Removing Candle Wax Stains

House Cleaning Tips

• Top Ten House Cleaning Tips
• Cleaning Tips for Efficiency
• Deep Cleaning
• Cleaning Checklist
• House Cleaning Checklist

web mrscleannw.com

Candle Wax Stain Removal

It is quite common for those that use candles to have problems with removing candle wax stains. The wax from a candle is a very difficult type of stain to remove for a number of reasons.

If you love candles but have given up on using them because they cause such a mess, it is time for you to consider a few better options here. To help you, there are several tips for cleaning up candle stains located here.

No matter if you just had a few drips of wax land on your carpeting or watched the entire candle fall over onto your prized table cloth, you can get the mess cleaned up as quickly as possible.

The Basics Of Wax Removal

The first thing to learn is how to clean up candle wax in general. Here are some tips that will help you to do just that.

• First of all, you need to get to the stain as quickly as possible. If you get to the wax before it hardens, it will clean up much easier.
• Secondly, wet candle wax can be more effectively cleaned up because it has not reached the deep carpet pile yet. The deeper it gets, the harder it will be to clean up completely.
• If the wax is wet, you can apply a bit of pressure with a clean terry cloth to the area. Keep moving the cloth to a clean area. Most of the wet wax will soak up into the cloth rather than into the carpeting. Make sure that you do not rub the area as this will cause the stain to set further into the carpet, making it that much worse to get out.
• If the candle wax has hardened, the first thing you need to do is to use a dull knife or other dull object to scrape off the excess candle wax from the carpet. Most of the wax will come off in this manner. Be careful not to smash it down even more so, though.
• If this does not remove all of the wax, then try the iron method. Here, you will simply place a few layers of paper towels that are clean, dry and white, to the area. Then apply a warm iron to the top of the towels. This will cause the candle wax to melt just enough to be absorbed into the paper towel. Keep moving the paper towels to absorb more and more of the wax. You can keep doing this, or stop and try to scrape off additional wax.

These tips will help you to remove the candle wax most effectively from your carpeting or other fabrics. But, if they do not seem to help or get rid of the stain for you, you will find additional tips listed below to further help you.

Candle Wax Stains On Fabric

Here are some treatment options when it comes to treating fabric for wax stains.

• Try to treat these stains as quickly as you can. Warm and soft wax will come off much easier than wax that has set already. In fact, a stain that has been there for a long period of time will likely be set more so than others.
• Try these stain removal tips for your fabrics before you launder them. If you do not do so, you are likely to wind up with a set stain permanently.
• Use a dull knife or the edge of something and scrape off any and all of the wax that you can. This can help you to get the most stain out as quickly as possible. Be sure not to smash the stain more so into the carpeting though.
• Place paper towels over the area and use a warm iron on top of them. Move the towels around to keep the surface area clean. This will cause the warmed and softened wax to absorb into the paper towels. Use only a warm iron.
• Do not use a warm iron on colored waxes. Only use a scraping method in this case.
• Once you get as much of the stain out as you can, launder the fabric as you normally would, only if this is permissible to the item as directed by the manufacturer.

---

---

Additional Wax Cleaning Tips

Sometimes, even with your best efforts, candle wax can not be removed completely. Yet, even when the tips we have listed have not worked, you may have some additional help here. Here are some things to take note about candle wax removal.

• Realize first that candle wax, or any other type of wax, will not be bothered by water. So, any water soluble solution is not likely to give you the results that you want. Remember that when you are cleaning your wax stains.
• You can often get dry cleaning solvent to work on candle wax. To do this, just apply a small amount of it on to the area of the stain and then blot it up with a clean sponge or paper towels. Do not use products such as gasoline or paint thinner on the surface.
• If you have a stain that is colored wax, or even crayon, you can still get the stain off in this manner. You should try to get off as much as possible of the stain by removing the wax with a dull knife. If there is any type of dye left in your carpeting or on your clothing, you can apply a solution to the area to lift the dye. Try a solution of rubbing alcohol on the stain. Hydrogen peroxide can also help.
• Some stains from candle wax will leave an oily residue. If this happens, you will want to work to remove all the wax that you can as directed above. Then, apply a layer of baking soda to the area where there is still some grease. Allow this to set for several hours. The baking soda will pull the moisture out of the carpet and you can then vacuum the carpet to remove the baking soda. You likely will not need to wash the area again.
• If all else fails, contact your local professional carpet cleaning company to help you to remove the stain.