Maid in America/ Carpet Wax Removal

[Vicky Davis]

Carpet Wax Removal

 

When it comes to stains on carpet, wax has to be the most annoying. Not only do you have the wax itself to contend with, but your carpet is also at risk from a stain by the dye that gave the candle its color.

 

Step 1 – Scrape the Carpet

 

If you take a small blunt object like a teaspoon and scrape the carpet, wax should flake off the stain gently. However, be careful not to scrape too hard, because you could damage the fibers. Simply drag the spoon over the surface of the carpeting, and, if the wax remains, move on to the next stage.

 

Step 2 – Wax Dissolving Chemicals

 

If you have a chance to go to the store, you can purchase specialist cleaning fluids that are designed to dissolve wax. You simply spray the product onto the mark, wait a few moments and vacuum the residue away. However, this is an expensive product, so why not try one of the natural (and free!) methods suggested below?

 

Step 3 – The Paper Bag Stage

 

This is not a joke, nor is it one of those strange cleaning myths you hear about that don't actually work. The next thing to try when you are trying to remove wax from carpet is the “paper bag trick”. Simply place a brown paper bag over the stain and apply an iron on a cool setting. Iron the bag a number of times. If nothing happens, turn up the iron ever so slightly to a warmer setting. The wax should melt into the bag and be drawn up from the carpet. Be careful not to overheat the carpet, as the fibers could melt or burn. If the fibers melt, you will be left with a bizarre mark that looks worse than a candle wax stain!

 

Step 4 – The Paper Towel Stage

 

If you do not have a paper bag or an iron to hand, you could try covering the carpet wax stain with a paper towel, and blowing warm air onto it with a hairdryer. Once again, take care not to melt or burn the carpet fibers, or to burn the paper! The absorbent paper towels will absorb the wax, so keep turning them as you go.

 

Step 5 – Stain Remover

 

Hopefully by now the wax will have soaked into the bag or paper towel, and you will be left with left with a clean looking carpet or a slight stain from the coloring of the candle. Club soda is excellent at removing stains like this from your carpeting. Also, try sprinkling bicarbonate of soda into the carpet, leaving it for a few hours and vacuuming it up. This brings out most stains. If neither of these things works, you may have to resort to using a commercial fabric cleaning product to get the wax stain out of your carpet.