How To Kid-Proof Your Walls For Holiday Visitors

Kid proof walls for holiday visitors

And how to remove the stenciled snowflakes junior left behind

It’s the holidays. Family and friends are over; the adults are gathered together cooking the turkey, watching the big game … but wait — where are the kids? Oh, right. They’re coloring peacefully in the playroom. Or are they?

As much as we love our children, we’ve all had some unwanted artwork left on walls and unfortunately, some of it can pose a major challenge to remove. But it doesn’t have to be. In fact, there are some pretty tried and true ways to remove unwanted crayon, colored pencil, even (yikes!) permanent marker from you walls. So this holiday season if one of your young nieces or nephews leaves you with an unappreciated masterpiece on your home’s walls, don’t sweat it. Instead, reach for one of these common household items to help remove the stenciled snowflakes that junior left behind.

 

**TIP: Industry standard for wiping down walls is to use a soft SPONGE. Wash cloths, microfiber towels, or cloth towels, can be abrasive to the paint, cause a “halo” or “burnish”, and ruin the finish.

 

To remove crayon from your walls

1. Try baking soda. Not only can it help your holiday baking, but it also might save your walls from the unwanted crayon markings leftover from holiday guests. Try dipping a damp SPONGE into some baking soda, then gently scrub over the markings. With any luck, they should wipe clean with little effort.
2. Try mayonnaise. A necessity for deviled eggs, also a potential life saver when it comes to removing crayon from painted walls. Apply a thin layer directly over the crayon. Then, after letting it sit for about five minutes, the markings should easily wipe away with a soft sponge.
3. Steel wool. Good for cleaning the bottom of the turkey pan, also good for removing crayon from your walls. Although we suggest trying the baking soda or mayonnaise first, steel wool can be an option — especially if there’s an entire holiday scene to be removed. But instead of scrubbing, try wiping the area in one direction and you should have a clean surface in no time.

 

Three ways to remove colored pencil from your walls

1. Try pencil erasers. It might seem like an obvious choice, but surprisingly people tend to forget about the pink end of a regular ol’ pencil.
2. Try vinegar. If straight up white vinegar can clean hard water stains, it should be able to remove most colored pencil marks from your walls.
3. Try a store-bought stain remover product. There’s a lot on the market but the ones that seem to work most consistently are Mr. Clean Eraser, Simple Green and Dawn Power Dissolver.

 

Three ways to remove permanent markers from your wall

1. Try a dry erase marker. Grab a dry erase marker in the same color family as the permanent marker, trace over the lines, let it sit for a minute or two, then wipe it off with a sponge. Repeat the process two or three times for darker marks.
2. Try WD-40. Although you might want to test a small area first to make sure it doesn’t affect the sheen, WD-40 shouldn’t damage most paint. Simply spray the product on top of the markings and wipe clean.
3. Try toothpaste — but not the gel kind. Use plain white paste and a toothbrush to gently scrub the marks. Then wipe clean with water.

 

And then, once you’ve reclaimed your wall surface from junior’s artwork, sit down, relax and enjoy the rest of your holidays — just be sure to make a mental note that next year, you hide all the potential stain-leaving markers somewhere with Aunt Kitty’s fruit cake.