Getting Crayon Wax Out of a Dryer

Anyone that has children knows what a real pain it can be to pull your children's clothes out of the dryer and find melted crayons all over everything. It also seems like once you have the crayons all over everything, you have a really hard time getting it out of the clothes—let alone getting it out of the dryer.

There are a few simple and easy things that anyone can do to remove the crayon wax from their dryer. A few of them are listed below. Once you have done these, you are going to have a perfectly clean dryer—at least one that is free of crayon wax.

• Scrape. Scraping the wax off is an old standby, because it really does work. Use a credit card or soft plastic spatula to scrape the wax off of the walls of your dryer. While you are scraping the gunk off, make sure that you aren't scraping all that hard because if you aren't all that careful you are going to ruin the enamel, and thereby ruin the dryer.
• Blow dryer. Heat, as we all know, tends to have a melting affect on wax. Instead of turning your clothes dryer on and not having any real control over where that crayon wax goes, use a more directed form of heat like from a blow dryer. Hold the blow dryer away from the wax spots about six inches. Once the wax has melted a bit, gently wipe it up with a paper towel. Repeat as often as necessary.
• All-purpose cleaner. A good all purpose cleaner, like Formula 409, and a simple sponge will work wonders at removing melted wax. Simply spray a little of the cleaner onto the sponge and gently (but firmly) scrub away the crayon. Again, you want to be careful when you scrub to avoid scrubbing away any of the enamel siding.
• W-D 40. Spray a small amount of this lubrication material onto a cloth and gently scrub at the crayon spots. Believe it or not, this really does work. When you use this method you don't need to scrub, so much as wipe. Still, be cautious that you don't ruin the enamel.