by Kat Apf

Created on: January 25, 2013   Last Updated: January 30, 2013

Even the most well-behaved children might venture out and use your dining room walls  as a canvas.  Drawing with crayon on the walls usually happens at least once in a child's early years.  So, how do you get crayon marks off the walls?

If you have a budding Picasso who uses your walls as his creative outlet more than once, considering buying cheaper crayons.  Cheaper crayons have more wax than pigment and might be easier to remove.  Crayola crayons have a lot of pigment and can be difficult to remove.

The easiest and most effective way to get crayon off the walls these days is by using Mr. Clean Magic Erase.  This product is the best way to remove crayon on a wall.  Like a small sponge, you wet it slightly and the crayon fairly well wipes away.  Magic Erase is a great cleaner to keep around the house.  Besides crayon marks, it can take shoe scuff marks off your floor and clean pretty much any stubborn stain you might come up against.

WD-40 is another method for removing crayon marks.  Spray it on the offending area and wipe it with a cloth.  This can work on wallpaper too, but test a small out of the way patch to make sure it won't discolor your wallpaper, first.

Toothpaste, not the gel kind, can work in a pinch, too.  Smear a little toothpaste on a cloth or an old toothbrush that no one uses anymore and go over the crayon with it.  It might take some time to remove the crayon, but eventually it will work.  The trick is to rub gently and keep going over the marks.

Baking soda has many household uses and getting crayon off the walls in one of them. Make a paste out of baking soda and a little warm water; apply to the wall with either an old toothbrush or a clean cloth and rub.  The crayon will disappear.

Believe it or not, mayonnaise is another method you can try; but be careful, the fat in the mayo might leave a more unsightly stain than the crayon marks.  With a clean cloth, rub some mayo on the marks, wait a few minutes and wipe it clean.  This is not a good way to clean wallpaper, though, because it will most probably leave a grease stain. 

The above methods work well, but the best way to solve this problem is to closely supervise your little artists. But mistakes happen and it's good to know they can be resolved easily.

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