Recently I’ve had a few candle-related accidents and I need the help of the more domesticated Straight-Dopers out there. How can I remove melted wax from carpet withouth destroying said carpet. Also, is there a way to remove candle-wax stains from a painted wall without stripping the paint off? Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.
Put piece of brown bag over wax, iron and the wax should stick to bag - it’s a slow process - could try the same with paint although colour and dye from wax will likely leave a mark.
OK this works for getting melted candle wax off of clothes - but you will need to think how carpet will respond to heat (if it is pure wool - badly) and the depth of the pile, so I would wait for a couple of other dopers to confirm the idea…
But heat up an iron on medium, get a sheet of brown paper, the postal wrap sort, place brown paper over wax and run iron over until wax melts and gets aborbed by the paper. Tear off the paper (if you just move it over it will transfer the soft wax to a clean bit of carpet!) and use a clean area regularly until all the wax is gone. Bingo!
Not sure about wax from wall paint though.
For carpeting, I’ve read that you can take a piece of absorbant cloth, lay it across the carpet over the wax, and pour boiling water onto the cloth and wax from a height of about a foot. Use the cloth to soak up as much wax as possible. Don’t burn yourself. I imagine this would be less likely to scorch your carpet than the iron method, but if the carpet in question’s wool, all bets are off.
Or even better: use blotting paper. It is made to absorb liquids.
I got pink wax out of white carpet with the iron on LOW and paper towels. White paper towels. Lots of white paper towels.
It might take you five or six sessions to get it out. You should be able to get the wax off the wall with a hair dryer on high held close until the wax melts. Then just a good wipe down.
Here’s a related tip: If you ever get melted wax on a piece of clothing, put it in the freezer until the wax is hard and brittle. You can then peel the wax off of the clothing. I’m not sure what to do about dye left behind, though.