Sunday, November 11, 2007

Insert Face in Dryer and...


Nothing like a dryer fiasco to start your Saturday morning. I had put a load of the girls lights in the dryer the night before. As I thoughtlessly began to empty the clothes into my basket, horror crept in as I realized there were dark purple spots and streaks on EVERYTHING! Upon further investigation I found the culprit, the broken off tip of a purple crayon, from one of Emma's pant pockets I gather. How something so small could reek such havoc I don't know, but the clothes were only the beginning. The full realization of the horror came when I saw the inside of the dryer! You guessed it, purple streaks COVERED the entire inside of the dryer! I started to panic, these are my brand new front loaders that Travis so generously gave me for a birthday a year and a half ago! But panic turned into my face glued to the computer screen as I searched for ways to remove melted crayon from clothes and my dryer. I'm still working on the clothes, I've had success with about half of them. I need to make a run to Walmart for a few more items to try with the clothes. But as for the dryer, I'm happy to report that I found a solution! After trying Softscrub with bleach, Oxyclean, Advantage, and all this with a Magic Eraser and minimal to NO success, I stumbled across a suggestion for glass-ceramic cook top cleaner. Luckily we have a bottle since we have a glass top range, and to my pure glee, it worked magically! Just squirt the cleaner on a dry paper towel, start scrubbing and voila! (Apparently plain white toothpaste works in the same way.) After the job was officially done, about an hour and a half later, I was exhausted and in desperate need of a shower. Having your face in a dryer full of fumes for that long can't be good for you. Lesson learned? ALWAYS check every pocket of your kid's clothes before washing them. I also encouraged Emma never to put crayons in her pockets again, but I think I'll still be checking every time. If any of you have suggestions for getting melted crayon stains out of clothes, PLEASE send along the advice. Ah, the stuff of motherhood. I'm sure broken T.V.'s and melted crayons in the dryer are just the beginning. We have to laugh or we'll cry right!

6 comments:

Deidre said...

Oh my, Sarah, I would have just died. I've had laundry mishaps like that too.

How do you like your washer and dryer? I just had a motor replaced in my washer, but we know it's only temporary and have been looking at the new front-loaders.

Hope you have a wonderful week!

Jenn @ Knee-Deep in Munchkin Land said...

Oh Sarah, you have had a week too, haven't you?! Oh my word! Hang in there and laugh all you need to. And if, you do need to cry, lets do coffee. =) Starbucks is calling my name.

I love you!

Beka said...

Oh dear!
Glad you can keep laughing!

Blessings to you and your sweet family...

Carrie said...

Eeek! Glad you can keep a sense of humor about it.
Good luck!
God bless :)

Jennisa - Avery and Livvie's Mommy! said...

Oh my! What a fiasco! I'm so glad you were able to get the purple out of the dryer and most of the clothes!!!

Beverly said...

Haha -- I am so glad I'm not the only one!! I really appreciate stories like this -- it made me laugh .. AND it had a happy ending :-)