# What's a good solvent for candle wax?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-solvent-for-candle-wax/233752
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [March 11, 2004, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-solvent-for-candle-wax/233752 "2004-03-11T20:28:37Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2004, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-solvent-for-candle-wax/233752/1 "2004-03-11T20:28:37Z")
There’s a ton of it on my glass table, I prefer not to use elbow grease.
I’ve tried naptha, it doesn’t do anything. I’ve used acetone for superglue before, but don’t have any on hand. Is there something I can grab at home despot or wally world?
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### Author:  [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2004, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-solvent-for-candle-wax/233752/2 "2004-03-11T21:12:08Z")
Have you though about using a hair dryer (or blow torch) to heat the wax and just scraping it off effortlessly with a razor blade? I don’t know if a solvent will work with waxes, synthetic or not.
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### Author:  [@Jake4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake4)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2004, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-solvent-for-candle-wax/233752/3 "2004-03-11T21:57:57Z")
Blow dryer idea sounds worth trying.
[This page](http://www.qznaz.com/qa24.htm) has more suggestions.
Pssssst…I searched Google for “dissolve wax”.
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### Author:  [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2004, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-solvent-for-candle-wax/233752/4 "2004-03-11T22:25:27Z")
Xylene should dissolve the wax. If it leaves a residue, benzene will dissolve the xylene, acetone will dissolve the benzene, alcohol will dissolve the acetone, and water will dissolve the alcohol.
(Disclaimer: The above is based upon memory from 30 years ago. I think it’s correct.)
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### Author:  [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2004, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-solvent-for-candle-wax/233752/5 "2004-03-11T22:31:25Z")
Xylene is some pretty bad shit! Working in skating rinks a lot, you see that stuff lying around. They use it to dissolve the floor urethane to fix scratches and stuff. Rink life was so fun.
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### Author:  [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2004, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-solvent-for-candle-wax/233752/6 "2004-03-11T22:43:45Z")
You want a nonpolar hydrocarbon, an alkane maybe. That’s what the wax looks like, and your solvent should have a similar structure.
Hexane is nice. Nowhere near as toxic as acetone or xylene. I think hexane is the solvent in Carter’s Rubber Cement - at least it used to smell like it.
Perhaps kerosene is close enough (probably has lots of alkanes in there) and easier to find.
Beware, all these things are flammable.
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### Author:  [@robcaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robcaro)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2004, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-solvent-for-candle-wax/233752/7 "2004-03-11T22:50:45Z")
Why don’t you just scrape it off with a new hard back razor blade. It should come off clean as a whistle. You don’t need to dissolve any wax that way. By the way, cold wax cleans up easier that way, so use ice to make it cold first.
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### Author:  [@quiltguy154](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy154)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2004, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-solvent-for-candle-wax/233752/8 "2004-03-11T23:06:21Z")
Put a single layer of paper cut from a grocery bag over the wax. Glide over it with an iron set at a medium heat. The iron will melt the wax, and the paper will absorb it. Who said being an altarboy wouldn’t come in handy someday?
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### Author:  [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2004, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-solvent-for-candle-wax/233752/9 "2004-03-11T23:26:44Z")
Ice works very well, or if the item is small enough, put it in the freezer. After 30 minutes or so just break the wax off. Anything you use may leave a stain, but you can treat the stain with a spot cleaner (I use _Spot Shot_)
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### Author:  [@gcarroll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gcarroll)
#### Post date: [March 12, 2004, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-solvent-for-candle-wax/233752/10 "2004-03-12T02:00:35Z")
I hope this is not too late…
I vote against any heat method such as iron or blow dryer.
This is on furniture, with a glass top, not cloth, where heat methods are commonly used. Many furniture finishes do not react gracefully to heat, and any damage would be far worse than the wax-on-glass problem. Also some types of glass will shatter if heated unevenly.
Scraping with razor blade is good. Wipe it later with a rag. I think mineral spirits will dissolve wax, and is pretty safe, so you might want to slightly moisten the rag with this.
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### Author:  [@mikerowave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikerowave)
#### Post date: [March 12, 2004, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-solvent-for-candle-wax/233752/11 "2004-03-12T04:21:52Z")
Like it has been said, Heat. just melt it off. So, in a word, FIRE!