Author Topic: How to clean wall from crayon effectively?  (Read 11376 times)

sequoia

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How to clean wall from crayon effectively?
« on: August 08, 2014, 03:13:16 PM »
Hello,
I have a rental home that the tenant moved out. Apparently the tenant do not teach her kid not to draw on the wall. So now I have walls full of markings in black crayon.

Any idea how to clean this quickly? Cost is also a factor since this is a rental home.  I am not sure if painting the wall is going to cover the marking. The wall paint is kinda beige.

Appreciate any advice.
Chris

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sequoia

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Re: How to clean wall from crayon effectively?
« Reply #2 on: August 08, 2014, 03:20:07 PM »
Yeah I am thinking about Magic Eraser too, but was hoping we dont have to scurb. I am dealing with a huge area, and scrubbing is going to take a long time....

theonethatgotaway

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Re: How to clean wall from crayon effectively?
« Reply #3 on: August 08, 2014, 03:20:23 PM »
This happened to me recently in my own home. I painted two coats of original color. Easy.

sequoia

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Re: How to clean wall from crayon effectively?
« Reply #4 on: August 08, 2014, 03:31:23 PM »
This happened to me recently in my own home. I painted two coats of original color. Easy.

So I take it you paint on top of the crayon, right?

I was told by guy at paint store I need to get rid of the crayon somehow, otherwise the paint wont stick. I also need to put primer first. He may just try to get me to buy some stuffs...

I may try to repaint in small area, and see how it end up. Thanks!

electriceagle

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Re: How to clean wall from crayon effectively?
« Reply #5 on: August 08, 2014, 03:45:40 PM »
Painting over a wall is much easier than cleaning a wall. Paint over it.

ZMonet

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Re: How to clean wall from crayon effectively?
« Reply #6 on: August 08, 2014, 04:55:05 PM »
Try and get as much crayon off as you can easily.   Some TSP cleaner may help.  Then, either prime the wall with something like Kilz and then paint, OR buy a paint + primer in one and be prepared to do at least two coats.

Dicey

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Re: How to clean wall from crayon effectively?
« Reply #7 on: August 09, 2014, 12:15:48 AM »
+3 on the Magic Eraser. I just woke DH up to ask him. He's a painting contractor. He said to try it first and report back. If it doesn't work, he'll give you a few more ideas.

Doomspark

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Re: How to clean wall from crayon effectively?
« Reply #8 on: August 09, 2014, 05:05:18 AM »
+4 for Magic Eraser - it's the ONLY thing I've found that removes cat snot from painted walls.  It's going to require some elbow grease, but not too horrid.

deedeezee

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Re: How to clean wall from crayon effectively?
« Reply #9 on: August 09, 2014, 05:44:49 AM »
+5 for Magic Eraser.

Rural

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Re: How to clean wall from crayon effectively?
« Reply #10 on: August 09, 2014, 06:50:22 AM »
Dollar General carries a cheaper offbrand of Magic Eraser. Sounds like you may need several.

Emilyngh

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Re: How to clean wall from crayon effectively?
« Reply #11 on: August 09, 2014, 07:17:11 AM »
Have you considered trying a magic eraser ;)

(They really are the bomb for these types of things)

GuitarStv

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Re: How to clean wall from crayon effectively?
« Reply #12 on: August 09, 2014, 08:19:48 AM »
How are you getting the wall on the crayon to begin with?

greenmimama

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Re: How to clean wall from crayon effectively?
« Reply #13 on: August 09, 2014, 08:48:56 AM »
+1 to buying them at dollar general, I just did that last week to clean up a disgusting paddle boat, it looks like new again and didn't take much scrubbing at all.

Hope it works well for you, ad when you buy them, buy a lot, they disintegrate as you use them and you don't want to run out of them while in the middle of a project.

Thegoblinchief

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Re: How to clean wall from crayon effectively?
« Reply #14 on: August 09, 2014, 12:09:59 PM »
Magic Eraser on crayon doesn't work for shit. It's going to scuff the paint up enough that you need to repaint anyways.

I tried it, so I know from personal experience.

Prime with a good stainblocking primer and repaint.

