How to Get Crayon Out of Clothes (Including a Dryer Melt)
Updated July 2026
The short answer
Crayon is wax plus strong pigment — candle wax's messier cousin. A single mark comes out with the chill-scrape-absorb routine: harden it, scrape the bulk, lift the rest into paper towels with a warm iron, then treat the pigment mark with dish soap. The bigger disaster — a crayon that rode through the dryer and speckled a whole load — is recoverable too: rewash everything hot-as-labels-allow with a full dose of detergent plus a degreasing boost, and clean the drum before it re-marks the next load.
Before you start
You need: ice or a freezer, a dull knife, white paper towels, an iron, dish soap. For a dryer-melt load: liquid dish soap or a degreasing laundry booster, plus supplies to wipe out the dryer drum.
Keep the iron on low and test synthetics on a hidden area — the fabric melts before the wax cleans.
For a dryer incident, deal with the machine too: wax left on the drum transfers to every future load. The drum cleanup is the same as for ink in the dryer, with the warm-wipe method.
Steps
For crayon marks on a garment:
- 1Chill the wax hard (freezer or ice bag) and scrape off the bulk with a dull knife.
- 2Sandwich with paper towels and press with a warm iron on low — the wax melts into the paper. Move to clean paper until nothing transfers.
- 3Work dish soap into the pigment mark left behind, sit 10 minutes, rinse warm.
- 4Wash per the care label and air dry , repeating the dish soap round if color remains.
For a crayon melted in the dryer over a load:
- 1Rewash the whole load in the warmest water the care labels allow, with a normal detergent dose plus a squirt of dish soap or a degreasing booster. Heavily marked items may need the iron-and-paper treatment individually first.
- 2Air dry everything and inspect — rewash the stragglers rather than re-drying wax in.
- 3Clean the dryer drum before the next load: warm (not hot) drum, wipe the wax marks with a soft cloth and a little dish soap solution, then a damp rinse wipe and a rag test load.
What not to do
- Do not iron crayon without paper towels — you will spread pigmented wax and coat the iron.
- Do not run the dryer again after a melt until the drum is cleaned; every cycle re-marks clothes.
- Do not use a hot iron on synthetics.
- Do not machine-dry any item that still shows wax or color.
- Do not scrape soft crayon — chill it first.
Frequently asked questions
A crayon melted in the dryer over a whole load — is it ruined?
Usually not. Rewash everything in the warmest water the labels allow with detergent plus a squirt of dish soap, air dry, and repeat for stragglers. Heavily waxed spots get the iron-and-paper-towel lift first. Clean the drum before any new load or it re-marks.
How do I clean melted crayon out of the dryer drum?
Warm (not hot) drum, unplugged machine: wipe the marks with a soft cloth and dish soap solution, rinse-wipe, dry, then run a rag test load. Stubborn wax softens with brief low-heat warmup before wiping. Avoid abrasives that scratch the drum coating.
Does crayon come out after the stain has been washed and dried repeatedly?
Each heat cycle bonds the wax and pigment harder, so expect partial results: iron-and-paper to pull remaining wax, then repeated dish soap rounds for pigment. It is worth two attempts before calling the mark permanent.
Are washable crayons actually washable?
Far more forgiving than classic wax crayons — most marks release with dish soap and a normal wash while fresh. Dried and heat-set washable crayon still benefits from the chill-scrape-then-wash routine.
Crayon on the wall or car upholstery too? Use the Stain Rescue Tool for those surfaces.
Use the Stain Rescue Tool