Cleaning Crayon Off A Fireplace Hearthstone

It was bound to happen... My daughter colored on the hearth stone of the fireplace a.k.a. my husbands #1 pride and joy project of all time. 

What do I d!?!?! Well I don't tell him of course....Instead I run to the computer and Google how to "clean crayon off stone" and "how to clean a stone fireplace", etc... Search like mad to for a way to easily and quickly clean up the mess.

 



This is actually the after picture. I was so freaked out when it happened I didn't take time to do a 'before' picture.

Unfortunately the most popular solution to getting out wax is to use a paper bag and an iron. I was not doing to dare do that. I knew that it would just melt it into the stone and make it worse. (Although side note if you ever have candle wax or melted crayon on carpet or fabric, the iron and paper bag  method does work! I speak from experience.)

Other popular suggestions:

Scrape it off (-this was the first thing I tried and it didn't work!)

Soap and water (-not going to work, I don't even have to test this one)

WD40 (-eeehhhhh, I don't know if I should spray it on the porous stone.. might soak in and affect it)

Mr. Clean Magic Eraser (-tried it, didn't work)

Various random chemicals (-same comment as WD40)

 

 

NONE of these were going to work....

 

Then I had an aha moment. Stone is rough, what if I found another rough yet gentle material to

"sand" off the crayon. I had some steel wool and I crossed my fingers and prayed.

 

As you can tell it leaves a bit of a mess. A gray dust on the edges of your 'sanding' area. But all the crayon came off!!!!! I used a dust pan to sweep up the gray dusty stuff and it was as good as new! Couldn't tell there had been a crayon anywhere near it!

 

So next time you child gets near a stone or brick surface with crayons try using steel wool.

 

It worked miracles for me!