The Crayon Catastrophe

The other day was laundry day.  I was on my second load and about to switch my third and final load from the wash to the dryer.  I opened my dryer, took out the clothes, and saw this:

Purple crayon ALL OVER THE DRYER!  AHHHHHHH!

Seriously?  C'mon!  Once I saw that, I immediately looked down at the clothes that I had just pulled out.  They. Were. Covered.  AHHHHHH!  So frustrating!

So, my way of coping with this frustrating situation?  I got out a garbage bag, put all of those clothes in it, shoved it all back in the dryer, and shut the door.  Not dealing with it!

Well, that plan could only last a few days b/c my second laundry day was coming up.  So, today, I decided to face it...at least the dryer.  (The clothes are still in the garbage bag in the hallway.  I'll let ya know how I deal with that.)

I did a little bit of investigation and began my cleaning.  This is what I used:

WD-40, a soft cloth, dish soap, and a sponge.
(You should have seen my husbands face when I told him that I needed the WD-40 for my dryer...oh, ye of little faith!)

I began by spraying the WD-40 on the soft cloth and wiped over all of the marks.  While it lightened them, it did not get rid of them.  So, then I put soap on the tough side of the sponge and scrubbed.  It came off pretty quickly, but it definitely took a lot of elbow grease.  I repeated this all over the dryer drum and this is what I ended with:

Pretty good!  There are still some faint marks but I think thats fine.  It took about 20 minutes to thoroughly clean the entire dryer and I'll admit, my arms and hands are TIRED.

So, if you ever find yourself with a crayon filled dryer, here's your solution.  OR, if you are finding your arms to be a bit flabby this would also be a good solution!  Either way, I have learned my lessons!  I will never NOT check pockets ever again!  Scrubbing my dryer is not exactly how I picture myself spending nap time!