Friday, April 25, 2008

"Control Z!"

How's this for a fun Friday night?

We went swimming tonight, and I thought I was so smart to think ahead and bring the girls' jammies to the pool. So we showered in the locker room, washed hair and bundled them up in their jammies so that we could tuck them straight into their beds when we got home. On our way through the laundry room back at home, I remembered that I had to grab Emma's sheets and comforter out of the dryer since I'd washed them earlier that day.

I was greeted with this:


And this:


Oh, and this and this:



NOT FUN.

I'm kind of geek though, and kept thinking in my head, "Control Z! Control Z!" Weird, unless you know that Control Z is the Windows keyboard shortcut for "undo." (Told you, I'm a geek.) I just couldn't help but wish that I could undo whatever catastrophe had caused our laundry to look like a crime scene. And imagine how I felt photographing the bedsheets stained with red; I felt like I was doing a guest spot on CSI: Denver.

Well, the culprit was none other than the infamous red crayon. Darn you, red crayon! And I think it's my own fault. Emma kept pleading with us to believe her that she didn't do it ("I didn't color on my sheets! How could I even do that?!"), and I'm pretty sure she's right. I betcha I just scooped up a red crayon from her bedroom floor when I scooped up the pile of sheets and her comforter. I could kick myself. Control Z!

And not just any comforter, but the Pottery Barn quilt that Granny Great bought for her! Argh! (And wouldn't you know it's the first time I've washed it, despite the two years it's been on her bed?! Go figure.)

So I did what any American in their right mind would do, and googled for my solution. Up popped up several concoctions that will supposedly get red crayon out of the sheets, comforter AND dryer. I'm too pooped to run out tonight to get the supplies, so this project will have to wait until tomorrow. So I thought I'd blog about it instead. I'll let you know what works - and what doesn't.

How's your weekend going so far?

12 comments:

  1. Oh Ang! That's so sad and frustrating!!! I hope whatever solution you go hunting for tomorrow will work!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ugh...so sorry. I bet there's something that will get it out. Good luck with that tomorrow.

    Hey Angie, can I add you to my blogroll??

    Meredith

    ReplyDelete
  3. So SAD! I hope the solution works...

    ReplyDelete
  4. eeewwww!
    It does look like something from a CSI!!!
    Hopefully the magic potions will work!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Bummer! Let me know what works to get it out, odds are I will need the knowledge sometime in the future!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sadly, I have been where you are now.

    Only it wasn't a comforter. It was a large load of my kids' clothes.

    And it wasn't just red. Connor had stuffed four restaurant crayons in the front pocket of a sweatshirt, leaving a kaleidescope of red, green, blue and yellow on everything.

    I also turned to St. Google, and I did find help. In the end, I ended up washing everything again in HOT HOT water (to get out the wax) and then again with TONS AND TONS of detergent and TONS AND TONS of Oxyclean (to get out the stains). Rinse, repeat until stains are gone.

    I think I had to throw away a couple of shirts in the end, but most of the clothes were salvaged.

    Let us know how it goes! I recognized the quilt as one from PBK immediately and winced all the more.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I hope the solutions worked! I love that you immediately thought "Control Z!" I don't use the Ctrl+Z shortcut, but I do always find myself saying, "Agh! Edit, undo! Edit, undo!" when I need a do-over in life.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh no!! Well, at first I thought it was blood, so at least that is a good thing. I hope you found a solution that worked. That's adorable bedding.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Pottery Barn...YIKES! Of course it couldn't have been the Yard Sale Hand-Me-Down bought for a steal of a deal for $3.00 comforter. I may need to refer back to your blog in 3-5 years when my son is old enough to use crayons. Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I found your blog via Natalie's and I can so relate. My little one gets into a lot of things, so I will have to check back and see which solution worked. Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  11. That was painful just to look at the pictures! The sinking feeling that comes over you when you pull it out of the wash!

    Oh well, believe me, one day you will laugh about it with your daughter. Doesn't help much when people say that, does it? :-)

    Blessings,
    Teri

    ReplyDelete
  12. Ok, I am anxious to see how this turns out, because I have a pile of purple crayoned stained very cute clothes that have been sitting in my laundry room for months because tackling them is just too depressing.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for visiting! And thanks a bunch for commenting!