How to Remove Crayon from Hard Surfaces with Vaseline
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Depending on your kids' artistic leanings, you may have had to clean crayon off of hard surfaces like walls and tables before. And if you've ever dabbled in melted crayon art, you've probably also been faced with the challenge of finding out how to remove dried wax from the table. Fortunately, I've got just the secret ingredient for removing crayon from hard surfaces!
This very thing happened to me the last time I made a batch of homemade firestarters, when I spilled melted crayon wax on my kitchen table and didn't clean it up fast enough.
Step 1: Scrape off the excess wax
Use a firm yet non-sharp item such as a plastic fork handle to scrape off any excess wax from the table. Be careful not to damage the surface by scraping too hard.
This should get it down to a just some small streaks of wax.
Step 2: Rub with petroleum jelly
At this point, all you need to remove the wax is some ordinary household
Vaseline petroleum jelly. Just put a little bit on a paper towel and wipe in a circular motion on the table.
And just like that, the wax will be gone!
TIP: Removing crayon from painted walls
Clearly this technique would work to remove crayon wax from any surface that can survive having petroleum jelly applied to it, such as a kitchen counter, table, or other work surface. When it comes to painted walls, though, with their porous nature, there's an extra step involved.
Because wall paint will absorb the petroleum jelly, you'll end up with a greasy spot after you remove the crayon. Fortunately this is easy to remove with a couple of drops of dish soap on a wet sponge. Nothing cuts grease like Dawn, right? In my experiments (I drew on my garage wall to test, and this technique worked perfectly!), I found that once I wiped the soap suds away and let it dry, the greasy spot was gone and the wall was clean once again.
So the next time you find yourself the victim of a budding artist who thinks walls make great canvases, remember that petroleum jelly is a safe and effective way to remove crayon wax from most hard surfaces. Give it a whirl and then let me know how it goes!
7 comments so far:
If your surface is resistant to heat you can use your clothes iron. Place tissue paper over the crayon and set an iron on the paper. Be sure the iron is on low heat and has no ateam. As the paper heats, the wax it will adhere to the it and lift right off. I have done this to remove candle wax and it works great.
This was so useful! I'm 15, and I have two younger siblings...since I'm the oldest, I'm the one stuck cleaning up the crayon always drawn on the walls. Worked perfectly! Thank you so much!
Thank you for this! My two year made a masterpiece on the wall outside her bedroom while I was getting her brother to bed. It worked like a charm and was quick and easy.
Sarah, we're so glad we could help with the clean-up.
Thank you! Thank you!
Over a year ago...My daughter left a toddler sized red crayon in her carseat cup holder, which melted to the bottom in the summer heat. The cup holder was a light grey and at the end of the day it was red. I was completely at a loss of how I would ever get that out. So with my hesitation, I left it for over a year- yes a year...fall winter spring... And tonight washing the covers which I do periodically ...I searched and found your crayon removal post. The cup holder is light grey again after a whole year of the crayon remelting & freezing. Good as new! Thank you from one mommy to another!
Valerie, we're so glad we were able to help you solve this problem at last!
Thank you! Absolutely brilliant! I usually use boiling water to melt the wax and then wipe it off but it doesn't always get rid of every trace. This worked a treat. I had a big tub of Vaseline for my baby which rarely got used - it gets used now!