Crayon Removal From Wood Floors And Furniture

by Taylor
(Stain-Removal-101.com)

Here are tips for crayon removal from wood floors and furniture, if your child starts coloring on these surfaces, instead of wood.

There are lots of tips floating around about how to clean these marks off, some a bit safer for your wood floors and furniture than others. I guess I am always especially cautious when dealing with hardwood floors, since they can be easily damaged, and expensive to repair.

I would suggest that with whatever method you end up choosing, such as what I am suggesting below, or any other method, that you first test the cleaner in an inconspicuous area before working directly onto the stain, so that you can confirm it does not harm your hardwood before beginning.

For crayon removal from wood floors and furniture, I would suggest using mineral spirits. Basically, mineral spirits are a mild solvent which is often used to polish hardwood floors.

Because it is a solvent, it can loosen and help remove crayon wax, which is a substance not effected much by water, but effectively dealt with by solvents.

To use it, put a few drops of mineral spirits (a little goes a long way) onto a clean soft cloth and gently rub over the crayon marks to remove them. After removing the crayon, go back over that area with another clean white cloth and buff the wood to remove any remaining mineral spirits, and you're done.

Please note that after using mineral spirits on your wood furniture, you may need to re-wax it, since it will also remove any wax from the area you clean with it.

I've seen a couple of tips suggesting the use of WD-40 for removing crayon marks from wood, and I know why. WD-40 is comprised, in large parts, of mineral spirits (along with several other ingredients, including mineral oil, and others). However, these additional ingredients may stain or harm the wood more than pure mineral spirits, so I am more wary of this option.


Finally, you can use Goo Gone, which the company says is safe for wood surfaces, including your hardwood floors and furniture. Again, however, I would first test this is an inconspicuous area before use, and use as little as possible to prevent harm to the wood. This may be a good use for the Goo Gone pen, which lets out only a small amount of the citrus solvent at a time, instead of the sprays which spread more solvent over a larger surface.

***Update - one of my kids got hold of a purple crayon, and started marking all over my wood table, along with a chair.

All I had on hand was Goo Gone, so I used it carefully, spraying it on the rag and then rubbing that over the marks. They wiped right off! Then, I wipes the wood again, with a clean rag to get off the Goo Gone residue and it does not appear any harm was done to the table! Yay for Goo Gone!***

Have you had to deal with this problem in your own home? If so, how did you remove it? You can share your own tips for how to remove crayon stains from various surfaces, including wood, or read other tips already submitted.

In addition, you can share your tips for how to remove stains on hardwood floors here, or read other tips already submitted.

Photo by Robert S. Donovan

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