"You got WHAT on WHERE?!"

It's inevitable.  The kids have been napping for over 2 hours now.  You love the peace and quiet, but are starting to get a little worried because it's 3pm and if they sleep any longer, they won't go to bed tonight.  You tip toe to the door and hear little giggles.  You think, in disbelief, "Surely my children aren't playing nicely together, are they?"  Giving them the benefit of the doubt, you slowly open the door with a smile on your face at the thought of a Hollywood perfect sibling bonding.  That's when you notice the crayon in your youngest child's hand, and his puppy dog eyes staring up at you.  "How did that get in here?"  You feel the anxiety start to flutter.  Then your oldest points to the other proclaiming "He did it."  The door is flung open and your two beautiful, innocent, sweet-hearted children have become monsters who have been sent here to torment you for the rest of your days.  They didn't leave a single wall untouched.  They even managed to leave their mark above the closet door (which is a totally different blog for another time.)

Yes, it happens.  Children have an unnatural ability to create messes and stains out of absolutely anything.  I battled one patch of such crayon artwork this afternoon, and was actually quite surprised at how effective it was.  

I walked in on this:

And walked out with this:

All because of this:

(Dino moral support)

How'd I do it?  With WD-40, and a clean sponge.  For a large job, you'll want to have a small bucket of water near by to rinse out the dirty sponge so you don't smear the crayon around.

I was really surprised at how wonderfully this worked.  Now I need to go get another can of WD-40 so i can finish the rest of the walls.

On the topic of stain removal, here are a few other common stains, and tips on how to remove them.

Make-up stains:

You Will Need

Baking soda

Scrub brush

Peroxide

Shout Stain Remover

Bleach

For most any makeup stain, whether it is foundation, eyeshadow, blush or mascara a paste of baking soda and water scrubbed into the stain and allowed to sit overnight will probably remove the stain. Launder the next day in warm water using your normal laundry detergent. Check to see the stain is gone before putting the garment into the dryer. The heat of a dryer will set the stain permanently.  If the stain hasn't been removed, blot with peroxide and let sit.  You may need to repeat a few times.

Lipstick is also a stubborn stain and should be treated as a grease stain. Use hot water and stain remover and allow it to sit, then launder. If any of the color remains, then bleach the garment in a gallon of water with 1/4 cup of bleach added. Rinse well then launder as usual.

Fat, oil stains:

You Will Need

Cornstarch

Iron

Paper towels

Once the fat or oil (gravies, salad dressings, etc) is dry, rub cornstarch into the stain.  Allow to sit 20 minutes, then brush off cornstarch.  Repeat several times to completely remove stain.  If the stain is particularly stubborn, place a paper towel on the inside and the outside of garment, and with the cornstarch sprinkled on the stain, iron the stain with a hot steam iron.

Ink pen stain:

You Will Need

Ultra-hold hairspray

To get an ink stain out, spray ultra-hold hairspray on the stain, let it dry, then wash like normal. ( Don't be afraid of putting too much hairspray on the stain.)

Stubborn undergarment stains (perfect for potty training kids!):

You Will Need

1/2 cup Dishwasher detergent

Pour a half cup of dishwasher detergent in with your soiled undergarments and put it through a normal cycle.  

Melted wax in clothing:

You Will Need

Brown paper bag

Hot iron

Lay a brown paper bag over the garment before you iron over it then keep moving the bag around it will absorb the wax.

Permanent marker on wood floors/furniture/smooth surfaces
You Will Need
Alcohol
Hand Sanitizer
Mr. Clean's Magic Eraser


Use either alcohol or hand sanitizer to scrub the stain with a magic eraser.  It'll pull the stain right up!  (This trick saved my wood floor AND my 2 year old son's life yesterday--hahaha!)

Have any stain removal tips of your own?  Post them in a comment!