The Beauty Tool You Can Use To Get Melted Candle Wax Off Your Household Items
Who doesn't love candles? The perfect addition to cozy up any space, candles provide a relaxing — and sometimes romantic — ambiance. Not to mention the delicious scent they bestow! What we don't love, however, are those accidental spills that may come along with them. Whether one of your dinner guests had too many glasses of wine or your clumsiness got the best of you, spilling hot candle wax on any surface in your home can be difficult to clean up.
Wax dries way too fast, which means that by the time you get to the spill, it's likely already hardened. According to Candleers Candle Co., candle wax dries so quickly because of its "melting point," which needs to be at a certain temperature to remain a liquid. And once that wax has left its fancy flamed container, boom. You're stuck with a tough wax spill that requires a little more than a napkin to remove. Luckily, there's a beauty tool you can use to get melted candle wax off your household items.
A blow dryer is your secret weapon for cleaning up wax spills
Since the wax has hardened, what could be used to get it back to liquid form for easy clean-up? Heat! Don't run to your lighter to ignite another candle -– reach for your blow dryer instead. Self-proclaimed "friendly fragrance experts," P.F. Candle Co., shared a TikTok video of what you should do the next time you spill candle wax. In the video, you see hot wax being spilled on a desk. Once the wax is completely cooled, a paper towel is placed on top of it. Then, a blow dryer is used to warm the wax back up as the paper towel absorbs the melted liquid. It couldn't be easier.
Better Homes & Gardens recommends starting on the lowest heat setting and working your way to the highest setting as necessary. You also want to make sure you keep the blow dryer around one inch away from the spill so that it thoroughly heats the wax back up. If the wax is having difficulty loosening, use the blow dryer directly on the spill instead of sandwiching a paper towel between the blow dryer and the wax. Once the wax is liquid, quickly wipe it up with a paper towel.
Beware: this method can ruin certain surfaces. Try this instead
If you spill candle wax on wood or granite, stay away from heat. Since wood is absorbent and porous, according to Reader's Digest, using heat will actually do the opposite of what you're going for, seeping the wax further into the surface. And although natural stone countertops are usually heat-friendly, if they have a sealant on them, the heat can damage the surface (via Granite Gold Inc.). Instead of applying heat, you want to go in the opposite direction and reach for ice.
A perfect example of using ice to remove melted wax is showcased in this TikTok video shared by @thecleaninghabit. "Leave the ice cubes on top of the wax for a minute," the text on the screen reads after an ice cube is placed on top of a wax spill. Then, "Once the wax becomes stiff, scrape it off with a plastic scraper."
Ice helps remove melted candle wax because it causes it to harden completely, making it easier to scrape off (via Reader's Digest). Of course, you want to be gentle with the scraping and feel free to place the ice cubes in a small plastic baggie if you're concerned about potential water stains. As for saving that glass candle jar that may have shattered with the spill? We're no help there. Our condolences!