Cleaning Guide: How to Get Candle Wax Out Of Clothing

Scented candles are a wonderful way to add a decorative touch around the home and set a mood. Usually, they are sitting securely on a table, mantel, counter or desk as the flickering flames turn hard wax into melted wax. Occasionally, a candle gets knocked over or tipped by accident and that can lead to hot wax dripping onto an item of clothing. The wax quickly hardens and now you're faced with a situation where you've got to figure out how to remove this wax from clothes. As candle experts, we're more than happy to give you our tips for how to safely get wax out of fabric.

Give the Wax Time to Dry

If you're around to see the wax dripping onto fabric, you may want to spring into action right away, thinking if you wipe the wax off quickly enough, it won't be a problem to clean. Don't do this! First of all, it's not safe to touch hot wax. Secondly, you'll only end up smearing it around. Instead, you should wait until the wax completely dries before following our removal method.

Removing Wax By Scraping It Off

If the fabric is not delicate, you can grab a sharp knife from the kitchen and use it as a scraping tool. Carefully position the knife at the top or side of the wax stain. Slowly scrape the wax off by making movements away from your body to avoid accidental harm. Be careful to avoid making holes in the fabric. Scrape until you've removed as much wax as possible. If the fabric is a delicate like silk, use a spoon to scrape.

Melt Wax With Heat

This next step may seem counterintuitive, but believe us, it's a necessary one for removing the wax completely. What you are going to be doing is reheating the wax with the help of indirect heat. Place a dishcloth or towel on a flat surface and place the item of clothing (or fabric tablecloth) on top. Grab two sheets of paper towels and place one sheet over the remaining wax stain. Place a thin dishcloth over the paper towels. Get the iron out and turn it to a low or medium setting.

Iron just the wax stain area until you see that one section of the paper towel is saturated with wax. Cover the stain with a clean section of the towel and repeat. If the entire towel is saturated, use the second sheet, if needed. This step should remove all of the remaining wax. Please note that if the fabric is fleece, wool, velvet or another fluffy fabric, blotting paper works much better than paper towels.

Let It Soak

Even though the wax is gone, the dye from colored wax remains as a stain. We recommend soaking the stained area in a solution of oxygen-based stain remover and water for several hours. Alternatively, you can pre-treat the area with an effective stain remover that is safe to use on that particular type of fabric.

Wash Normally

It's time to complete this wax removal by washing the garment or tablecloth as you normally would. You can toss it in the machine or hand wash, according to your preference.