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This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Huggies®.
It never fails that when doing activities with the kids… there’s bound to be a mess. You can prep for it… if you think about it that is. And from what I shared yesterday about no setup activities… I rarely like to prep… so, I usually need a way to clean up after the fact.
I always try to include the kids in clean up as part of the activity, and that helps a lot… but what about when its further gone than that? How do you clean up the mess on the rug? Or get the food coloring out of their clothes? Or the crayon off the walls?
These seem to be the toughest messes I have to deal with… mostly because they’re during or after an activity and my attention is on the kids and not what I have to do to clean up… and it tends to be forgotten about… and the stains set in… or it hardens on and I have to scrub scrub scrub!
That’s my main tip – clean up as you go. Have a package of Huggies Natural Care® Wipes right by to wipe up as you go.
Here’s 10 tips for cleaning up the mess after you’ve had all the fun doing the activities (since you’re like me and didn’t prep the area beforehand… right?):
- Vinegar and baking soda work on the majority of messes. Plus “it’s all-natural and because of its acidity helps eliminate germs (and odors). It works on tough stains on rugs and clothes.” – Dinah Wulf, DIY Inspired.
- Magic Erasers. Vallori Zephyr of Just Cause Crafts says its gotta be the brand name, generics just don’t work as well! Warning: it will take off paint too – that’s supposed to stay.
- Rubbing alcohol or nail polish remover take out permanent marker. But be careful using it, it also takes off finishes of wood work (and I’d assume paint finishes too). I’ve also heard toothpaste does it too without removing the finish, but haven’t tried that!
- Toothpaste can also get crayon scribbles off the wall! TipNut has 21 other ways to remove crayon scribbles too.
- Use play dough to pick up glitter (the kids can help with that!), Cathy James of Nurture Store. Or use contact paper too! That works slick!
- Hydrogen peroxide does wonders on a lot of stains. Kind of like bleach, without the bleaching (colors stay in tact!)
- To get out food coloring, wash clothes ASAP, or soak overnight. That generally works for me, but Kid Spot has some additional tips for removing food color if that doesn’t work.
- Wait for things to dry out, such as play dough, then vacuum them up. – Megan Sheakoski of Coffee Cups & Crayons.
- Keep Huggies Natural Care® Wipes close by for quick cleanup during and after the activity. Especially when you’re using glue and such. My kids hate having their fingers sticky!
And my #1 tip for the messes that come with activities:
- Treat stains as a battle scar of your fun activities together. Its just a reminder of the fun you’ve been having! (You should see my dining room rug…)
What are your tips to cleaning up after all the fun you’ve been having?
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Interested in trying out this new product for yourself? Huggies® is encouraging parents everywhere to become Official Huggies® Testers at Huggies.com/Tester and put their new and improved diapers and wipes to the test in their everyday routine – from playground play dates to messy mealtime.
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Huggies®.
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Jan says
My best cleanup friend is Shaving Cream. Children love to help, so when they get crayon, markers, pen marks, etc on tables, squirt some shaving cream on the table. Ask the children to have fun moving it around on the table (like fingerpainting) and presto, the marks disappear. And they had fun helping. Sprinkle a bit of water on if you need some extra moisture. And when they are finished, rinse their hands (shaving cream is soap) and their hands are clean too.
Jamie Reimer says
Jan – I LOVE that idea so much! We’ll definitely be doing it.
Padma says
I have tried toothpaste mixed with washing soda for cleaning dirty walls.It works but it is a time-consuming job.
caroline says
Thanks for the tips :-) For letting the children help cleaning up we often sing silly songs while putting the stuff away or a pretend play that we’re all cleaning-pirates (sometimes with a small accessory to turn ourselves into pirates)… they LOVE to help me put alll the lego or whatever toys back in the right boxes (which become ‘boats’ for the play)
Jamie Reimer says
I love that Caroline, thanks for sharing!
andiejaye says
oh wow! this is a great resource for clean-up tips! my son had eczema as a little one and we always tried to use this type of wipe because they didn’t irritate his skin or rip when we wiped off grimy hands.
Angela @outnumbered.be says
Thanks for this GREAT list. I’ll go and check more about getting crayon scribbles off the wall, as i really need it :-) I was wondering if you have any advice for getting wax out of the silicon backing tray. I recycled wax crayons some time ago with the kids and did not get to clean my silicon forms yet. Do you have any advice?
Shannon says
Rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball works well to get permanent marker of of skin too!