Distinctly Different

• Aug. 21, 2007 - Dryer Disaster and Redemption

After a great day visiting with friends yesterday, I threw a load or two of laundry and made dinner. At about 7:30, I made a terrible discovery in my dryer...

Inside a pocket had been lurking two crayons, a red and a blue. Now they were smeared all over the inside of my dryer and all the clothes. This was a load of mixed colorfuls, kacki and light colored pants, white shirts, washrags, dresses, bathtowels...

I brought the children out to the dryer and showed them the mess, reminding them that crayons are not to be carried in pockets. I knew exactly who had done it, for the only pants in the load belonged to just one child. She was very upset at herself!

I got on the computer and found a method for removing the stains:

A wet rag, baking soda and light elbow grease removed the crayon from the dryer, including the plastic seal. Other methods mentioned using toothpaste, the white paste kind and a Mr. Clean Eraser. Baking soda worked fine for us. The guilty party did this part.

I removed the ruined clothes from the garbage can where I had flung them in frustration and re-washed them in this mixture:

Hot Water
regular amount of detergent (the website said to double, but I didn't)
1/2 cup borax
1/2 cup baking soda
1/2 cup spray and wash or shout or something similar
generous squirt of Dawn

I have a front loader and though it was very sudsy, it rinsed fine, and the stains were GONE!

I do not have to replace all the washrags, towels, pants and shirts that I had given up for stained!!!

Blessings,
Momma

Comments

• Aug. 26, 2007 - THANK YOU

Posted by Anonymous

With 6 children, I have "tossed" more than few things through the year after being ruined with the Crayon VS. Dryer battle .... so THANK YOU for these cleanup suggestions. (and for visiting my blog)

God Bless.
MomToCherubs
http://www.becksbounty.blogspot.com

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• Sep. 12, 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Anonymous

This is good to know - I'm filing it away. Thanks!
Amy
http://amyswandering.wordpress.com/

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• Sep. 15, 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Anonymous

That is wonderful that you were able to find a solution for all of it. I probably would have cried.

Thanks for sharing.

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• Sep. 15, 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Anonymous

oops. The above comment is mine. Forgot to leave my name.

Sasha
takenlife.blogspot.com

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• Mar. 15, 2008 - Unknown crayon in dryer

Posted by Anonymous

Thank you for some simple solutions I will try these reconmendations.
When I got home from work today I heard my wife make a horrible sigh as she checked my kahki pants and my white shirts, socks, and under wear. She told me that a bright green crayon had gone through the dryer cycle with my light coloered clothes.
Of course my grand-kids were over today and some how a crayon made it's way into my drying cycle.

I told her not to worry that I would get online and find a cure because we could not be the only ones with this problem and I was right!!
I am waiting to see if these suggestions work. So thank you in advance!!

Smile on grandpaws face in Texas :)

Lane

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• Apr. 29, 2008 - thankyou for the suggestion

Posted by Anonymous

i am off to the store to get the ingredients you suggested for cleaning up my crayon disaster. i found out last night as i pulled all of the white clothes out of the dryer or shall i say tye dye clothes out of the dryer!! all i could do was sit and nod my head in silence, i gently picked up the clothes and put them in a ball on the floor hoping for a miracle cleaner. So thanks i am off to get my miracle now.

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• May. 25, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Mother of Four Small Artists

This has happened several times in my house now. Your suggestions worked great. I did make a slight change, though. I coated the dryer with toothpaste, sprinkled baking soda in the dryer and turned it on for 10 min. After that, I wiped (not scrubbed) the dried toothpaste and baking soda off with a warm wet rag. It saves both time and muscle.
As far as the laundry, hot water, laundry detergent, lots of baking soda and, preferably Borax, do the trick! Just don't dry your clothes until all the stains are out.

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• Aug. 24, 2008 - Saved my boys clothes!

Posted by Anonymous

I Googled "crayons in dryer" and your suggestions worked the best. My boys actually spilt many tears about this little accident. They are 5 & 3. The 3 year old said that it made his heart feel so sad. They will be thrilled that we will not have to throw away some of their favorite clothes. Thanks for sharing.

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• Aug. 29, 2008 - Blue Crayolas in my dryer

Posted by Anonymous

THANK YOU!! I'm too tired to add more to that since it is 1 in the morning, just finished THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

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• Sep. 9, 2008 - Red Crayons in the dryer...

Posted by Anonymous

I can not thank you enough!! I didn't have to throw out my favorite jeans!!!

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• Jun. 30, 2009 - A minor miracle!

Posted by Anonymous

What do you get when you mix a load of denim with one black crayon? A MESS!!! I thought everything was ruined, but your recipe worked! I made a couple of small changes, due to ingredients on hand (or not). I used Oxyclean powder instead of Borax, and I used a bit more Shout and Dawn. Yes, I had to do the whole load twice, but there's now only one pair of my daughter's capris that have even a trace of streaks on them! I can't thank you enough!!!

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