Crayon Stains

Abrac

I have read that WD-40 or lighter fluid are two commonly-used methods for cleaning crayon stains. Has anyone ever tried this on a tarot card. The card I need to clean is laminated, but not heavily so. Any other ideas you may have tried and found to work well would be greatly appreciated!

Abrac
 

Lillie

What sort of crayon?

Coloured pencils? wax crayons?

Possibly you could get a similar spare card, like an ad card, and crayon on that and try to get it off.

If it's felt pen then nail varnish remover usually works.
Pencil crayon should rub off with a rubber (eraser?) shouldn't it?
Wax crayon... hmmm... could try a bit of nail varnish remover on that. It's thinners (mostly) gets lots of stuff off.
Thopugh it might be better if you got the pure stuff, as when you get it for nails it has stuff in it.

good luck.

And if you could say what sort of crayon some experimenting might be in order.
 

LixiPixi

I used to work as a moderator for the Martha Stewart chats in the Keeping room several years ago. I, for one, know from personal experience that WD-40 works like magic. I, personally, wouldn't hesitate to use it on a laminated tarot card to remove crayon. Do you have one of those extra cards that comes with the deck you could test it on just to ease your own mind? I'd spray a little dab of WD-40 on a paper towel or rag and then rub off the crayon. Do you have any wet wipes? Afterwards, I'd use a wet wipe to remove any lingering WD-40 residue that might be left over if needed. I could 97% guarantee it will work and not harm your card (as long as it has some laminating to it)

Good luck!

LP~
 

LixiPixi

P.S. Another option would be to use plain water and one of those Mr. Clean Magic Eraser sponges. They remove EVERYthing!!! Especially, crayon from walls....hehehe....my house is never without them on hand. ;)
 

thinbuddha

An iron (preferably one without steam holes- certainly turn any steam off) with a couple paper towels in-between the card and the iron. The wax will wick into the paper towel. Make sure the iron is not so hot as to damage the laminate on the card. Repeat as necessary.
 

Lillie

Serious?

WD40?

And it doesn't leave an oily stain?

That's really quite amazing.
I'll have to try that one day.
I thought it was only for loosening bolts!

I've never tried one of them magic eraser things. They always look too good to be true.
They really work then?

Thinners (nail varnish remover) is good for lot's of things, but thinking about it, you need to test it on something first, cos I wouldn't know what it would do to the card or it's lamination.
 

Abrac

Lillie said:
What sort of crayon?
I tried some WD-40 and that didn't phase it. Looking more closely, I think it might be from an ink pen. Just opened up the LWB and saw it has pen markings all over it. I got the deck on eBay. Ad said "near mint." Yup, besides the two creased cards, ink on one card, ink all over LWB, and ring stain on the box where someone left a coffee cup or something, mint condition sure enough. God, dontcha love eBay. ;)

The deck didn't come with any extra cards to experiment on, unfortunately.
 

Lillie

Oh that's sad.
What a shame.

Is it an ordinary deck, or something special?

Ink. There are things that will remove ink.
There is a range of speciality stain removers that remove all sorts of stuff.

And my diary has a list of stains and removals.

Hang on......

It says meths for ink.
Methelated spirits.

you could give that a try.
Though really they are talking about clothes, not cards, and again, i wouldn't like to say what it might do to the cards themselves.
 

Deana

I would try a Magic Eraser (Mr. Clean). I have been using these for a couple of years; my dad is an artist and he put butcher paper on the wall for my kids to color on. Well, after the butcher paper came down, my younger son colored on the wall anyway (great idea, dad!). It looked like we'd have to paint the entire wall, but we got a Magic Eraser, I think they had *just* come out, and it all came off. Since then we've used them for everything. I have used them on Tarot cards, but not ink on cards, so I can't guarantee, but it's worth a try. Mint condition, huh? What is wrong with people?
 

Abrac

Problem Solved

Sure enough it was ink. I had some nail polish remover with methylated keytone stashed away (probably from the 70s j/k), so I used that and it took the ink right off along with some of the lamination and made some smudges. Then I swiped the whole card so it would at least be uniform. The card isn't any worse than before, and maybe even a little better now. This is a special deck for me, but not extra special. It isn't my favorite, let's put it that way. It is a Grimaud Ancien Tarot de Marseilles by Waddingtons. You see them all the time on eBay in the rectangular white box. I mainly got it because of the backs, which have a white border around the edge.

http://www.tarotforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=9686

Thanks everyone for your help!