I had a candle overflow on to our carpet. How do I get it out?

Imogene S
by Imogene S
The overflow of a large candle is on our carpet, how can I remove it?
  14 answers
  • D & K D & K on Feb 02, 2015
    You might try using a blow dryer to heat the wax to a point where it softens slightly then immediately comb it out with a brush you'd use on your pet. I doubt it will work if the carpet is a looped weave but a if it's a cut weave, it worked for me a few years ago shortly before getting rid of all my candles!
  • Rhonda Keyes Rhonda Keyes on Feb 02, 2015
    I would put Ice on it and the peel it off
  • I would agree with the ice. Be careful using heat. This is dependent upon the carpet fiber, If its nylon or man made material of any kind, to much heat might melt the fibers. You may want to try this test in a closet or somewhere if the carpet melts it will not be seen first. A common method of wax removal is to place a white absorbent towel on the area and using a clothes iron on low simply heat the cloth up. As the wax melts it transfers to the cloth. You will need to repeat this several times until its gone. This is a suggested method as long as your careful and do not over heat the carpet causing it to melt.
  • Nancy Nadin Nancy Nadin on Feb 02, 2015
    I used brown "grocery bag" paper - I placed it on top of the wax, then with an iron set on medium heat, I "ironed" the paper. I agree with the other posts: test this first!
  • Kathy Saiko Kathy Saiko on Feb 02, 2015
    Do the ice first to get out the bulk of the wax then the iron and paper bag :)
  • Jilly Honeybourne Jilly Honeybourne on Feb 02, 2015
    Exactly what Nancy said. Brown paper and an iron. I had to do this myself quite recently. If it doesn't get it out completely, the other comments are spot on. Ice etc. :)
  • Karen Karen on Feb 02, 2015
    I'm assuming it's a lot of wax since you said it was a large candle. Pretty easy fix: first harden the wax as much as possible with ice...either place ice cubes directly on the wax or you can use an ice pack (like those used for muscle injuries). It just takes a few minutes to harden the wax. Then take a knife and scrape as much wax off as you can. (When this happened to me, there was so much wax that I was able to take a pair of scissors and cut the heaviest pieces of wax off of my carpet.) When finished getting off what you can, vacuum that section of carpet to get rid of little pieces of wax!! Place folded up paper towels or a paper bag over the area and, with your iron on low, iron over the area. If the wax isn't melting, turn your iron up a little bit. Keep replacing the towels or bag as needed as the wax will saturate them. Since irons can heat differently, I agree with others that you might want to test the iron in a corner of a closet, etc to make sure the iron setting is okay.
  • Imogene S Imogene S on Feb 02, 2015
    Thanks to everyone for their suggestions.
  • Lou Lou on Feb 03, 2015
    Ice: use ice cubes to rub the wax and chill it. Break it out then. It will clean up nicely. Good luck. :)
  • Lou Lou on Feb 03, 2015
    PS: I moved to Madison from Stephenville! Wish we were there! Have multiple inches of snow and a low of 7 tonight!
  • Annette Annette on Feb 03, 2015
    put a wet towel over it and iron it out. change the towel out often
  • Lucid Designs Lucid Designs on Feb 03, 2015
    I've always used the iron method when getting wax out of fabrics, but instead of paper, I put a crappy terry cloth towel between the fabric and iron (on a low setting). The terry cloth soaks it right up, and never leaves any color residue.
  • Cindy Cindy on Feb 04, 2015
    Ice it down and then break up and remove most of it. Next get really hot water (wear gloves so you don't burn your skin) and blot with a cloth. Follow with soap cleansing.
  • Michelle Michelle on Feb 05, 2015
    Goo Gone is the best for removing wax.