The flickering light of a candle provides soft lighting for a romantic dinner or celebration during your children's birthday party. Unfortunately, whichever way you use candles, they cease to be practical the moment wax accidentally drips on your clothes. It's such a disheartening scene, especially when it's a wax stain on your favorite attire. But, not to worry, you can learn how to get candle wax out of clothes without incurring laundry bills.

Accordingly, this step-by-step guide will help you identify safe and effective ways of removing candle wax without damaging the garment's fabric. Fortunately, we will focus on using readily available materials at home. In light of this understanding, read on for our best tips for getting rid of even the stubbornest wax splatters.

Method 1: Scraping Method

The best of all tips on how to get candle wax out of clothes is by scraping. In its simplicity, there is a procedure to follow through this first method for optimal outcomes. The outcomes we seek from this first method include removing wax stains entirely and preserving the fabric of your clothes. Here are the steps to follow:

Step 1: Allow the Wax to Dry or Harden it

No matter how soon you notice a spill on your clothes, never attempt to remove candle wax before it dries. Any attempt to remove hot wax may worsen the situation by causing a further spread stain. Also, handling melted wax might burn your fingers. In case of any wax burns, follow these steps for care and treatment.

Besides letting it dry naturally, you can use a few ice cubes to harden the splatter on your garment. Ice cubes help expedite the stain hardening process. Nonetheless, avoid placing the ice cube directly on your clothing to avoid getting patches of wetness. Alternatively, you can put your stained garment in a freezer for 30 minutes, but we acknowledge this might be impractical, especially while attending a dinner party.

Step 2: Scrape the Candle Wax from Clothes

After letting the wax dry, you can now remove candle wax using a dull knife to scrape. Alternatively, you can use a credit card to remove the hardened wax. Whichever tool you use for scrapping, you should proceed gently and cautiously.

Moreover, we recommend using a dull knife-butter knife or spoon, especially with delicate fabrics like silk, to prevent tearing. Otherwise, a sharp knife would effectively remove most of the wax from other fabrics that are less delicate. In addition, throughout this scraping phase, you should try to remove as much wax as possible.

You can also rub fabric against each other along the stained area. Furthermore, folding and unfolding the area with brittle wax will help you further break it down. Finally, hold your garment over a dustbin to avoid causing a mess across all scraping methods.

Step 3: Let it Soak

You have already removed most of the hardened wax from the fabric at this stage. However, some candles may contain dye which may cause a tough stain. Similarly, candle wax may leave an oil stain which can be handled through soaking. Ideally, soaking is effective in removing stubborn stains.

Accordingly, leave your stained clothing soaked in a bowl containing water and an oxygen-based stain remover. Let it soak for a few hours. However, we acknowledge this step might not remove the entire wax spatter. Therefore, some stains might still be visible even after hours of soaking.

Step 4: Candle Wax Spot Treatment

Still, under how to get candle wax out of clothes, you can concentrate on the stained pot to remove all the wax stain. Then, you can apply some laundry detergent around the stained spot to remove the remaining stains. Alternatively, you can use a 2:1 mixture of water and rubbing alcohol.

You can spray this customized rubbing alcohol mixture or use a sponge as you work towards the center. Ensure you use a light spray or squeeze your sponger dry to avoid large wet patches. We recommend doing this spot treatment until your stain is eliminated.

Once the stain disappears, wash your clothing in ordinary laundry detergent. This last wash will ensure you eliminate any residues left on your clothing. Also, using a detergent will ease the removal of any colored stain caused by dye.

Eventually, air-dry or machine-dry your garment. Even during regular laundry, invest in the best portable full-size washing appliance for quicker drying. However, drying before the stain is completely removed might make it permanent on your garment.

Method 2: Hot Iron

Image Credit: thewaxcandles.com

Scrapping might not be adequate in some cases if you don't have all the required materials. Not to worry, you can also remove wax from clothing using heat. This process, notwithstanding the possible handling of hot wax, can be effective also when the stain persists after a thorough. Understand how to get candle wax out of clothes using heat in the following brief process.

What You Need

• Hairdryer or clothing iron
• Paper towels or brown paper bags
• Detergent
• Stain remover

Process

• Step 1: Set your clothing iron on low to medium heat. Alternatively, use the ordinary hairdryer used on hair if you're handling super delicate fabrics. The main idea is to re-melt the wax on low heat.
• Step 2: Put your clothing between two paper towels or brown paper. If it's your favorite garment made from wool, place a cloth on top of the paper towel for the side you'll be ironing. However, the additional cloth cover won't be necessary when using a hair-dryer.
• Step 3: Press down the hot clothing iron or blow hot air on the paper layer to transfer the stain. Subsequently, massage the covering papers until the wax is absorbed. Repeat this heat treatment until the wax is removed entirely. If paper towels get saturated, feel free to use a new sheet (s).
• Step 4: After paper towels absorb no more stain, other fabrics might still be left with oil stains. Consequently, you can use a few drops of a stain remover to remove such stains. This step also applies spot treatment to remove the remaining stain.
• Step 5: After you are satisfied the wax stain is no more, use your ordinary detergent to clean any remaining residues. Eventually, rinse and dry your garment.

Method 3: Use Vegetable Oil

Still, on how to get candle wax out of clothes, you can use the simple vegetable oil method to remove mild wax residues. Most importantly, start with removing the dried wax. Then, drench your stained spot with vegetable cooking oil as you pat using a paper towel for absorption. Finish this process with complete laundering to remove residues.

Method 4: Use Boiling Water

Last on our list of stain removal methods is rinsing with boiling water. You can use this method for simple cloth articles like a shirt. First, start by removing any dried wax by hand. Follow it up by spreading your fabric over a container and securing it in place.

Subsequently, pour hot water over the stretched fabric to remove the remaining wax. Finish this process with a regular wash to remove any residues. Feel free to repeat this process until you remove wax from your fabric entirely.

Conclusion

The above simple tips are the more reasons to stop dreading the use of candles. Continue enjoying the warm and soft ambiance from candles with friends and family while wearing your favorite shirt or dress. These methods will also help with an easy cleanup post a DIY candle-making project. In closing, you can put your hand behind the flame or use a snuffer when putting out candles to avoid wax stains.

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