Crowdsourcing request: crayon marks on wall. Not coming off.

19 thoughts on “Crowdsourcing request: crayon marks on wall. Not coming off.”

1. Paint.

   1. Specifically, paint the affected area first with an oil-based primer such as Kilz or Zinsser’s B-I-N products (both on Amazon but likely cheaper at your local hardware store) then paint the affected area.
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      Worth pointing out that, with a little painters’ tape and a weekend of work, you could paint a high density, high-gloss “wainscot” on the bottom X feet of the kids’ walls (how high can they reach?) that’ll clean up a lot easier.
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      Mew

      1. What acat said.

2. Mr Clean Magic Eraser.

   1. Said from experience with my son’s room and the crayons he was using to draw a picture for his friend who was on a sleepover. Came right off. I was amazed.
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      2 comments and you’re done 🙂
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      Any grocery store or even on Amazon

   2. This. 1000x this.
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      (Of course, it’s a micro-abrasive, so it *may* make the surface look slightly less sheen-y. You should have matte walls anyways, though, right?)

      1. Agreed. Another option is WD-40, but that sometimes fades the paint….

      2. It will mess up the paint but easier to touch up than having to re-prime first.

         1. It will definitely mess up (comletely remove, if you work at it) oil based paints. Latex, not so much….

3. Sandpaper? Flame thrower? A lot of good ideas here.

4. Steam Cleaner?

5. Lighter fluid…

6. Buy crayola washable markers and toss the crayons

7. I actually did some searching online.
   http://housekeeping.about.com/od/surfaceswalls/tp/crayonwalls.htm
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   The idea that they give actually makes some sense. Crayons are essentially wax, and heating it would cause the wax to start to liquify, and then that might make it easier to get it off the wall without damaging the paint.

   1. Yep, but you need to give the wax somewhere to go or it’ll just migrate further into the (porous) paint… and we’re back to Kilz.
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      Mew

      1. That’s why it recommended also using soap and water…
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         It was 2 step process.

      2. You can get up candle wax with an iron and a paper towel. The paper towel goes between the iron & the candle wax. The warm, melting wax just wicks up into the paper. Do this w/ the distressed wood dining table all the time.

         I also VERY successfully removed green wax (Christmas candles) from a tan wall. Who knew that there would be THAT much breeze from the door down the hallway?????

         I will also second the magic powers of the Mr. Clean erasers.

         Also, 409 is pretty much magic, too, but it WILL take off paint.

         1. I am hearing a lot about the Mr. Clean Magic Erasers.

            Thanks, everybody.

            1. Because they work. With young children, I predict they will become a staple of your cleaning arsenal…..

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