I opened the dryer and saw on top of the lint trap one of the things I most dread finding -- crayons. I admit that with three (and soon to be four) children, I should be better about checking pockets, but if I took the time to check every pocket, I'd never get any laundry washed. Mosted days just stuffing it all in the washing machine is the best that I can do.

So back to the crayons. There they were mocking me -- daring me to pull out the clothes and look at the devastation. It was almost complete -- streaks of dark blue and green wax were everywhere. Setting aside a few towels, underwear and pjs, that would only be seen in the family and therefore crayon stains could be ignored, there was really nothing unscathed. Naturally the load of clothes included a brand new favorite shirt of the three year old's, all of my husband's khaki shorts and a whole bunch of borrowed maternity clothes.

I admit there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth on my part, but not, fortunately, because all the clothes had been ruined. Getting out crayon stains takes a lot of work, but with one of the best tools in my arsenal every single stain -- except for a few where I got lazy and didn't rub very much (and even some of those) -- came out.

The best tool, when defense has failed and offensive measures against crayon (or beeswax from Hippy German School) gets run through the dryer? De-Solv-It. It really does work miracles on crayon and similar stains and is great for getting off sticker goo and other such things. It has a strong orange odor, but I've found that once you've gotten off the stains, run the clothes through the wash with some vinegar, and dried them, the scent is pretty much totally gone.

Once again, Super Mom (that would be me) and her handy-dandy bag of tricks, saves the day and the laundry. Yay me!