How To Remove Crayon from Your Carpet

What child doesn't love colouring in? And thanks to crayons they can colour to their hearts’ content. But what do you do if you find crayon on your plush carpet?

There are lots of different methods online for removing crayon from carpet. Our team has tested them out, in order to give you stain removal tricks that really work.

Our stain removal technician tested the options below with a red crayon. Our technician recommends the WD-40 option. This was the easiest for removing the crayon and residual colour left behind from the crayon. It also gave the best result. We found that after cleaning with the rubbing alcohol we were still left with a faint colour stain from the crayon.

3 Ways to Remove Crayon Stains from Carpet

Option 1 - The rubbing alcohol method

What you'll need

• rubbing alcohol

• clean white cloth

• water

• dish soap

How to remove crayon stains on carpet using rubbing alcohol

1. Apply rubbing alcohol to stain area covering the crayon mark

2. Leave alcohol on carpet to soak for 30 minutes

3. With clean white cloth dab stain with a rolling motion

4. Apply more rubbing alcohol to clean section of the cloth and keep dabbing

5. Be very patient, this process is time consuming. Keep repeating until the carpet is clean

6. Once you have removed as much of the crayon and colour as you can, clean the area with water (can add dish soap if you prefer)

7. Leave to air dry

Option 2 - The WD-40 method

What you'll need

• WD-40

• clean white cloth

• dish soap

• water

How to remove crayon stains on carpet using WD-40

1. Spray WD-40 over the crayon stain

2. Let stand for a few minutes

3. With clean white cloth dab stain with a rolling motion

4. Apply more WD-40 to clean section of the cloth and keep dabbing

5. Be patient, this process does take time but with patience the stain will disappear before your eyes

6. Repeat this dabbing process until the stain is gone

7. Once the stain is gone, clean the area with water (can add dish soap if you prefer)

8. Leave to air dry

Option 3 - The scraping method

What you'll need

• butter knife or spoon

How to remove crayon stains on carpet using rubbing alcohol

1. Gently scrape the crayon with the edge of a butter knife or metal spoon

2. After scraping up crayon vacuum over area to remove crayon shavings

Other helpful tips on removing carpet stains

• When using rubbing alcohol, WD-40 or over the counter cleaners, test on a small inconspicuous area of carpet first before a larger area of carpet in case of any discoloration.

• When you have finished removing the stain on your carpet. We recommend running your fingers through the pile to lift and separate the fibres. This is called grooming the carpet. This helps the drying process and also makes it harder to see the affected stain area over time.

• When researching this article, we found lots of online articles that recommended using a hot iron to remove the crayon stain. We do NOT recommend this option. We felt it was a HIGH-RISK and could burn your carpet.

Crayola's advice on how to remove crayon stains

1. Scrape excess crayon off with a dull-edge knife or metal spoon

2. Spray with WD-40 and let stand a few minutes

3. With a small, stiff bristle brush work crayon stain and wipe with paper towels

4. Respray with WD-40 and apply liquid dish detergent on the sprayed area; work in with the brush

5. Wipe stain away with a damp sponge

6. If stain remains, repeat the procedure

For another method, use any brand upholstery cleaner as directed on the container. Information from Crayola.