Household,How to Clean

How to Remove Wax From Surfaces

Candles make any room warm and inviting. The anatomy of a candle is simple – a candle consists of wax and a wick. Things get more complicated when colorants, fragrances, and additives are thrown into the mix. Paraffin, a petroleum by-product, is the most common type of candle. Other things used to manufacture candles include beeswax (a natural wax from the hives of honeybees), soy wax (a vegetable wax), gels made from mineral oil, and synthetic waxes are also frequently used.

Candles that burn the cleanest are made from undyed and unscented wax. Soy candles are ideal because they are naturally odorless and do not produce soot. Beeswax candles are lovely because they emit a natural honey scent. Martha Stewart recommends avoiding strongly scented candles in the dining room because they compete with the delicious aromas of your meal.

How do you make a candle burn evenly?

To keep candles burning bright, try the following:

Keep wicks cut down to ¼-inch. Longer wicks cause higher flames and more soot.
To keep candles from burning lopsided, protect them from drafts. Drafts cause larger flames which not only produce soot in addition to causing the candle to burn lopsided.
Placing candles on a sunny windowsill or in an overheated room can cause them to droop and be unsafe to light.
To avoid spills and misshapen pillar candles, try the following: keep the wick centered in the candle by inserting a spoon handle alongside the wick and pressing it into place.
Try this rule of thumb for burning pillar candles: Limit the burning time of the candles based on their diameter – if a candle is three inches wide, only burn it for three hours. This prevents wax from pooling around the base of the wick and burying it, thus ruining the candle.
You can burn tapers if they aren’t smoking or dripping excessively.
If you do find a wick drowning in its own wax, cut the pillar candle down ½-inch from the top with a sharp knife.

How do you clean a dirty candle holder?

It’s easiest to remove wax from candle holders when it’s still warm. Peel off the warm drippings as soon as you blow out the candles. If the wax has cooled, and the candle holder is waterproof, try running the candle holder under hot water and removing it by hand or with a plastic utensil. To try a trick from the other end of the temperature spectrum, the wax will shrink after a few hours in the freezer and pop right out. The rest should come off by gently scrubbing.

How do you get melted candle wax off of fabric?

If you should get candle wax on linen, grab an ice cube and hold it on the wax. The wax will freeze and shrink, and you can pop it off the fabric. Then you can treat any residual stain with laundry stain remover.

What removes wax stains?

It’s important to remove candle wax from your carpet as soon as you notice it. The longer you wait, the harder it will be to clean the wax stain, especially if you need to remove colored wax from your carpet. Here are the materials you will need:

Bag of ice or ice pack
Iron or hair dryer
Paper towel, terry cloth towel, or brown paper bag
Butter knife or other dull knife
Carpet cleaner or rubbing alcohol
Vacuum cleaner

What is the best way to get candle wax out of carpet?

Step 1: Freeze the wax

The goal here is to get the wax as cold as possible so it will solidify into a hard clump and can be lifted up from the carpet fibers more easily. Place a plastic bag filled with ice cubes, an ice pack, or even a bag of frozen vegetables or flat of frozen meat. It’s a good idea to wrap the bag or pack of ice in a towel so the wax doesn’t get wet. Moisture will only make the stain tougher to remove. Allow the wax to freeze for about 10 minutes.

Step 2: Scrape the wax off

Once the wax is frozen, use the knife to pry up and scrape off as much of the wax as possible. Don’t be too rough with the carpet, as you don’t want to cut the threads. Vacuum up the wax pieces you scraped off and then continue on to step three. Occasionally you’ll get lucky and all the wax will come off with just the knife. If that’s the case, skip to step four.

Step 3: Iron the stain

Position a paper towel, terry cloth towel, or paper bag on top of the remaining wax. Make sure your iron is clean, set it on low heat, and turn off the steam function. You shouldn’t use a higher heat because carpet fibers are made of plastic and will melt at a higher setting, especially at a temperature that will produce steam. Run your iron over the towel to heat the wax. Once you start to see the towel absorbing the wax, reposition it over the wax stain so that a clean area can absorb more wax. Repeat this step until all of the wax is gone.

If you want to remove candle wax from carpet without an iron, a hair dryer can also be used to heat the wax. Simply blow hot air onto the wax stain until it’s warm, then firmly press a paper towel, brown paper bag, or white terry cloth towel onto the stain to absorb the wax.

Step 4: Clean the carpet

Remove any remaining wax or dye stains from the carpet with a commercial cleaning solution or rubbing alcohol. Blot with a clean white cloth until both the stains and the moisture are gone.

Step 5: Vacuum the carpet

Lastly, go over the stained area with a carpet cleaning solution. For pesky colored candle wax, rubbing alcohol is an excellent carpet stain remover. Wet a white terry cloth towel with a small amount of rubbing alcohol and gently dab the stain until the color is removed. Be careful not to rub the solution into the carpet as this could hurt the fragile fibers. Once your carpet has dried, run a vacuum over the area to return the natural texture to your carpet. You can also try using the upholstery brush attachment if the texture needs a little more work.

Can a cleaning company remove candle wax from my surfaces?

Competent cleaners know the best techniques to eliminate candle wax and other types of staining from your household surfaces without damaging them. Castle Keepers keeps up with the latest trends in the industry and uses time-tested methods to provide you with a spotless home. Our many happy customers and stellar reviews are a testament to the quality of our services.

Whether you need our specialists to eliminate unpleasant household odors or to carefully clean your wooden furniture, we’ll have you covered. Our teams bring their own efficient cleaning supplies and use durable and well-maintained cleaning tools. Give us a call to learn more!

LET US DO THE CLEANING. YOU DO THE RELAXING.