Somewhere amid all the poopy and puky laundry I've been doing for the last week and a half, a large white load went through that included...a purple crayon.
I was skeptical, but after spending all day on this one load, almost all of the crayon came out...even after sitting for several days. (This load had to "take a number" behind all the puked-on bedding)
So, you can imagine my horror, when I went to get my white load out of the dryer yesterday, and there was a 1/4" piece of purple crayon sitting on top of the lint trap, and all our socks and underwear were once again COVERED in purple spots. It never occurred to me that a piece of crayon could still be lurking within the load.
A murm'ring word escaped my tongue.
Later, when I went to get the mattress pad to make Dillon's bed, I was again horrified, as the pillow, and Todd's coat, were now purple. (cue the murm'ring word...)
Todd had a great idea, to take a blow dryer and melt the crayon, and then use an old toothbrush, some paper towels, and De-Solve it to clean the melted mess. Too bad he was on his way to work...
My dryer is now clean, my original white load has been through it's fourth wash and the second rinse cycle, and I'm about to do the whole thing again with the pillow and Todd's coat. I'm down to one more load of poopy stuff (a blanket, a pillowcase, and a slumber bag...poor Dillon tried to clean this mess himself before finally waking me up at 1:30 AM on Wed. night) and then I can start on the mound of clothes that has been piling up while I've been busy with bedding and crayon spots.
If this happens again, I'm moving to Australia...wearing purple spotted underwear.
I immediately got online and found this recipe for just such an occasion, cleverly entitled "This is the one":
"This is the one"
2 maximum load scoops of liquid Tide (I used Tide w/bleach powder)
1 cup Borax
1 cup liquid Shout stain remover
1 cup white vinegar
2 scoops Oxi-Clean
Fill washing machine with HOT water and let the "recipe" dissolve. Add your crayon infested clothes and let soak for 2 hours. Finish washing the load. Wash again with Tide and vinegar (I just used vinegar because my laundry reeked of detergent...and vinegar will neutralize the soap). Finish with an EXTRA rinse cycle (or two).
I was skeptical, but after spending all day on this one load, almost all of the crayon came out...even after sitting for several days. (This load had to "take a number" behind all the puked-on bedding)
So, you can imagine my horror, when I went to get my white load out of the dryer yesterday, and there was a 1/4" piece of purple crayon sitting on top of the lint trap, and all our socks and underwear were once again COVERED in purple spots. It never occurred to me that a piece of crayon could still be lurking within the load.
A murm'ring word escaped my tongue.
I put the white load back in the washer, and proceeded to go through the same LONG process to remove the crayon. While this load was soaking, I took my last puke-load that I had just washed (a pillow, Todd's coat, and a mattress pad) and put them in the dryer.
Later, when I went to get the mattress pad to make Dillon's bed, I was again horrified, as the pillow, and Todd's coat, were now purple. (cue the murm'ring word...)
Too bad you weren't here to see the next part of the show...me, inside the dryer...looking for the offending crayon. And then I found it...a melted mess in a 1/4" space under the lint trap.
Todd had a great idea, to take a blow dryer and melt the crayon, and then use an old toothbrush, some paper towels, and De-Solve it to clean the melted mess. Too bad he was on his way to work...
My dryer is now clean, my original white load has been through it's fourth wash and the second rinse cycle, and I'm about to do the whole thing again with the pillow and Todd's coat. I'm down to one more load of poopy stuff (a blanket, a pillowcase, and a slumber bag...poor Dillon tried to clean this mess himself before finally waking me up at 1:30 AM on Wed. night) and then I can start on the mound of clothes that has been piling up while I've been busy with bedding and crayon spots.
If this happens again, I'm moving to Australia...wearing purple spotted underwear.
12 comments:
If that had happened to me I would not move to Austrailia But my whole family would be wearing purple spotted underwear right hear in the capital of Wayne County. I would never have gone to all that trouble. You, My dear, Are amazing.
how do you have a sense of humor about everything!?!? i would have been in tears, all the laundry would be in the garbag can and i would have a mondo internet shopping spree/bill. good luck!!!! oh, and i'm so sorry we didn't get to play last weekend. you were definately missed!!!
Oh Felicia, what a woman! Hopefully someday you can look back at this and laugh.
Wow! What dedication and ingenuity. I hope a crayon never crosses your path again!
Wow! Who knew that a crayon would do so much damage. LOL about the purple spotted underwear. I remember Lance Palmers wife (name?) had a crayon go through her dryer too. I wonder where they are now, do you know?
ARGH! That is THE worst. I feel your pain...only I dried a red crayon. Wish I would have had the "This Is The One" recipe when I did it.
If I had a disposable income I would hire you a laundress. I'd also have her double as a night time nanny so you could catch up on your sleep.
:o) Kudos to you for only allowing a few murmuring words to escape your tounge and for finding the humor in the purple haze!
So, what is your murm'ring word of choice?
All of our sheets and mattress pad have blue ink spots... I figure no one will ever see them but me. The white wash would be another story though. What a pain.
I'd also like to know your murmering word of choice. You tell me yours I'll tell you mine.
I have to say, I would have thrown everything away and gone shopping, without my pukers and poopers. You need a break!
My murm'ring word of choice sounds like Shmit :o)
I COULDN'T throw my load away. The closest place to buy LDS underwear is over 2 hours from here...and Todd's was all new. Besides, I'd rather put the money towards FINISHING my bathroom/laundry room!
The good news is that I compared my load to other whites in my drawer (that escaped the crayon disease), and everything is definitely whiter now!
The pillow is still covered in purple...as well as Todd's coat. I do not care about the pillow or the mattress pad having spots...I just don't want them to "bleed" onto my dryer or anything else. Unlike a pen stain, crayon melts.
Oh, and Sandra, Lance's wife is LeAnn, and last I heard he was teaching at a school in Athens, Georgia.
Ewwww....I am so sorry that you had to deal with this!!!!
And I hate driers, I remember when my heating unit went out I took that puppy to pieces and popped a new one in to save myself the repair bill. (And of course I had to do it, as D- was a student at the time, hence no money for repairs!)
So I can totally see you cleaning out the drier!
If you go to Australia, I want to come too! We can play connect the dots on your purple spotted underwear!
I'm so sorry! That's all I can think of to say!
Our offending crayon was green and it was also washed and dried with whites. Those are the days you want to hit something very hard. I was told to spray it all with WD40 and it worked and I salvaged almost everything.
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