| By :
Mark Etinger
I love my children's artwork. A drawing of our family standing in the front yard with our house in the background. Or maybe a self-portrait from my little one. I really love seeing my children's artwork, except when it's on one of my commercial wood doors. If you've got some creative little ones on your hands and find that you can no longer see the wood on your previously custom wood doors because of crayon marking, have no fear--you're definitely not alone. Today, we'll take you step by step to actually removing these marks. Yes, you heard me right. REMOVE crayon from commercial wooden doors. For finished wood doors, here's what you'll need to do. You'll need the following items: - Plastic spoon
- Toothpaste
- Cloths
- Vinegar or rubbing alcohol Follow these steps: 1. Scrape any visible excess crayon wax off the door with your fingernail or a plastic spoon. Avoid using hard or sharp items to scrape, as these can remove the finish or mar the wood. 2. Rub a non-gel toothpaste onto the crayon mark with your fingertips. Coat the entire crayon mark with the toothpaste. 3. Take a terry, cotton, or any smooth cloth and moisten it. Wring out and excess water so that it is barely damp. 4. Scrub the toothpaste into the crayon mark with the cloth. Add more toothpaste as necessary and continue to scrub until the mark is gone. 5. Rinse the cloth clean with clean water. Wipe the toothpaste from the door with the cloth. Repeat as necessary until all the toothpaste is removed from the door. 6. Dip a second cloth into white vinegar or rubbing alcohol. Wipe the white vinegar or rubbing alcohol over the crayon wax to remove any remaining wax or oily residue from the wood. For unfinished wood doors, it's a bit more trickier. You'll need: - Plastic scraper (or butter knife)
- Work gloves
- Fine sandpaper
- Soft cloth Follow these steps:
1. Gently scrape the crayon mark with the plastic scraper or butter knife. Angle the instrument so that you don't actually damage or mar the wood. You should be able to remove most of the crayon this way, but some color will remain.
2. To protect your hands, wear leather or cloth gloves. Hand sand down the crayon marked areas with the fine sand paper (around 150 grit.) Don't press down too hard--just move lightly back and forth over the area with the sandpaper. 3. Wipe off any wood-dust that's left over with a soft, dry cloth. If any crayon color is still visible, simply sand it some more until you can no longer see it. When you've finished, you might notice that the area you've sanded is a bit lighter in color than the remaining areas. Sand down the borders of the sanded area to help blend it in with the rest of the wood. Hopefully these will work! If not, maybe someone should invent a wood-colored crayon.
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