Ask Mrs. Clean: House Cleaning, Stain Removal and Organizing Tips

[Kandle]

Thank you so much for those wax removal and chapstick/lipstick removal tips. However, I have a different kind of wax removal problem for you. I had just finished waxing my legs and set the pot of hot wax on the edge of my counter top. I put on my favorite pair of pants in the world (you know the magical, 'one of a kind' pair that somehow makes your butt look smaller?) then knocked into the leg wax. It tumbled down and soaked into the pants and the bathroom rug without my noticing. I ran out the door, already late and didn't notice until I was in the car and the wax had dried. I tried your Ironing trick and got some of it out of the bath rug, but the pants are too delicate to put to the same amount of heat that it took to get the wax out of the carpet. I also tried your chapstick remover trick and only a tiny bit came out of the pants. Do you have any other ideas for a desperate woman? I'm still in deep mourning for those pants.

[mrscleannw]

Hi Kandle,
Welcome to the Mrs. Clean Forum!

Yes, goopy, sticky hair removal wax can be a real challenge to completely remove from fabric.

Try these tricks:

Try soaking the wax area in a bowl of ice cubes. This should ‘freeze’ the wax, making it stiff enough to pull off of the fabric.

You can also try spraying the wax with some wart removal spray for the same effect.
As always, be sure to test a small, inconspicuous area first!

Good Luck and let me know how it turns out!
Mrs. Clean

[cleanway]

Hmmm..happens a lot and everytime :-).

First thing you must do is to cause the wax to become hard so you could scrape it out. Ice should help.

Second thing you could do is to get a paper bag. Place this over the spot and iron over it. Please don't overheat the iron or you could also run hot blower or a hair dryer over the bag. This should help out completely or at least some part of the wax do get absorbed by the paper bag which can lessen the amount you need to remove off still.

If what's mentioned above has not got rid of the wax off your clothes, there are plenty of chemicals available in the market. But do take care not to ruin the clothes or cause discoloration of the fabric. Always work from the outside to the inside while removing the wax or any stains from the fabric for that matter. Keep a tissue paper ready to pound and remove the water from the affected area not to cause stains to settle in.

Good luck :-)