Water Damage & Flooded Basement Restoration Services

How to Remove Wax from Carpeting

By the RestorationSOS Educational Staff

Not many things look nicer than a freshly cleaned carpet, and not many things look worse than a carpet that has been stained or soiled. One of the more headache-inducing problems may easily be the spilling of wax on the carpeting. Wax is usually the result of candles lit to provide some aesthetic beauty to the room. When the wax melts, it runs, and once it is in your carpet it cools off and hardens up, becoming extremely difficult to remove or clean up. No one likes the thought of having to tediously pick wax particles out of the carpet fibers; so what do you do?

Wax Removal Steps

To remove the wax from your carpet, get up as much of the hardened mass as you can. A putty knife is an excellent tool for this job, but anything with a dull blade will do since you don’t want to damage the carpet in the process. Scrape as much as you can and then run a vacuum over the remaining debris. That should take care of a great deal of the spilled wax, but it isn't the end of the process.

Second, place some wax paper and a clean cloth over the affected area; this will allow you to run a warm iron over the area, melting the remaining wax particles. You may also use a hair dryer for this purpose. As the wax melts, it will adhere to the material covering it. Lifting that material should bring up the rest of the wax.

Of course, if the wax is colored, you run the risk of it staining your carpet. If you apply heat it may cause the stain to lock into the fibers, making it permanent (not unlike what happens to clothing when you run a stained shirt through the dryer). This is why any heat applied should only be warm, not hot. You should also refrain from using newspaper or anything with print on it as your covering material, lest the print or pattern be transferred to your carpet.

If you do end up with a stain following the wax removal process, most carpet spot cleaners do an excellent job on these little problems. If you do not have access to carpet cleaner, you can try using a mild laundry detergent, dishwashing liquid, clothing stain removers, or vinegar.

You will want to dab the cleaner into the stain. Do this by blotting, not rubbing. Rubbing will only spread the stain and make things worse. Blot until the stain is no longer visible and then rinse the area using a damp sponge. Repeat until all the cleaner has vanished.

If the do-it-yourself approach doesn't work, then you should probably contact a professional carpet cleaner. They can properly advise you on the best cleaning agent to use or schedule a time to do the job for you.

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