We have had our first experience with cave drawings {toddler art} on our walls. There is crayon and ball point pen. My initial reaction was to gasp and wonder how long it has all been there, then to talk to her about why we do not draw on the wall but at the same time it is another milestone. Lady A is exploring her creative side and where better to do that than a big white wall. It is a blank canvas! How can I be too upset with her as she is learning, growing and exploring all that she can do.
To clean the crayon {which is also a red, one of the hardest colors to clean up} I did a little bit of searching for tips on what others have tried.
This site has a long list of different ideas. I do not have enough crayon on the wall to try them all out so I went with what I had on hand and what I felt would work best.
The two most important suggestions are act fast and try a test spot on the wall first. The longer the color sits on the wall the more it can soak into the paint which will require more scrubbing and lead to removing paint. Test the solution you are going to try on part of the wall that is behind a piece of furniture, a frame or art piece on the wall or in a discrete area.
To clean the crayon {which is also a red, one of the hardest colors to clean up} I did a little bit of searching for tips on what others have tried.
This site has a long list of different ideas. I do not have enough crayon on the wall to try them all out so I went with what I had on hand and what I felt would work best.
The two most important suggestions are act fast and try a test spot on the wall first. The longer the color sits on the wall the more it can soak into the paint which will require more scrubbing and lead to removing paint. Test the solution you are going to try on part of the wall that is behind a piece of furniture, a frame or art piece on the wall or in a discrete area.
Supplies
I tried all these that I had around the house. The baby wipes took off top layer or the crayon but also smeared the color. Then I tried the hand lotion, shaving cream, hair spray baking soda and hand sanitizer. They all worked pretty well at taking the top bulk of the crayon off but still left color behind.
Here is what I ended up doing. First clean with Lysol wipes or Comet on a damp sponge. {The Comet I had on hand had bleach in it, which actually worked well to help clean the white walls.} This will take most of the crayon color and wax off. Then place rubbing alcohol on a rag or cotton square. I quickly rubbed it over the crayon or ink then when back over it with a bit of elbow grease. Be careful not to scrub too hard or to let the wall get too wet with the rubbing alcohol, it can bring up the paint.
I will say that I was super excited with how well the crayon and ink came up with the rubbing alcohol. I can only imagine how well it would work if I had caught it all when Lady A first marked up the walls.
Here is what I ended up doing. First clean with Lysol wipes or Comet on a damp sponge. {The Comet I had on hand had bleach in it, which actually worked well to help clean the white walls.} This will take most of the crayon color and wax off. Then place rubbing alcohol on a rag or cotton square. I quickly rubbed it over the crayon or ink then when back over it with a bit of elbow grease. Be careful not to scrub too hard or to let the wall get too wet with the rubbing alcohol, it can bring up the paint.
I will say that I was super excited with how well the crayon and ink came up with the rubbing alcohol. I can only imagine how well it would work if I had caught it all when Lady A first marked up the walls.
Crayon
Pen Ink
Here is a link for ideas on cleaning toddler cave drawings from wall paper. Keep in mind that it is wall PAPER so if it gets too damp, the color and paper can rub off as you are trying to rub off the ink.
The Mr. Clean Magic Eraser is always a go to for things like this. Be sure to take care when using this, too much rubbing will lift the paint from the wall. Which ever method you go with, act fast! Part of me wonders if some of the other techniques would have worked if I had noticed the drawings and cleaned them up right after Lady A had left them.
Other sites I looked up are Suite101, SiimplyStated and Hub Pages.
The Mr. Clean Magic Eraser is always a go to for things like this. Be sure to take care when using this, too much rubbing will lift the paint from the wall. Which ever method you go with, act fast! Part of me wonders if some of the other techniques would have worked if I had noticed the drawings and cleaned them up right after Lady A had left them.
Other sites I looked up are Suite101, SiimplyStated and Hub Pages.
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