by Lyn Lomasi, Write W.A.V.E. Media Staff

Did your kids mistake the clown makeup for bathtub paint? Maybe it was an accident and as they were removing their stage makeup, it got all over the sink or shower. Since I now have two child clowns in my household, clown makeup stain removal has become my expertise. Removing it from the bathtub, sink, or shower tiles is easier than your first scrubbing attempt may make it seem. If your children played a role in making the mess, it can be a good idea to involve them in the cleanup. It teaches responsibility for their actions – and not to brag, but my stain removal method can be quite fun.

Grab the tissues! The first step to removing a clown makeup stain in the bathroom is to wipe away the surface stain with toilet paper. Since clown makeup is a greasy substance, it may be caked on pretty thick. Roll some toilet paper onto your hand to make a flat, somewhat thick cloth. Don't be wasteful. But it works better if it isn't too thin. Use circular motions to rub away the makeup. If the kids are helping, you can have them sing “Wheels on the Bus” or another circular song they like and move their hands to the beat while rubbing in circles. You may need to do this several times, depending on how thick the grease makeup stain is. Once you can no longer wipe anything away with just the tissue, move on to the next step.

Give it a scrub! Next, whip out that ever-useful box of baking soda and an old rag you don't mind getting greasy. Dampen the rag. Then, sprinkle baking soda onto it. Once again, you want to rub out the grease makeup in a circular motion. The baking soda helps to scrub it away without making you work too hard. Continue to add baking soda or water to the rag as necessary throughout the process. If the stained area is large (for instance if your children made pretty pictures with the clown makeup, like mine did a couple times), you'll need to rinse out the rag a few times as well.

Houston, we have a problem! Not to fret if you still have remaining clown makeup that won't budge even after the baking soda. Grab some halved lemon slices and don't be such a sour puss! You guessed it. Rub the lemon slices around the stain in a circular motion. The lemons will cut deep into the grease stain and help remove it even below the top surface. A bonus is that lemons also help kill nasty germs that may be lurking in your bathroom.

But wait, there's more! You've done the above steps and there is still some clown makeup residue on your bathroom tiles, tub, or sink? All is not lost. The next step is soapy. What works best on leftover grease? Why, dish soap, of course! Grab another wet rag and dab on a couple dots of dish soap. Yes, the circular motion still applies here. Rub and continue to wet the rag and add more soap until you have no more clown makeup on your bathroom surface.

Does it really work? My clown kids mistakenly assumed that clown makeup would be a good substitute for washable bathtub paints. This meant the entire bathroom was covered in it. If we weren't renting, I may have left it up a bit longer since the pictures were cute and creative. But by using the above steps, I got our bathroom back to being sparkly in no time. Because it was thickly coated everywhere, I repeated the above steps a couple times. But in most instances, you may need to only go through the above steps once – or even just use a couple of them.

Bonus: The same cleaning method works on the walls as well. But you may want to skip the baking soda, as it may also rub off a coat of paint.

Stay fabulous! Stay silly! And hit that subscribe button over to the right so that you never miss a new tip brought to you by our zany clown adventures.

by Lyn Lomasi, Write W.A.V.E. Media Staff

“She's so cute! (pause) Oh...that's a boy (strange look that quickly turns into an awkward smile).” This is a typical reaction some people give when I take my son (who is an aspiring clown) into public with one of his clown outfits on.

Dressing like a clown is a perfectly normal activity, especially for a kid who is developing his own clown show. This makes most people smile. But some are confused and others are rude. It was baffling to me why some people have such a hard time understanding a boy dressing as a clown. Many clowns are boys.

Following are the common questions and sources of confusion, along with my thoughts and feelings.

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