Help, crayon on the wall!

[lhall]

DD drew on the painted wall with crayon tonight. How do I get this off, or is repainting that spot my best option?

Thanks
Leigh

[BlueMoose]

I've actually just used Windex to get it off.

[guavagirl]

... and would the same apply for pencil marks? i've made a mess of things in attempting to hang a new shade.

of course, perhaps we should cover all of the artistic marking materials: acrylic paints, watercolors, ink markers ... :D

[Nirak]

Try Scrubbing Bubbles for the crayon. Not much works for pencil. In fact, Martha recommends labling your plants with pencil because it is virtually element proof.

[HARRYET]

Try using a gum eraser on the pencil. A friend of mine drew a line on her daughters bedroom wall randomly, so she could stamp butterflies on the wall. The gum eraser worked like a charm for her.

Good Luck Ann

[BethR]

Try www.crayola.com for tips on removing crayon from many surfaces. I removed crayon from an easel chalkboard with WD-40 following their advice.

Beth

[Alisa]

Toothpaste will remove pencil marks from walls - no, really!

[lindrusso]

Goo-Gone, found in the cleaning sections of most stores, works wonders! It is especially good for oily, waxy type stains. It even got bright pink (courtesy of my 4-year-old, who was also responsible for the crayon marks) chapstick out of my white carpet! I found that the Goo-Gone worked best on the crayon marks that were on satin paint, flat paint is very hard to clean!

[SueK]

I used Murphy's Oil Soap, mixed with a bit of water, when my DD wrote on her bedroom wall, and it worked great. It doesn't seem to work as well on wallpapered walls, but did do well on painted walls.

[Gail]

Wow.

Where were you all when I needed you seven years ago?

[BosunsWife]

I just have to say this - DD's crayons are the washable type. Please tell me that the crayons that your DD used were the nonwashable type! I don't have any problem getting her washable crayon marks off her table, but fortunately she hasn't tried the walls yet.

I can tell you a pencil story though. DH's parents bought DD one of those custom made stools - beechwood with her name as a puzzle in the middle of it. I know the store (Old Saybrook, CT) where they ordered it is a "grandma" store so I know they paid a bundle for it. Well, to make a long story short, she found a pencil outside and I thought it was broken with no lead. I was putting her toys away and looked at the stool. I just about came unglued. She had written(scribbled) all over the top of it. I grabbed Old English Furniture Oil and started scrubbing. I got it all off. You can only tell she wrote on it in one small spot - she kind of gouged the wood. It is the closest I have ever come to giving her a swat. Now pencil on plastic stuff is another story. She wrote on her Little Tikes picnic table and I've tried everything to get it off to no avail. We have no more pencils in the house LOL!

[lhall]

My DD used plain old crayola crayons. I'm trying the murphy's oil soap because I had some and knew where it was! It is working, but seems to be taking some of the paint with it. Look like I may have to repaint, at least since I painted the walls myself I have some more paint.

I did go to http://www.crayola.com under Helpful Information they have a whole database of their products on different materials and how to get them out. They recommended WD40, but alas I don't have any of that.

Last week she colored on the kitchen walls, but that's wallpaper and I happily discovered the people we bought the house from put scrubable wallpaper in the kitchen!

Leigh

[clairea]

Does anyone have ideas for getting ink out of wood? When I wasn't looking DD drew on my kitchen table with a ball point pen! I've tried Murphy's and that seems to have lightened it up a little but didn't come close to getting it all out. Bosunswife -- do you think the old english oil would work on this too (I've never tried this product)? Anyone have any other ideas?

[BosunsWife]

You might give it a shot. I had it because I was going to use it to give my Broyhill pine coffee table and end tables a good cleaning. I grabbed it in my frantic state and was lucky that it worked. I was so pleased with it that the next day I finally cleaned my tables, DD's armoire (same style as tables) and an oak bookcase that I had initially just rubbed with tung oil instead of using a stain on. Good luck.

[JoanneOR]

OK, how about this one? My 2-year old found a black marker and wrote all over the arm of one of our living room chairs. Its a beige (of course!) white cloth chair. Any ideas on how to get that off, or is it hopeless? I'm not even sure what kind of marker he used, because I'm not sure where he got it from and I can't find it. He also tore two chunks of wallpaper off my hallway walls. Arrghh!:D

[lhall]

DD used washable crayola marker and regular crayon on some of my furniture. I had some Resolve (I think) upholstery cleaner. That got the crayon off. For the marker, since it was on the cushions, I just took the cushion covers off and tossed them in the washing machine. I did use scotch guard after they were dry to keep new stains off.

[Beth]

Resolve and Capture can be used on upholstery that cannot be washed. If you have a light color, it should be better about not fading the spot.

The first writing my younger DS did was a RED permanent Sharpie on the white walls near the time we put the house on the market. I didn't even try to get it off. I went straight for the KILZ and the touch-up paint.