a warm iron. That should help transfer the wax of the crayon from the carpet to the cloth. Doing this will likely spare further need of carpet cleaning.

- Clothing - in case your child has marked some clothes with crayons, you can clean them relatively easy. Simply wash the clothes in hot water using your regular laundry detergent, but don’t forget to add a cup of baking soda to the mix. Thoroughly inspect the stain spot to ensure it’s gone before you place the clothes in the dryer. Should this fail, you need to launder again with chlorine or colour bleach, depending on the type of clothes you are cleaning.

- Walls - crayon stain removal on walls is easy, but it does require getting some elbow grease. WD-40 has been proven an effective method for getting crayon marks off your walls. Simply spray it on a soft cloth and wipe the walls. Finish the job with some dishwashing detergent in warm water to erase all trace of WD-40. Another method for removing crayon marks on walls involves using toothpaste. Pick one that is not coloured and rub it onto the stain with an old toothbrush. In case your wall is painted, be careful not to rub too hard or you will damage the paint.

Don’t be too mad at your little rascals when they draw with crayons outside their colouring books. Now you know a few effective methods to deal with the problem without too much trouble.