Usually, Crayola churns out some pretty good products. So when Crayola introduced their washable bubbles, it was natural that both parents and kids were excited about this new product. That was until they bought it. After one play session, parents quickly found the color bubbles not quite what they expected. Unfortunately, this is one product that completely failed parent expectations. Kids are fine with the product since it is in their nature to be messy. The vibrant colors are always a big hit.
The problem with the washable bubbles is that they fail a very crucial parent test: they fail to wash off of clothes. Washable in this case is a complete misnomer. The commercial is certainly very misleading. If you look closely, there is a line item at the bottom stating that clothes may need more than one washing. Most stains that kids get into will come out in one washing with a little pretreatment at most. However, you have to be careful when using pretreatment because it might set the stain instead of getting rid of it. Crayola advises that you soak the clothes. The best advice is before you allow your kids to play with the bubbles is to have them and their friends wear old clothes that you don’t care if they get stained or not.
The caveat “for outdoor use only” should be taken very seriously. It is only meant for outdoors because just like the clothes, it will stain objects. There is no guarantee that you can remove this colorful spots from concrete or brick surfaces. You probably should consider keeping the children away from the house siding or anything that will readily soak up paint. Crayola says that a good rain or hose down will take care of it, but it is better to keep the line of bubbles away from any materials that you don’t want stained. The inside of garages aren’t going to get a good soaking. You might have to paint over any stained surfaces later on.
Bubbles are fun. But washable color bubbles are not so fun when you face a huge mess to clean-up. Of all of the mess-free products that Crayola has created, this one has failed miserably. Your kids will certainly enjoy all the fun of blowing colored bubbles. When the few minutes of fun turns into hours of clean-up for parents, then the product has completely missed the mark on the people they truly need to impress. After all, it is the parents that shell out the money to buy the washable bubbles.