Burning your own DIY candles is a wonderful experience, and you don’t want it to be spoiled by spilled wax. This can happen when your candle holder overflows with wax, or if a container candle is bumped, sloshed, or spilled. You may even have a few drips here and there while you’re pouring your own homemade candles.
After you pick the wax off the surface of your table, clothing, carpet, or upholstery, you may despair when you see a dark stain underneath. This is wax that has permeated the fabric or wood. Color candles may also leave stains behind from the coloring in the candle wax.
But don’t stop using scented candles quite yet. Here are some tips for getting wax off of most surfaces.
With any surface, the sooner the wax is cleaned up the better. Spilled wax left for a long time is more likely to cause lasting damage.
How to clean still-melted wax from hard surfaces
If the candle waxes has just spilled on your countertop or table, you want to act quickly. Wipe up the liquid wax from the surface and make sure you’ve gotten it all. The less time that hot wax stays on your surface, the less it will soak in. If there’s a waxy film left, you can scrub the surface with soapy water. If it’s a wood surface, you can use a credit card or other card to gently scrape up the film.
Removing cooled wax from hard surfaces
If you’ve missed the wax spill for long enough, it may have cooled and hardened. Don’t worry, though, you can still get that up. Put some ice in a zip top bag and lay it on the wax. Don’t leave it too long, or condensation on the bag can leave a water stain on wood surfaces. This will make the wax brittle enough to be scraped up easily. Use a credit card or other card, or a plastic putty knife (metal ones will scratch some surfaces, so be careful) to scrape up the solid wax.
To get the rest of the wax off, or to remove wax from crevices, apply heat with a hair dryer, and then wipe the surface with a cloth.
How to remove wax from painted walls
If you get a wax splatter on painted drywall, you don’t want to scrub it with soap and water, because it can damage the paint and texture on your wall.
Instead, put several sheets of paper towels over the wax, and then heat your iron to the lowest heat setting. Run the iron over the paper towels. The wax will melt and soak into the paper towels. You may have to repeat this process a few times to get all the wax out.
Removing wax from carpet
When you get wax on your carpeting, it may seem like an impossible thing to clean. The truth is, you can clean this up.
Put a brown paper bag folded closed over the wax, and iron it like you do with the walls. The wax will melt and soak into the paper bag. You may need to repeat this process a few times to make sure that all the wax is cleaned up. Afterward, spot clean with a stain remover made for carpets to make sure all the residue is cleaned up.
Removing wax from fabric and upholstery
If you spill wax on a small piece of fabric, like clothing or even a throw pillow cover or table cloth, place the fabric in the freezer to make it brittle. Then take out the fabric and crumble the wax off. You can bend the fabric to help pop the cold wax off the fabric. If the fabric is stained, you can rub in a little undiluted laundry detergent or stain remover and then wash as instructed.
If the wax is spilled on an upholstered item, like your sofa, you’re gonna have a hard time putting it in the freezer. Instead, put some ice in a bag and leave it on the wax. Once the wax is frozen and brittle, break it off of the upholstery. If there’s a stain, just spot clean. Use a little stain remover and gently clean the residue away.
Getting wax out of hair
You thought getting gum in your hair was bad, but what about wax? If you get wax on your hair, or in a child’s or pet’s hair, you don’t have to cut it out.
If it’s on the ends of the hair, soak them in hot water, which will melt the wax. A nice shampoo in warm water will help take care of the rest. If it’s on short hair or near the scalp, you can massage a little olive oil or coconut oil in. This will help loosen the wax, because wax is made from oils. Massage the oil into the waxy hair and gently pick out the wax. Then a warm shampoo will finish the job.
Pets may struggle a little with this treatment. Using edible oils, like food grade coconut oil and olive oil, will be best for pets, to prevent them licking something toxic off their own fur. So while wax is soluble in other, stronger solvents, like mineral spirits or xylene, you may not want your pet ingesting them.
Cleaning up candle wax from other surfaces
For cleaning up wax from glazed ceramic or glass, use the same method you used for other hard surfaces. Fortunately these are much less porous than surfaces like granite or wood, so you should be able to scrape the wax off and then wash the surface with no residual staining. For glass, finish off with a streak free glass cleaner.
For brick and unpolished stone or cement, use the hair dryer or iron method (depending on how flat the surface is). Remember, these surfaces are porous so you don’t want to rub the wax around. Just apply heat and blot.
If you or someone else gets hot wax on their hand, practice common sense first aid. Immerse or flush the skin with cool water for 5-10 minutes, and seek expert medical help if the burn is severe.
For safety, always burn candles on flat, stable surfaces. Use a candle holder when necessary. Do not leave burning candles unattended, especially with pets or children around.
Now that you’re armed with the knowledge you need to deal with wax spills, you can burn your homemade candles with confidence and bask in the warm glow of success. If you're ready to get started making candles, check out our collection of DIY candle projects.
