Candles have long taken an honorable place in the decoration of any holiday. They help to create coziness and high spirits. However, after a fun birthday party or a romantic dinner, many housewives come across traces of wax on their favorite pants or dresses, tablecloths or cloth napkins, which are sometimes very difficult to get rid of. How to remove wax from clothes without damaging the fabric, we will tell in our article.
Methods of cleaning
Unfortunately, most of the time, wax gets on holiday dresses that are made of delicate fabrics. Therefore, it is very important to know how to remove paraffin from certain types of clothing.
There are several ways to help remove a wax stain:
- with the help of steam;
- using a heated iron;
- in a cold way, based on the use of a bag with ice or a freezer;
- use of household chemicals.
Simpler than simple
There is one very simple and, at the same time, effective way to remove a candle from your favorite clothes or tablecloth. This method perfectly copes with stains on cotton clothes, as well as other types of material that are not afraid of high temperatures.
Pay attention! If you notice a drop from the candle getting on your clothes, remove it with a paper towel while the wax is still soft. Do not rub it on the fabric, but gently remove the top layer of paraffin. After that, you can remove the remains.
In order to remove the stain, we need paper or napkins, as well as an iron.
- Remove the top layer of wax with a knife or any other object suitable for these purposes. Owners of long nails can use them.
- Remember the fabric in the place of the stain. Since the cooled paraffin is a fragile substance, most of it will fall off.
- Place the stained item on the ironing board so that the stain is on top.
- Place one napkin on the stain and one under it (you can also use paper towels, the main thing is that they are white).
- Turn on the iron on the lowest power. The steaming function must be disabled.
- Iron the napkin with an iron. The wax left in the fabric will begin to melt, flow out of the fabric and gradually absorb into the paper napkin.
To completely get rid of the stain, you need to carry out this procedure several times, constantly placing a clean napkin. After a few minutes, no traces of paraffin will remain.
Pay attention! Such cleaning is not suitable for products made of delicate fabrics.
“Cold” cleaning
With the help of a freezer, you can easily clean wax stains from a jacket or any other leather items.
It is enough to put the thing in the freezer for several hours. Our goal is to harden the paraffin so that it resembles a stone.
After that, it is enough to properly rub the wax with your hands so that it crumbles completely, and if necessary, wash the remaining greasy stain with a regular detergent.
“Whimsical” fabrics
Remains of paraffin from suede fabric will help to remove steam. To do this, it is enough to bring the water to a boil in any container and hold the thing over the steam. If you consider this method risky, use the included hair dryer. Hot air will be able to cope with the task without any effort.
How to wash off the greasy stains left after waxing on your favorite velvet dress? In the case of this expensive and beautiful material, we need a solvent, preferably organic. Alcohol or turpentine will be the best solution to this issue. Wet a piece of cloth in alcohol and fix it on the stain for 20 minutes. After that, the remains of paraffin can be removed from the fabric during washing with ordinary washing powder or household soap.
Pay attention! You cannot use purified gasoline for this delicate fabric!
If your favorite chiffon blouse has found a “decoration” in the form of a wax stain, use ammonia. Dilute half a teaspoon of alcohol in 1 liter of water and wipe the desired place with this solution.
Wool and silk materials
There are two ways to remove paraffin on such very delicate fabrics.
Method 1. After pre-freezing and cleaning traces of wax, apply a few drops of dishwashing liquid. Rub the stain well until a thick foam appears and leave it for several hours. Then wash the product in the washing machine, choosing the desired washing mode.
Method 2. Before normal washing, hold the item for several minutes under a jet of very hot water. Make sure the water “runs” directly through the stain, not just running off the clothes.
Pay attention! When removing stains from such fabrics, it is necessary to carefully affect the material without stretching it. Because in the opposite case, you risk getting rid of the stain, acquiring other difficulties in the form of deformed fabric.
Favorite jeans
Given that jeans are a universal garment that both men and women prefer to wear, the question of how to remove wax from jeans is very relevant.
Features of denim fabric are its strength and ability to resist shrinkage and various types of deformation. Therefore, it is possible to remove paraffin stains from jeans by both hot and cold methods.
Try soaking them in very hot water with the addition of washing powder for at least half an hour. After that, you can wash them in the usual mode in the washing machine or by hand.
“Colored” spots
The most difficult stains, which are almost impossible to get rid of, are left by colored candles. In this case, you cannot use a hot iron, as hot steam will only fix the stain on the fabric.
There is one way to remove colored wax from clothes.
- “Freeze” the spot by placing an ice pack on it. Wait for the wax to harden completely.
- Thoroughly rub the thing in the area of the stain so that not a single piece of paraffin remains.
- A multi-colored stain must be treated with a solvent, soaking the thing in it for several hours. After that, it is enough to wash the product with good powder in the washing machine.
After washing, 2 options for the development of events are possible:
- The paint washed off, but the greasy stain remained. This is the most successful option, since in this case you can already use a hot iron.
- The fat went away, but the paint remained. In this case, the only option to cover the stain will be a beautiful appliqué or embroidery, as it will not be possible to remove the unattractive mark in any other way.
Let’s summarize
We have listed the most popular ways to wash a candle from different types of fabrics. No matter which of them you choose, you must remember that the complexity of such pollution lies in the deep penetration of paraffin into the fabric and solidification between the fibers. In this regard, simple washing will not be able to eliminate unpleasant candle marks.
The main thing when removing such stains is to extract the wax from the depths of the fabric, and then choose what you can do to remove the greasy stain.