Removing Candlewax from... Your Wall!

We were recently burning a warm, cozy, wintry-smelling candle on the shelf of our entertainment center.  A big glass jar full of dark green, pine scented wax had been burning for hours and made the living room smell like a walk in the forest (with a smattering of thoughts toward Christmas thrown in).

Joe and I happened to both be in the kitchen, when all of a sudden we heard a loud crash.  We cranked our necks to look at each other with saucer-sized eyes and dashed into the living room.

The shelf brackets had given way and all of my beloved tchotchkes; framed pictures, assorted vases, and that jar full of melted, green wax, plunged to the floor.  We don't like excessive clutter, so I don't think it was because it was too heavy.  I'm not sure why it collapsed.  Most was salvageable, I just had to wash the waxy green splatters off.

However, the one heart-breaking thing that broke was my beloved Alvar Aalto vase that I obtained personally while visiting Finland in 2000.  It was one of my favorite take-home souvenirs from that trip.  It smashed to smithereens.  So bummed.

Besides that, the melted green wax splattered all over the wall and dripped down behind the TV.  [sigh]

It was a 3' x 2' dripping green stain that stayed there for two weeks because I absolutely dreaded the chore of trying to get it off.  I was afraid it would require scraping and washing and repainting.  Ugh.

Finally, I worked up the gumption to get it done.  And I remembered seeing (about two decades ago!) a friend of mine use an iron and paper towel on a similar wax stain (though, one tenth the size and pale pink!) on her wall. 

(In the picture above, you can see at the top where I had started the process when I remembered to take a picture... because you just never know the things you may want to blog about and it's always good to have pictures available!)

I figured it was worth giving it a try on my Hulkish stain.  If nothing else, it might at least reduce the scraping I'd have to do.

So, I ironed and ironed and ironed, and went through scads of paper towel.

And it worked marvelously!  Look at that... almost no trace of there having been a stain there at all.  I followed up with just a warm, damp rag - and it was like it never happened.

So, if you ever splatter wax (no matter the color) on your wall, remember you can just iron it away!



Linking up with Our Simple Farm, Homestead Barn Hop, Clever Chicks Blog Hop and Farm Girl Friday Blog Hop.