How do I clean accumulated wax off candle sticks?
Need answer fast!
Just run them under hot tap water - comes right off!
Thanks!
Running hot water over candle wax probably won’t do your drains much good.
Most household hint books recommend ICE on candle wax to harden it, and then it usually can be broken or scraped off.
If you get it on the tablecloth, remove as much wax as possible. Then you’ll probably need a solvent to get it out of the fibers.
~VOW
But don’t do it today (Shabbes).
I’m not supposed to post toda…Oops.
:smack:
I’m not Jewish, but I’m pagan, and we use at least as many candles! 
I put the candlesticks in the freezer. Makes the wax hard and brittle and most of it pops right out with a butter knife. The rest I scrape off with my thumbnail.
On the tablecloth/altar cloth/carpet/your skirt, you can either stick it in the freezer or use an ice cube to harden and pick off as much as possible. Then get a brown paper bag and an iron set on low. Place the bag over the wax and set the iron on the bag for a count of 10. Don’t rub or move the iron or you’ll spread the wax! The iron will melt the wax and the brown paper will absorb it. Move the paper to a clean spot and repeat until all the wax is out.
If you save all your wax bits and pieces, you can cast a new candle, or you can use the wax to help campfires/charcoal grill fires catch and spread. (I wouldn’t cook anything over the melting wax, but it will burn away before your charcoal is ready anyhow.) I melt down old wax in a double boiler and mix it with cedar chips and pour into paper cups to make firestarters for camping.
Wait…what day is today?
Right on schedule.
Doesn’t count.
I asked before sundown on Friday. Note the “Need answer fast!”
I put candle holders on a cookie sheet and let them sit in the oven on a very low heat for a while. The wax will melt off and if you take the holders out when they are still warm, you can wipe off the residue with paper towels.
I soaked them for a few seconds in a pot of hot tap water, and indeed it came right off.
Thanks!
I hold the candlesticks over a bucket while I pour very hot water over them. This way the wax doesn’t get stuck in the sink or drain.
Of course, you can always do what my wife did - switch from wax candles to oil and wicks.
This is what I do, too.
But better: I also set these drip guards in the candleholders, so no wax ever gets on the candlestick itself. On Friday morning, I take them out of the candlesticks and put them in the freezer-- they’re metal-- and by the time I need to put the new candles in them, the old wax is frozen and I can just tap them on the counter and it falls out. If there’s any problem, I dig out the old wax with a knife or scissors. *Gitchyseff *some. (That’s not Yiddish; it’s Mason Williams.)
That’s pretty cool, Shinna.
Thanks!