To help entertain grandchildren over the holidays as they spent time with my husband and me, I pulled in the “25 Days to Christmas” coloring pages, put them in folders and purchased crayons for each folder (for family and friends children and grandchildren).
One night I discovered a granddaughter sitting on top of the bed coloring, I asked her to take it off the bed as she might mark the spread…too late, I later discovered. One corner has four streaks of crayon.
What must I do with this spread? I don’t want to take it to the cleaners unless that is the only way to get the crayon out. Would you please advise.
Replies
http://www.crayola.com/canwehelp/staintips/action_stain.cfm
Thanks for directing me to the Crayon web site for stains. It appears that I may need to take my bedspread to a professional cleaner, as I would be afraid to wash it, even on my delicate washing cycle. The bedspread has ribbon flower arrangements in several areas. I have heard that dry cleaners treat and then wash, same as we do at home. What would you do? Treat it yourself and wash on delicate or take it to a professional. They might not guarantee their work. I would hate for any of the lovely ribbon work to come loose; however, this bedspread is too big to wash by hand...and the tip said to use WD40 on the crayon stain. Does anyone know of anything else?
Cleaners certainly have spot-treatments available to them that many of us at home don't have. If I had a good dry cleaner (I used to, in another state!), I'd certainly have entrusted anything to him.
And no, dry cleaning is not washing, though some cleaners also use a water process... you'd just have to talk to them to find out what they planned.Can you get a swatch of a similar fabric? If so, you might try deliberately marking the swatch and then seeing what they (or you) can do with various chemical preparations. WD-40 is often recommended because it's easily available, not an oil, but solvents for oil and similar polar compound. Me, myself and I, I might try some of the
spray carpet cleaners like Spot Shot, which has proven useful to me in the past for oddball stains, and do a spot cleaning. But you'll have to evaluate what you're comfortable with. I truly do think the "least risk" is probably a reputable dry cleaner.Kay
Thank you, Kay. I do believe I will entrust it to a dry cleaner. All comments have been appreciated and led me in the right direction.
Do you have a chest freezer? Crayons are wax based - I would throw the spread in the freezer, and then try to chip the wax out of the fabric - same as you would do with a candle wax spill on a good tablecloth.
Hi Barb,
No, not a chest style freezer, but an upright...maybe I can fold and put it in a large plastic bag and put in my upright for a couple of days and see what I can do with it...thanks for the tip, bj
I once removed green candle wax from a nylon carpet by placing paper towel on it and ironing it (silk or wool setting without steam). Move the paper towel often as it absorbs. You could try this after freezing and removing the excess crayon. WD40 has a strong odor which I found very hard to remove from fabric and required several washings. Something I use often to remove oily stains on clothing immediately b4 throwing in the washer is lighter fluid (keep away from heat and open flame). You could dab it on with lots of paper towel beneath and on top. It evaporates quickly so it should not leave any residue or lasting odor. Try putting crayon on a similar fabric then test some of the solutions before using them on your bedspread. Good Luck
TJV
Thank you for your help. I have been busy this past week and weekend with family and guests and have not yet decided which action to take. With all the good advise I have received, I am confident the crayon will be removed.
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