This is a guide covering how to get candle wax out of carpet.
You have guests over at your place.
The room is filled with laughter, a warm ambience and the scented aroma of your candles.
Suddenly, someone knocked one of the candles down onto the carpet by mistake. There’s a wax drip on your plush carpet.
Nothing spoils the mood more than the spilled candle wax on a carpet, for a candle lover. Have you faced a similar situation?
Have you ever wondered how to get the candle wax out of the carpet without damaging the carpet or ruining the look of the carpet?
Fortunately, it’s not a Herculean task to remove candle wax from the carpet.
If you exercise enough care and caution, you can salvage the wax spill situation in at most a few hours.
Table of Contents
How to Get Candle Wax Out of Carpet: 7 Ways
Once the candle wax spills on the carpet, the first thing to be done is to stop letting the wax spread further on the carpet.
This can be done by freezing the wax using an ice pack or a bag of ice cubes or frozen peas.
Place the ice pack or the bag of frozen peas on the wax and let it solidify so that you can remove the wax easily.
1. Scrape It
Once the wax is frozen, use a butter knife or a blunt object to carefully scrape the frozen wax off the carpet.
Do not use sharp objects as they may ruin the fibers of the carpet. Once you remove the majority of the wax, vacuum the carpet to remove the leftover wax bits.
This method is mainly useful to remove minor candle wax spills.
2. Blot It
This technique is useful to remove stubborn or colored candle wax stains on the carpet.
Mix one ounce of clear dish soap with twelve ounces of water to dilute the soap. Spray this on the candle wax on the carpet.
Grab a white piece of cloth, put it on the frozen wax on the carpet and blot the wax using the cloth.
Do not use colored soap as the color may create additional stains on the carpet.
If the wax stain is a big one, work from the outer corners of the stain and move inwards to prevent spreading the stain further.
If the stain is stubborn, repeat this process multiple times until the stain is removed completely.
3. Use an Iron
Although this technique sounds a bit risky, using an iron is one of the tried and tested techniques to remove candle wax off the carpet.
Take a damp paper towel or napkin or a terry cloth. Place it on the wax stain. Put the iron on its lowest temperature setting and iron the paper towel for 10 seconds.
When you iron the paper towel, due to the heat, the paper towel absorbs the wax.
If the wax stain is stubborn, iron the paper towel for almost thirty seconds.
Reposition the paper towel as needed. Repeat the process until the wax is completely absorbed.
If the paper towel is saturated with molten wax, discard it and use a new one.
Do not give in to the temptation of increasing the temperature setting. High temperatures may damage the carpet fibers.
After all, you do not want to risk a fire hazard by setting fire to the paper towel.
Do not use the steam setting, either, as steam may affect the dyes/colorants in the candle wax.
4. Use a Blow-Dryer
Are you one of those people who are scared of using iron on the carpet for the fear of making it worse? Don’t worry! We have an alternative for you.
Use a blow-dryer instead. This uses the same principle as the one with the iron technique.
Place a damp paper towel or a terry cloth on the candle wax and press it. Turn the blow-dryer on and blow dry on the paper towel.
If your carpet is made of natural fibers such as wool, prefer blow-drying instead of ironing to prevent damage to the carpet.
5. Cleaning by Rubbing Alcohol
Spray rubbing alcohol on the candle wax stain on the carpet. Let it sit for some time. Blot the carpet with a clean cloth.
Repeat the process until the stain is completely removed. Do not rub it vigorously as this may spread the dye on the carpet further.
Vacuum the carpet to remove any residual moisture.
6. Use a Commercial Cleaner
If the candle wax stain is very stubborn or if there is leftover dye on the carpet, use a commercial cleaner such as WD-40 or OxiClean.
Does WD-40 Remove Candle Wax?
As WD-40 is a commercial water-displacing spray, it works very efficiently in removing the candle wax stains out of your carpet.
Spray a small amount of WD-40 on the wax stain and let it rest for a couple of minutes. Dab on the stain with a paper towel or a clean cloth.
Wipe off with a sponge or vacuum it to remove the moisture.
Will OxiClean Remove Candle Wax?
OxiClean is an oxygen-based stain remover that is very effective in removing candle wax from the carpet.
But before using OxiClean, do a patch test on an inconspicuous piece of carpet to see if the color fade is occurring or not.
Prepare a paste of OxiClean carpet cleaner with hot water. Brush or rub this paste into the carpet. Scrub the paste into the carpet for several minutes.
You can either dab it with a paper towel or rinse it with a laundry detergent. Vacuum it to remove any residual moisture.
7. At-Home DIY Natural Solution
You can prepare a natural cleaning solution to remove the candle wax stains using the ingredients available in your kitchen.
You can use vinegar to prepare a DIY cleaning solution to remove the stains.
Does Vinegar Remove Candle Wax From Carpet?
Yes, vinegar works wonders for removing candle wax stains. It works even for stubborn colored wax stains.
Prepare a solution by mixing one-fourth cup of white vinegar and a three-fourth cup of water. Spray the mixture on the stain and leave it for thirty minutes.
Then, dab or blot it and vacuum it.
To see these in action and more, we recommend this video by David:
What is the Easiest Way to Remove Candle Wax?
Among the methods listed above, the ironing or blow-drying technique is the easiest way to remove candle wax. Almost all the households have an iron or a blow-dryer.
They are easily available. They require minimal effort, cost and time and are very effective in stain removal.
For stubborn stains, DIY solutions like vinegar mixed with dish soap or water work well.
How do You Get Candle Wax Out of Carpet Without an Iron?
There are multiple ways to get the candle wax out of the carpet without an iron. We’ve listed some above.
If the stain or spill is small, you can simply use a butter knife to scrape it once the wax is frozen, or you can blot it.
If the stain is a little more stubborn, you can use a blow-dryer or a cleaning solution such as rubbing alcohol or homemade vinegar solution or a commercial cleaning solution to remove them.
Final Remarks
Next time someone spills candle wax on your gorgeous carpet, do not panic.
Do not let the candle spill be a mood spoiler.
Now that you have all these methods at your disposal, removing candle wax is no longer a nightmare.
Take a deep breath and try one of these techniques.
Let us know which technique worked the best for you.
What are you waiting for? Go make memories with your loved ones in a well-lit candle ambience without a hint of fear!
My name is Candice and I have always loved candles since I was a kid. I continue to buy candles and try out new candle brands to this day! I started this blog to share my love of candles so I’m glad you’re here and hope that my content helps you out in some way!
