How To Remove Crayon From a Washing Machine or Dryer

Close your eyes and picture this scenario for a moment: you are lounging around the house after a long day at work and decide to wash one more load of clothes before going to bed. You separate your family’s clothes according to color, toss a load into the washing machine and press the start button. When you check it the following day, however, you notice your clothes and the washing machine are covered in melted crayon.

Trying to remove melted crayon from clothes is tough enough, but removing it from the nooks and crannies of a washing machine and/or clothes dryer is even more difficult. And to make matters worse, any clothes you attempt to wash in the future will also be covered in melted crayon – at least until you clean the remaining rainbow of destruction from the inside of your unit.

Scrape It

Your first course of action should be to scrape off as much crayon as you can using either a putty knife or an old charge card. If the lighting is poor in your laundry room, you may need to wear a headlamp so you can see exactly where the crayon is located. Having a light fixated directly inside your washing machine or dryer will make the process ten times easier.

Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for crayon to melt down around the base of a washing machine’s agitator. When this occurs, you’ll need to remove the agitator so you thoroughly clean it and the unit. Refer to your owner’s manual for step-by-step instructions on how to remove the agitator. Take the putty scraper or charge card and run it along the side of the agitator to scoop off any hardened chunks of melted crayon.

Spray It

Want to know the secret to removing crayon from major home appliances? It’s WD-40. This stuff is not only great for fixing squeaky hinges and lubricating automotive parts. It’s also great for removing melted crayon. WD-40 is a powerful solvent that breaks down the chemical makeup of crayons and other common elements. Spray a small amount on an old washcloth and scrub the affected area in your washing machine and/or dryer.

Another powerful crayon-removing solvent is a product called Goo Gone (available for sale at most home improvement stores). It can be used to remove melted crayon and other stains in the same manner as WD-40: pour or spray a small amount on a washcloth and scrub the affected area.