A wax candle that has melted onto a hardwood floor

How To Remove Candle Wax From Hardwood Floor – The Cleaning Guide

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Candles can be calming and therapeutic until they leak hot wax on your hardwood flooring, which can be dangerous.

Don’t panic! There are a couple of ways to get that wax off your floor easily.

To remove wax from wood floors, use one of these two methods, and then buff or polish the floors to restore their luster.

Remove Candle Wax With Heat

Because candle wax melts, it dropped on your floor in the first place. No matter how careful you are, candles can tip over or be knocked over. However, removing candle wax is a breeze, especially on wood floors.

Things You’ll Need

You will require the following items for the heating removal method:

  • Iron
  • Paper bag or towel (This can soak up wax, so use a paper towel or an old towel/rag that you can afford to toss away).
  • Plastic spatula, scraper, or similar tool

Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Scrape the Wax Off

Scrape the wax from the surface with the plastic spatula. You don’t want to harm your floor by picking at the wax. As an alternative, you should try to scrape away as much of the top wax as possible in order to get to what is stuck to your floor.

Step 2: Cover

Wrap the bag or cloth around the wax and secure it in place. Stay 12″ away from the wax drippings while using a hairdryer on medium heat. Using the heat will soften the wax so that the floor may be cleaned.

Step 3: Apply Heat

Apply heat to the area with the iron (use a low to medium setting with no steam). You don’t want to let the iron linger in one place for too long, so you’ll want to make a few delicate passes over the area. As though you’re ironing a towel or bag you placed over the waxed surface, you’ll get the idea.

Maintaining a steady stream of movement with the iron is critical.

To avoid scorching your floor, do not leave it sitting in one place for too long.

As an alternative to using an iron, you can use a hair dryer. In order to soak up the wax, you need to turn it into a liquid first.

Step 4: Take Away The Towel

Once all or most of the wax has been taken from the bag or towel, remove the bag or towel. If there is still wax on the floor, continue step 3 until there is no more wax.

Step 5: Clean Up Any Remaining Remaining Residue

Remove any remaining residue by buffing it away with furniture wax.

The heat approach is particularly beneficial for any candles that may have had oils in the wax, since the heat method will aid in the absorption of the oils by the towel or bag.

If you have a polyurethane finish on your floor, you may also use olive oil or baby oil to remove any residual residue from the surface of the floor. Keep furniture wax on hand instead if you don’t know what you’re doing.

Remove Candle Wax With Ice

Even if you don’t have an iron or a hair dryer, all is not lost. There are two kinds of candle wax. If you can’t get it to be liquid, make it solid. One method for removing wax from hardwood floors that requires little scraping is to use an ice cube to solidify the wax drippings.

Things You’ll Need

If you are utilizing the chilling technique, you will need the following items:

  • Ice in a plastic bag or an ice pack is a good idea.
  • Scraper or spatula made of plastic (make sure this is plastic because metal will scratch the floor)
  • Wax for wood furniture

Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Place Ice

Simply put an ice cube on the wax for 30 seconds, even if it has already cooled. You may need to hold the ice cube for a few seconds if the wax is still soft and flexible. Take a few minutes to let it sit before moving on to the next step. It’s critical that the wax harden completely before moving on to the next step.

Step 2: Scrape The Wax Away

Take a scraper or spatula and carefully remove the wax from the floor once it has hardened. When you’re doing this, you’ll want to go easy on yourself. Continue to scrape the wax until it is completely removed from the surface.

Scrape at the frozen candle wax drippings using a credit card – or a plastic razor blade if you have one on hand. You should be able to wriggle each piece around and pick it up off the floor. If the area does not pop free readily, re-freeze it; you should not have to scrape.

Always avoid scraping into the wood’s surface; the idea is to loosen and glide the wax away from where it fell without gouging the floorboards.

Step 3: Remove Stains or Residue from the Surface

Make use of the furniture wax to remove any lingering stains. To remove a stain from candle wax caused by fragrant oils, use a cloth and an iron.

Using a clean towel, wipe the area dry. Make a point of collecting any water that has melted from the ice cubes! If there are still traces of wax on the surface (you can tell if you brush your palm over it or notice an irregularity in the sunlight), buff any leftover residue by cleaning a large area of the floor with a wood furniture wax. 

We realize it sounds counterintuitive to clean wax by adding more wax, but furniture wax is designed to buff away blemishes while still providing protection. Buffing a large area rather of the little afflicted location helps to disguise the fact that you were only spot cleaning.

Things to avoid

  • Mineral spirits should not be used since they can remove the real floor wax from a sealed hardwood floor, leaving it exposed.
  • Steel wool and green scrubbies should be avoided. If you wish to maintain the polish of your hardwood floors, these are just too harsh for floor cleaning.
  • No squeezing! Even if you believe you can “pop” the wax drippings off the hardwood surface with a kitchen knife or a razor blade, don’t.

Keep Calm And Remove Wax With Ease

Now that you know how to remove candle wax from hardwood floor, you won’t have to be concerned about inflicting irreparable harm to your flooring or furniture.

However, no one wants to waste their leisure time scraping away candle wax, which is why it’s necessary to take some measures before lighting a candle. Place your candles on a drip tray at all times. The tray will catch the wax that drops down the edges of the candle, saving you time and effort.

Do you have any suggestions for removing candle wax off hardwood? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments box below!

Andrew Scents and Aroma
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