"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. " -Helen Keller

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Helpful Hints from Evil Mom: Tip 4

Welcome one and all. Evil Mom here and I have to apologize for the long absence. Today, my knucklehead son was home from school sick. He had been on the computer in the den and came out to the living room snickering and laughing. He holds out the shirt I brought him from New York last summer and this is what I saw...
It goes without saying that Evil Mom was a bit pissed (especially since last week I had told him not to color on his clothes with highlighters). My first thought was "Crap, I think that's marker." I was even less happy when he told me it it was crayon. That waxy crayon can be a real bitch to remove. In a move of desperation, I googled "remove crayon from fabric" and found a link to the Crayola Crayon stain remover page. Did you know that a little WD-40, liquid dish soap, and a stiff brush will take crayon out of just about anything? Seriously, spritz the stain with the WD-40, pour on a bit of liquid soap, and scrub it with the brush (I used an ancient, retired toothbrush). When the stain appears to have lifted, rinse it out and check. If necessary, repeat. After a trip through the washing machine, the young knuckleheads t-shirt looks like this...
So y'all, what's the weirdest cleaning tip you have to share with Evil Mom?

10 comments:

Kakunaa said...

That is soooo cool! I googled something recently, but can't remember what it was as it wasn't for me. Who figures this shit out, anyway? And what did we do before the internet came along to save us from knucklehead sons?

annie said...

Kids color on their clothes?? Oh boy, I have a lot to learn! My family would love the Yankees shirt - I converted to being a Red Sox fan after living in Boston for a bit and have never been forgiven.

Nice work, Evil Mom and thanks for all your comments and support! November 20th sounds like a great day!

Shelly- Mom Files said...

Well thanks for the advice since my little boy seems to be taking on a mischievous role these days. Here is my cleaning tip on how to get gum out of your dryer: http://www.momfiles.com/2009/03/gum-dryer-sticky-mess.html

_ said...

Great tip! Do you have tip for a knucklehead son that is constantly leaving ink pens/felt tip markes in his pockets...and it's not discovered until after it's been thru the dryer. I'm thinking there is no hope for that one. :(

Jamie said...

Very interesting! :) Thanks for sharing!

Meari said...

The internet is great, isn't it??

Glad you got the crayon out.

Lee said...

I'm so glad that worked out for you. I would have come unglued. My kids are always pulling that kind of stuff behind my back.

Oh, hope you like the peanut butter eggs. They're yummy!

battynurse said...

I have a cookbook that has recipes and tips from the Great Depression in it. It was published in the late 70's or early 80's and has a picture of my grandmother in it. In the book they have tips for things and I remember one that I think had something to do with getting stains out or something and burying the item in the dirt for a few days. I'd have to go look it up again but there were some pretty cool ideas in there.

Quiet Dreams said...

I am super impressed, Kristin!

BleedingTulip said...

Hmmm... I can't think of any particular stain as far as clothes, but I remember in high school I accidentally dropped a cup of blueberry yogurt. A year later I was still finding spots of it in the corners of the ceiling!