Goodbye Wax: How to Get Wax Stains out of Surfaces and Fabrics

It’s all fun and games until the end of the night when your beautiful candle spills all over your favorite coffee table or rug. All our candles are made with a proprietary blend of all-natural coconut and soy wax. Although this soft and creamy wax type is known for its long and clean burning time, you’ll remove it the same way you would its toxic counter part, paraffin. Luckily, there are just a few simple steps to quickly get rid of your candle wax stains and make your surfaces and fabrics look as good as new. Say goodbye to your wax stains, no matter what surface you have to clean! 

How to clean candle wax from any fabric or surface: glass, marble, carpet, linen, polyester, cotton

Removing wax stains by fabric type - 

POLYESTER & LINEN: 

The old ice cube and hot iron method is the perfect way to remove wax from materials like polyester and linen. 

  • First, place an ice cube over the stain you wish to remove. This will help refreeze the wax so that it is easier to scrape or scoop off of the surface. 
  • Try to remove as much wax as you can in this initial step. We recommend using a butter knife or a spoon, anything that will loosen up the top layer without cutting through or ripping the material below the wax. The goal here is not to remove the entire wax stain … just the top layer. The bottom half will be more stiff and stuck to the bottom surface. 
  • Next, place a paper towel on the rest of the stain. Take a clothing iron on low heat and rub over the paper towel. Be careful that the iron does not get too hot … you do not want to burn the fabric underneath! 
  • Continue to rub the iron over the paper towel and stain as long as necessary to loosen up and melt any of the remaining wax. The wax should melt into the paper towel. 
  • Throw the fabric into the washing machine with proper stain remover. If this is a rug, spray the affected area with stain remover until the colored spot is gone. And there you have it! Good as new! 

COTTON: 

Cotton, in general, is less durable and water-resistant than polyester which means you have to be more thoughtful when treating a wax stain in this type of fabric. In fact, cotton is most vulnerable to stains, so be careful when you are treating any cotton fabric. (Caution: avoid using high heat on this fabric, it’ll reduce its overall strength). 

  • First, loosen up the top layer of the stain or any excess that is easy to scrape off the surface. Use a dull knife or spoon. 
  • Once you have scraped off the surface, absorb the wax using low heat. Instead of an iron, use a hair dryer and blow the air on top of a dry paper towel. Continue to use heat until all of the wax is melted, but be careful not to overheat the cotton fabric. 
  • Dissolve the stain using any oil-removing stain remover. Candle wax is likely to leave an oil-like stain, but do not fear, these are simple to remove with a little bit of warm water and stain remover. 
    • Some handy solvents for getting rid of the stains that may happen to be lying around your house are nail polish remover (acetone base) and rubbing alcohol. Blot the stain on the fabric until fully dissolved. 

DENIM: 

Have you ever spilled candle wax on your favorite pair of jeans? It may sound silly, but it’s more common than you think! Here are a few quick steps to save your jeans: 

  • Similar to removing wax from polyester, run over the wax stains with an ice cube. Most of the time, the wax will flake right off from the surface since the denim will not fully absorb all of the wax.
  • Place your jeans in the freezer to freeze up the remaining wax stains. For best results, freeze overnight so the fax fully hardens. Peel off any of the frozen wax from your jeans. 
  • If this still doesn’t work, apply heat. Place a dry paper towel on the stain and go over the paper towel with a clothing iron until it softens again. The paper towel should soak up the remaining, melted wax. 
  • And here you go! Your jeans are good as new! 

Removing wax stains by floor type -

CARPETS: 

Attention: for darker carpets, use a darker cloth. For lighter carpets, use a white cloth to avoid staining the carpet with cloth dye. 

  • Gently scrape the surface of the wax with a butter knife. Be careful not to unloop any of the rug. 
  • If the wax is still in the carpet, place a dry cloth on the rest of the stain and place an iron medium to low heat. If the iron is too hot, you might burn the surface. 
  • Once the wax is loose enough from the heat, use a cloth to scoop up the remaining wax. 
  • Use rubbing alcohol on a cloth to soak up any of the remaining wax
  • To remove the stain in the carpet after the wax is removed, simply use a carpet stain remover.

WOOD FLOOR: 

  • Using a hairdryer, heat up the wax until it begins to soften. Use caution with this method to avoid any damage to the underlying surface from the heat. If you do not see any results, try moving the hair dryer a few inches closer.
  • Using a dry cloth, scoop up any of the loosened wax. 
  • Clean the rest of the surface with a solution: half part water and half part white vinegar. You will see the best results if you use a slightly damp cloth (again, be careful when working with wood surfaces to avoid ruining the wood). 
  • This solution will hopefully loosen up a majority of the wax. For whatever is remaining, use a small plastic brush (to avoid scratches on the wood) and softly scrape against the surface.
  • Repeat until the stain is fully removed.
  • Spray the wood surface with polishing spray to leave your floor looking better than new! 

MARBLE:

With a nice counter or table top like marble, it is important to remove the stain as soon as you notice it so that it doesn’t seep into the surface damaging the glossy look. 

  • First, place a plastic bag full of several ice cubes on top of the stain to help freeze the spilled wax. Do not remove the ice until the wax is fully dried. 
  • Slowly and gently peel or scrape off the wax layer by layer. You may have to repeat the freezing process several times before you get a majority of the wax off. 
  • Once the stain is sufficiently removed, apply marble cleaner to a soft cloth and polish the surface until it returns back to its glossy texture. 

Now that you have removed your wax from your fabrics, use these tips to remove wax from your candle container and give it a new life!

2 comments

I just looked up the actual material it’s 95% polyester, 5% spandex and this candle wax has been on probably at least a month just not knowing how to get it off if I could any suggestions? It’s a silky nightgown.

Patricia Clayton July 27, 2023

I have a night gown, and that is silky like material, and my wax candle fell on. So the materials mentioned in this article doesn’t really talk about this kind of material. Could someone suggest how I could get it out of this silky material that’s probably a polyester blend. Thank you.

Patricia Clayton July 27, 2023

Leave a comment

All comments are moderated before being published