How to Get Candle Wax Out of a Carpet

If you’ve knocked a candle onto the carpet, you might think that your carpet has reached its end and is bound for Madame Tussauds.

The wax will be flooding the fibres, the aroma will be delightful, but the carpet will be dying slowly!

But theatrics aside, your carpet can actually be saved from this waxy end, if you act quickly. Follow the steps below to find out how you get candle wax out of a carpet.

 

Things to Know Before Removing Candle Wax

Before you dive right into clearing the candle wax off your carpet, check out the tips below!

• Act as fast as you can – It’s better to remove the wax from the carpet quickly because the longer it sits on the surface, the more time consuming it is to remove.
• Do a patch test – Before you use any chemicals or products to clean your carpet do a small test to see if the item in question damages the material.
• Be patient – Removing wax from a carpet isn’t difficult but it can sometimes be time consuming.
• Don’t rush – While acting fast is key when it comes to removing wax, it’s important to be careful and to treat the problem slowly. If you rush you could seriously damage your carpet.
• Be gentle – Scrubbing and ripping wax out of a carpet’s fibres is only going to ruin the carpet. So, remember to take it easy and be gentle when removing the wax.
• Keep kids and pets away from the area – You’ll likely be using hot tools to remove the wax from the carpet, so the last thing you need is children and animals running around the place.
• Don’t walk on the soiled area – Wax tends to dry quickly, but you shouldn’t walk over the wax because this will embed it further into the carpet’s fibres, and will make it harder to remove. Plus, if the wax hasn’t dried properly and you walk through it, you will traipse the wax over other surfaces, and they will also need to be cleaned.
• Ventilation is key – If you plan on using chemicals to clean your carpet, remember to keep the windows in the room open.

 

How to Remove Candle Wax from a Carpet Using an Iron

The simplest way to remove wax from a carpet is to use heat to draw out the candle wax. And you can do this by using an iron and a cloth.

Follow the steps below to rid your carpet of candle wax.

Tools you need:

• Ice
• Sealed bag
• Cotton cloths
• Iron
• Carpet cleaner
• Butter knife
• Hoover
• Water

Steps to follow:

1. Make sure the wax has dried and is hard.
2. If the wax is soft, pop some ice cubes in a bag and rest the ice-filled bag on the wax to harden it, but make sure the wax doesn’t get wet.
3. Grab a butter knife and gently scrape the wax off the carpet. This is delicate work, so work slowly.
4. Once you’ve teased off as much wax as you can, you’ll need to hoover the surface.
5. Go to the sink and wet a white cotton cloth.
6. Wring the water out of the cloth.
7. Place the damp cotton cloth directly onto the waxy spot.
8. Grab your iron and fire it up.
9. Choose a warm temperature on the iron.
10. When the iron is warm, carefully iron the cloth in circular motions for 10-30 seconds at a time. Do not steam the carpet.
11. Lift the iron up and check the cloth.
12. Wax should’ve started to absorb into the cotton cloth.
13. Continue to iron the cloth so you absorb the wax off the carpet.
14. Re-soak the cotton cloth when it dries out, and use a fresh patch of cloth to draw more wax up and out of the carpet.
15. Continue to do this until most of the wax has been removed from the carpet.
16. When the wax has mostly gone, use a carpet cleaner to clean the area.
17. Blot at the stained area or use a teaspoon to scrape off any remaining wax.
18. Grab a new clean cotton cloth and dap at the area to soak up excess liquid/cleaner.
19. Hoover the carpet once again to make sure no debris is left behind.
20. Allow the carpet to air dry naturally.

 

How to Get Candle Wax Out of a Carpet Without an Iron

If you don’t have an iron at home, don’t worry, there are other ways you can clear candle wax off your carpet! Check out the alternatives below.

Hair dryer

To use a hair dryer to remove wax from a carpet, simply follow the steps above for the iron method, but when you get to the ironing steps, use a hair dryer instead.

Just blow hot air onto the wax to melt it, then press a paper towel onto the waxy patch to soak the candle wax up. Continue to do this until most of the wax has gone, and carry on cleaning the carpet with a carpet cleaner.

Tip: Don’t put the hair dryer too close to the carpet because you might scorch it/cause irreparable damage.

Ice

If you’re lucky you might be able to use a packet of ice, a butter knife and a hoover to remove candle wax from your carpet.

Just pop a few cubes of ice into a sealed bag and rest the cold bag on the candle wax. After a few minutes, gently scrape away the frozen wax from the carpet, and hoover the area so you remove the loose waxy chunks. Then repeat the steps above until the wax has gone.

You can then clean the carpet with a regular carpet cleaner, before allowing it to dry naturally.

Hot pan

If you’ve not got an iron or a hair dryer at hand, you can swap these tools out for a hot pan.

Simply follow the ironing steps above, but instead of using an iron you pop a pan that has been heating up on the hob onto the damp cloth. The heat from the pan will help to absorb the wax up from the carpet and onto the cotton cloth, just like a hot iron would.

This alternative is a lot more time consuming because you’ll have to keep walking back and forth heating pans up. But it can yield great results.

Just remember to be very careful when you’re carrying the hot pans around your home!

Get professional help

If you’ve tried all of the methods above, or the job is just too big to handle, it might be worth calling in a professional carpet cleaner to help you out.

A quick online search will bring up carpet cleaners in your area.

Just keep in mind that you need to do your homework before signing any agreements. You also need to ask plenty of questions, you need to find out what products they’re going to use, and how much the work will cost.

 

How to Remove Dried Candle Wax

You can remove dried candle wax from a carpet by using the iron method listed above.

If the dried wax in question has been on the carpet for a long time, you may need to repeat the iron method multiple times to soften and remove the wax. Just be careful not to scorch or damage the carpet during this repetitive process.

Once most of the wax has been picked up, you can treat the carpet with a stain removal kit or rubbing alcohol to get rid of any traces of dye.

 

Does Candle Wax Stain Carpets?

Yes, coloured wax can stain a carpet. To remove a dye stain, follow the steps below.

1. Clean the wax off the carpet using one of the methods listed above.
2. Dab some rubbing alcohol onto a clean cotton cloth.
3. Go to a discreet patch of carpet and perform a patch test.
4. If everything works out okay and there are no issues, go back to the dyed patch and continue with this method.
5. Blot at the stained area with the cloth – no scrubbing!
6. Continue to blot at the dyed patch until the dye has lifted.
7. Use a fresh patch of cloth to absorb the dye each time (so you don’t transfer the dye back onto the carpet).
8. Add more rubbing alcohol to the cloth as you work the dye out.
9. Allow the carpet to air dry naturally when you’re done.

Alternatively, you could use a specialised stain remover for the job.

Something like Vanish Oxi Action Carpet & Upholstery Cleaner would do the trick. You don’t have to use too much of the product to see great results, and it can also remove bad odours. So, ideal if you tipped a whiffy candle over!

Just keep in mind that there are a lot of carpet cleaners available to buy, they generally get mixed reviews, and some products need to be applied to a carpet multiple times to work effectively.