Freckles

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Re: How to clean wall from crayon effectively?
« Reply #15 on: August 09, 2014, 12:21:28 PM »
Sometimes children don't do exactly as you instruct them.  They have minds of their own and very little impulse control.  I'm sure your former tenant did not want her child practicing his or her graffiti artist skills on your walls.

That said, she and her child should have cleaned them before moving out.

Dicey

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Re: How to clean wall from crayon effectively?
« Reply #16 on: August 09, 2014, 01:23:54 PM »
Sequoia, please tell us you're keeping enough of her deposit to cover the damage! As to the Magic Erasers, yeah, I'm here to tell you the dollar store ones do not work as well. Costco carries a ME multipack that is pretty cheap and they don't disintegrate as fast. If you used good paint in the first place, Magic Eraser won't hurt it. If that doesn't work, a primer coat of KILZ and a new coat of paint are the way to go. Paint with primer in it may not do as well over black crayon.
Sorry for the extra work, but hopefully the place was due for paint soon anyway. At least it's a write off.

Joggernot

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Re: How to clean wall from crayon effectively?
« Reply #17 on: August 09, 2014, 04:14:55 PM »
We had the same thing happen - yes, one whole wall in their kid's room.  Cleaned as much as we could, but crayon is a wax and unless we wanted to use an organic solvent (like gasoline) we couldn't get it all off.  We used Kills primer and another coat of paint.  Kills keeps the crayon from coming through.  Another thing to try would be shellac, which is used to seal in cigarette smell on the walls.  Then paint.

sequoia

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Re: How to clean wall from crayon effectively?
« Reply #18 on: August 09, 2014, 08:52:21 PM »
We ended up using baking soda + little water, to make a paste, then scrub and scrub. We also have magic eraser. We only do this to the part with thickest crayon. If it isnt too bad, we just repainted. We may have to do another layer of paint tomorrow. We ended up repainting almost the whole house. The crayon was everywhere, bedroom, hallways, stairs, living room, carpet. The house had all kind of markings (pen, pencils, crayons, dirty hands,etc), stains, and 3 large holes.

We repainted the entire house 5 months ago before the tenant move in, new carpets, new flooring, etc, and I am surprised how nasty and dirty the house in 5 months. Its like the tenant does not have personal hygiene... yucks.... I have a 3 yr old, and he commented how dirty the walls are....

Yes, we are keeping her deposit because she broke her lease.

Really appreciate everyone's comments.
« Last Edit: August 09, 2014, 08:55:03 PM by sequoia »

Dicey

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Re: How to clean wall from crayon effectively?
« Reply #19 on: August 10, 2014, 12:29:53 PM »
S - Make sure you follow the rules for deposits in your state. The deck is stacked against the landlord. If you fail to dot a single "i" or cross all the t's, she can come after you in court and sadly, get money back. I hope you took a lot of photos.

Here's a small tip FWIW - I always try to peek at and in a prospective tenant's vehicle if possible. It can be a good clue as to their overall level of tidiness.

greenmimama

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Re: How to clean wall from crayon effectively?
« Reply #20 on: August 10, 2014, 12:58:37 PM »
I'm so sorry you had to do all of that, sucks for you. I know you have no control over this but I got a great tip for my own home before my youngest was even 6mo old, never allow any kind of crayon or marker that is washable into your home, they will find their way onto walls even if by accident and that makes it much easier to clean up.

I hope you can find a great tenant to take her place!

LadyStache

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Re: How to clean wall from crayon effectively?
« Reply #21 on: August 11, 2014, 10:25:03 AM »
Try melting the wax with a hairdryer, then wiping with a hot, soapy cloth. If that doesn't work, here are a few other options: http://tipnut.com/21-crayon-busters-how-to-remove-crayon-from-walls/

arebelspy

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Re: How to clean wall from crayon effectively?
« Reply #22 on: August 30, 2014, 11:42:29 PM »
I have a rental going vacant soon that has this issue.  My plan is paint with built in primer over the top of it.  Scrubbing won't get it all.

