Wax and gum family: freeze, scrape, melt
How to get crayon out
Wax plus pigment. Treat the wax first, then the colour.
Do this first
Scrape off with a dull knife
Fresh stain
- Scrape off with a dull knife
- Put the stain face-down on paper towels and spray with WD-40 or dab with solvent
- Work in dish soap
- Wash in the hottest water allowed with oxygen bleach
Dried or old
- Iron between paper towels to draw out wax
- Then solvent, dish soap and an oxygen-bleach wash
- Fabric care
- Air dry until clear.
- Time
- 20 min
- How to tell
- Look: waxy coloured lines; Feel: raised and smooth; Smell: crayon
Where this fix comes from
- Household folk practice, checked against the guides above
- American Cleaning Institute, Stain Removal Chart
- University of Illinois Extension, Stain Solutions
We check every fix against these published guides. We do not run a test lab of our own.
Before you start
- Test on a hidden seam first.
- Never mix cleaners.
- Keep it out of the dryer until the stain is gone.