...of Managing Your Home

Talk It Out:
Help for Wayward Wax


"At Christmas, my son accidentally spilled melted candle wax on the glass doors of our fireplace. How can I remove it?" ~ Maggie


Responses:

"I use to be a candle product home show representative, so I've got a bit of experience with WAXidents.  ;)

I would try rubbing the wax on the glass with an ice cube (since I assume the doors are too big to put in the freezer.) Blot the water off, then carefully use a razor blade at a low angle to scrape it off. They even sell flat razor blade holders to use as scrapers. If you're a bit squeamish with a blade, try using a credit card, license, library card or whatever have you. You may want to lay down a piece of newspaper to make cleaning up the 'chips' a bit easier afterwards.

There's a product called OOPS! (The bottle says Homax Products, Inc. www.homaxproducts.com ) that works very well. I've cleaned wax out of several containers with that, but it smells like lighter fluid so I use it sparingly and I keep it locked up away from the kids.  (FYI - it also works on removing the glue from baby food jar labels if you like to reuse those for crafts or whatever!)

With small containers (like wax melters or candle holders) pop them in the freezer for a couple of hours.  Work the wax with your fingers or a spoon a little and it should pop right out.

If you get wax on a rug or on clothing, get a paper bag and a warm flat iron. Tear the bag at the seams to make it as big a flat area as you can. Put bag over wax and rub iron over bag. The bag absorbs the wax that's melted by the iron. Move the bag around to a clean spot for each run of the iron over the wax. This may take a few turns and maybe more than one bag depending on how large the spill is. I can tell you it worked at a friend's house where a jar candle got knocked over onto her brand new rug! Phew! I almost forgot, if you get wax on clothes, do it on a table or with a paper bag underneath as well so you don't get your ironing board waxed up. Good luck!" ~ Colleen


"To get wax off of carpet or clothing, lay a brown paper bag over the spot and iron it.  The wax will melt and transfer to the bag.  Move a clean part of the bag over the spot and repeat until it is all out!" ~ Jeanette


"When I have spilled candle wax on the carpet, the easiest way to get it out is with the iron.  I use a brown paper bag (from the grocery store) and place the paper on top of the wax and iron over it.  I am usually able to get all the wax out.  It can be time consuming but worth it in the end.  I bought a house that had brand new carpet and managed to spill MAROON colored wax in a huge pile. When it cooled, it was thick and I thought I would never get it out, but with patience and my trusty brown bag and iron, I got ALL OF IT out of the carpet!" ~ Becky


"Use a blow dryer to melt the wax and then just wipe it off." ~ Tina


"My husband splashed hot candle wax on his favorite shirt and I tried everything with no luck. We were in Wal-Mart looking for another cleaning product and he spotted a product called De-Solv-it which claimed to remove candle wax. We bought it and I sprayed it on the candle wax and let it sit
for a couple of hours before laundering. It removed every spot of wax. It comes in a 12.6 oz. spray bottle for around $3 but it is worth its weight in gold. I have used it to remove sticky residue from things I had given up on. A tiny bit goes a long way." ~ Retha


"The best way to get wax off of fabrics (including rugs), is to use an iron (put on a low setting) and a torn up brown paper bag from the grocery store. Iron the spot with the bag over the top. You'll start to see the wax get 'wicked' up into the paper. Keep moving the paper around until you don't see any more wax coming up. To get rid of wax on non porous objects - like the candleholders - colder is better. Put the candlesticks in the freezer or fridge and they should just chip right off." ~ Kristi


"With regards to wax on the fireplace doors, I suggest that you take the edge of a razor blade or exacto knife and lightly lift the wax off the glass. It will probably work best if the glass doors are cool.
I have spilled hot wax on a carpet before.  I removed it beautifully by first
picking off most of the wax with my fingers.  I then put some paper towels on
the wax and ran my iron over the towels.  The heat from the iron melted the
wax and the paper towels absorbed the melted wax.  I did have to repeat the
procedure until the wax was all gone.

Christine


"Christmas of 2005, I knocked over a candle in the living room, spilling wax onto our new carpet. I had remembered reading another article on how to get wax off of carpet and they suggested letting the wax harden, put paper or a rag over the wax and iron it, the wax should stick to the paper/rag. I tried it, and I melted the fibers of the carpet. Of course after I had done it, I realized the advice was probably only for a wool carpet. So now I have a larger mess on my hand that cannot be fixed except with removal. Oops -- be careful of which advice you use. " ~ Sue


"I once had a red candle burn all the way down, drip down the fireplace and onto the cream colored carpet. We were able to get it out using a warm iron and paper grocery bags (many as I recall). Lay the bag on the wax, and iron on top, as it starts to absorb into the paper, you move the paper to a clean spot and repeat. Worked great. Time consuming for sure, but saved our deposit in the rental!"  ~ Penny


"Getting wax off glass is fairly easy. The big chunks will usually just chip off. For any leftover residue, use HOT water. I used to work in a restaurant where we regularly needed to clean glass candle holders. The best way was to dip them in hot water from the coffee makers and then wipe them right away with a rag. I think it is more difficult to get wax off hard-wood floors, cloth, and carpeting.  I recently discovered that if you place a paper towel on the surface (and underneath it as well in the case of cloth) and iron it, the paper towel will absorb the melted wax.  It worked like a charm! " ~ Jeanette

 

Editor's Note: Thanks to everyone who took the time to respond.

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