The Best Way To Get Candle Wax Out Of A Candle Holder

Lighting a candle has mood-changing magic, making normal dinners more glam or a night reading indoors a little cozier. But once a candle burns through or drips hot wax all over its holder, it's time to forgo the mood magic and indulge in some maintenance magic. Learning a few tricks to clean up candlesticks is especially handy, since they often get covered in waxy residue (if not entire globs of solidified drippings). In fact, you can preemptively keep them mess-free by rubbing a little petroleum jelly on the inside of the holder, Quick and Dirty Tips writes. Any wax that sticks around will wipe off easily.

Many candles come tightly packed inside handy glass jars that contain them safely as they burn. There are also any number of holders out there that you can drop pillar or decorative candles into that minimize clean up and prevent fires. As those babies burn, though, the entire candle holder becomes packed with firmly stuck wax. This leftover wax doesn't mean you have to toss your candle jars. Once the old residue is cleaned out, you can reuse them by dropping a new candle inside. You could also find different ways to repurpose them; Treehugger suggests upcycling and reusing your candle jars as pencil holders, drinking glasses, planters, and desk organizers.

Tapered candles only have one direction to drip: down. This often leaves your candlestick holders coated in wax. Once the offending liquid has cooled and re-solidified, there are a couple tried and true methods to remove it quickly. First, try freezing the candlestick. Remove the tapered candle and pop the holder straight into the freezer. Leave it there for about an hour, Kolbo says, then carefully chip off the wax from the holder with your fingernail or rinse it off under warm water (avoid this method if your candlesticks are made of ceramic or glass). If you're only dealing with a small piece of wax, you can skip the freezer and simply apply an ice cube to the wax directly.

For brass or pewter candlesticks, Camille Styles has a quick trick. Run the candlestick holder under very hot water. As the wax begins to melt, slide it off the holder, making sure it doesn't slip down the sink drain. Pat it dry and remove any last bits of wax with a paper towel.

Glass candle holders usually encourage candles to melt evenly, straight to the bottom, but once the wick is beyond salvage, you might find yourself with a mass of hard, stubborn wax. Like candlesticks, an easy way to completely remove wax from glass candle jars is to freeze them. Place the jar in the freezer overnight for best results, advises Spoken Flames. The wax will harden and shrink slightly, and with a little luck you can just pop it out once it's nice and cold. If the holder is still pretty full of candle wax, you might need to dig around with a butterknife and jimmy it out. If residue remains on the sides, a swipe of cooking oil can help coax it off.

Quick Candles also suggests using a little water or cooking spray as a buffer to slip wax out of candle jars. On the other hand, if you prefer using heat, Kolbo recommends cooking glass jars in the oven at 180 degrees Fahrenheit for about 15 minutes. Be sure to place them on a pan covered with a sheet of wax paper. Soaking the jars in warm water, or even applying heat with a hair dryer will remove candle wax. Because the container and wax will get hot, it's important to use caution with any of these methods.