Best Way to Remove Candle Wax from Carpet

SHOULD I REMOVE CANDLE WAX FROM CARPET WITH A PAPER BAG OR CLOTH?

It’s happened to most of us. You accidentally knock over the candle that has been lit for two hours, dumping hot wax all over your thick carpet! Now what? The two most popular ways when Google searching are (1) the iron and paper bag method or (2) the iron and terry cloth method.

We started our search by asking our residential technicians what method seemed more legit. They suggested the cloth method, hands-down. And what do ya know? We tried both methods, and we definitely found the winner. The best way to remove candle wax from carpet is using a hot iron and clean cloth!

RESULTS FROM THE TERRY CLOTH METHOD

BEFORE AFTER
white wax spilled and dried on carpet cloth-soaking-up-wax-from-carpet

RESULTS FROM THE PAPER BAG METHOD

BEFORE AFTER

scraping-dry-candle-wax-out-of-carpet-with-dull-knife iron-and-brown-bag-method-isnt-effective
*the after picture was taken after using two grocery bags! This method did not work well for us.

Ok, so now that you’ve seen the iron with the cloth is much more effective, here are the materials and directions you will need to get that wax out of your carpet.

MATERIALS NEEDED FOR REMOVING WAX

Iron
Terry Cloth (choose a cloth that you can throw away)
Candle Wax Mess (dry wax only)

STEPS ON HOW TO REMOVE WAX FROM CARPET

1. Heat iron to high. Or on cotton setting if you have that option.
up close image showing how to set iron on high

2. Scrape off as much wax as you can with a dull knife; then vacuum the wax pieces.
scraping-candle-wax-off-carpet-with-butter-knife
3. Dampen cloth.
4. Fold cloth in half and place directly over dried candle wax.
showing how to place damp cloth over dried candle wax on carpet
5. Place iron over cloth and hold down for 10-30 seconds. (We used the full 30 seconds.)
hot-iron-on-cloth-over-wax-stain-on-carpet-hold-at-least-10-seconds-to-start
6. Lift cloth up. Adjust cloth so a new part will soak up more wax. Repeat step 5.
cloth-soaking-up-wax-from-carpet
7. Repeat until all wax is gone.
showing clean carpet after cloth and iron method
Tip: *Make sure cotton cloth stays damp (damp meaning not dry and not soaking wet).

WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER CANDLE WAX STAIN

Remember what we were left with after the paper bag method?

Here’s a quick reminder:
iron-and-brown-bag-method-isnt-effective

We waited for the wax to fully harden again, and then used the iron and cloth method (see steps above).
showing cloth soaking up orange candle wax after using hot iron

carpet stain

*This last image is very close-up. When standing, we could not see any spot.

STILL CAN’T GET THE WAX OUT OF YOUR CARPET?

If you’ve tried everything and still aren’t happy with the results, ServiceMaster of Kalamazoo will probably get that stain gone and your carpet back to normal! We are highly trained in home carpet cleaning, and we can remove spots you never thought we could.

THE BEST WAY TO REMOVE CANDLE WAX FROM CARPET