What'd you end up doing?  How'd it work out?
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Rube

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Re: How to clean wall from crayon effectively?
« Reply #23 on: August 31, 2014, 12:06:27 AM »
Isn't it just grease? Why not a degreaser like Fast Orange or Gojo?

arebelspy

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Re: How to clean wall from crayon effectively?
« Reply #24 on: August 31, 2014, 12:21:53 AM »
Isn't it just grease? Why not a degreaser like Fast Orange or Gojo?

Isn't it wax?  Is wax and grease the same thing (or at least one a subset of the other)?  I didn't think so, but I'm often wrong..
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
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Janie

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Re: How to clean wall from crayon effectively?
« Reply #25 on: August 31, 2014, 07:30:04 AM »
Goo Gone does a great job on crayon

ruthiegirl

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Re: How to clean wall from crayon effectively?
« Reply #26 on: August 31, 2014, 08:53:40 AM »
I have a 2 year old and we live in a rental.  And yes, there were a couple of marks on the walls.  I removed all of them with toothpaste and a soft cloth.  The paint looks just fine.

Removed sharpie from the wood work, crayon from a built in table top and a small spot of pen in the wall. 

Sometimes kids just make a mess. 

Goldielocks

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Re: How to clean wall from crayon effectively?
« Reply #27 on: August 31, 2014, 09:04:35 AM »
Magic Eraser on crayon doesn't work for shit. It's going to scuff the paint up enough that you need to repaint anyways.

I tried it, so I know from personal experience.

Prime with a good stainblocking primer and repaint.

+1. Magic eraser only works because it removes paint with crayon.  If it doesn't, then it smears.

Expensive primer designed to block, and tint it to your wall so you only need 1 coat of cheaper top paint.  Beige top colour should have good hiding power too.

Good luck!

Joggernot

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Re: How to clean wall from crayon effectively?
« Reply #28 on: August 31, 2014, 11:53:17 AM »
Removed sharpie from the wood work...

Acetone cleanly removes sharpie with no residue and no damage to paint.

ruthiegirl

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Re: How to clean wall from crayon effectively?
« Reply #29 on: August 31, 2014, 12:04:45 PM »
Removed sharpie from the wood work...

Acetone cleanly removes sharpie with no residue and no damage to paint.

That's a good idea.  I don't normally have acetone in my house.  What is a household product with acetone?  Nail polish remover?

The toothpaste really does work -- maybe because of the slightly gritty nature of the paste.  I bet baking soda would do the same thing. 

And really, little kids can do a huge amount of scribbling in the blink of an eye.  It's not like we teach them to be destructive.  But it is good to have a pocketful of cleaning tips to avert disaster with our landlords.  Love all these ideas. 

Joggernot

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Re: How to clean wall from crayon effectively?
« Reply #30 on: August 31, 2014, 12:25:43 PM »
Removed sharpie from the wood work...

Acetone cleanly removes sharpie with no residue and no damage to paint.

That's a good idea.  I don't normally have acetone in my house.  What is a household product with acetone?  Nail polish remover?
Yes, fingernail polish remove is basically acetone.  Should work.

MicroRN

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Re: How to clean wall from crayon effectively?
« Reply #31 on: August 31, 2014, 01:24:06 PM »
That's a good idea.  I don't normally have acetone in my house.  What is a household product with acetone?  Nail polish remover?

Yes, but buy the super cheap remover that doesn't have added conditioners.  Those can inhibit the removal or leave odd greasy marks. 

Dicey

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Re: How to clean wall from crayon effectively?
« Reply #32 on: September 02, 2014, 02:27:51 PM »
Regarding the acetone for sharpie marker (and minor hijack alert): Would it work on upholstered furniture? MIL got sharpie on an armchair in a very obvious place. I'm thinking the acetone might take the color out of the fabric. Anyone have any experience?

Joggernot

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Re: How to clean wall from crayon effectively?
« Reply #33 on: September 02, 2014, 03:32:28 PM »
Sorry, no experience with anything cloth.  Wood, walls, paint, plastic, hard surfaces have been no problem.  Just don't flood it.  A little on a cloth/paper towel and wipe gently.  Personally, I'd try it on the patch in the back before trying the sharpie mark, just to make sure it won't harm the fabric or color.