Home Maintenance and Repair

Removing wax

I am just amazed at the hundreds of different type of candles that you can buy. There are regular candles, scented candles, and even candles that burn in the colors they are made in. If you like to burn candles there is no doubt that at some point you will find the candle wax on something other than the candle. You will probably find the wax on your carpet, fabric furniture, or the wood surface the candle was sitting on. There are probably dozens of methods a person could use to remove wax from these different these surfaces. I would like to talk about just a couple of ways I think you will be most successful.

To remove wax from fabrics such as carpet and furniture warm your iron to a low temperature to start with, Take a plan grocery bag or a paper like it and cut it into pieces bigger than your iron and definitely bigger than the wax spot. (I once removed a spot of wax that was the size of a plate.) Make sure that the pieces of paper do not having any writing of in kind on them.

Apply the paper over the wax spot. I would recommend 3 layers. Gently apply the iron to the paper over the wax and began to move the iron in a circular motion. You should begin to see the wax absorbing into the paper. You may need to turn the heat up a little bit at a time to get the right temperature. You may have to use several pieces of paper, but eventually the wax will be absorbed into the paper. I do not recommend that you use the iron method on any surface other than fabric.

Another method I have tried that has proven to be successful requires that you cool the wax with ice. I have been able to break the wax up and pick out of the fabric. You should put the ice in a plastic bag.

There are chemicals you might use, such as dry-cleaning solvent, a small amount of neutral detergent in warm water. Be sure that if you decide to use any chemicals that you test a small area that is hidden to see how the chemical will effect the material you are trying to remove the wax from.