# How to get wax off of wood? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 28, 2006, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-wax-off-of-wood/366468 "2006-07-28T22:02:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-wax-off-of-wood/366468/1 "2006-07-28T22:02:23Z")
How do you get wax off of wood? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-wax-off-of-wood/366468/2 "2006-07-28T22:42:37Z")
Well, you can use a [wax stripping product](http://www.google.com/search?q=%22wax+stripper%22&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official) or sand it off. What kind of wax is it? What’s it on, a floor, the dining room table, some salvaged 2X4’s? Is the wax dyed? Has it soaked in through the finish, or is this just a surface problem? ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-wax-off-of-wood/366468/3 "2006-07-28T23:12:06Z")
First use a hair dryer to soften the wax, wipe it off. The leftover wax can be wiped off with diluted vinegar. ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-wax-off-of-wood/366468/4 "2006-07-29T03:22:25Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > First use a hair dryer to soften the wax, wipe it off. The leftover wax can be wiped off with diluted vinegar. Not knowing what kind of wax and what kind of wood finish, if any, may result in permanent harm. Using excess heat and a non-wax solvent such as a water based product like vinegar, (a weak acetic acid) is not advisable. Heat will drive the wax into bare wood. Vinegar won’t dissolve the wax. ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-wax-off-of-wood/366468/5 "2006-07-29T05:10:33Z")
> [@spingears](#): > > Heat will drive the wax into bare wood. What about holding the piece upside down while heating it with the hair dryer? This assumes much about the situation, I know. What I’m getting at is if the driving action you mention is gravity propelled or capillary action. I used a barely warm iron once to get wax out of carpet. Worked well enough that the landlord never noticed. If gravity is the culprit, then my carpet theoretically would have stayed ruined. If it’s capillary action, then my carpet lacking much capillary action helps explain why it worked. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-wax-off-of-wood/366468/6 "2006-07-29T13:35:02Z")
You need to know the finish on the wood. You can scrap the majority off with piece of straight edged plastic. It’s much safer than a metal blade. You can then use a coarse woven cloth to rub off the wax. The wax will fill in between the weave, so it needs to be a coarse weave.