Use This Simple Trick To Get Spilled Wax Off Your Hardwood Floors

Cozy candlelight can be lovely and romantic, but when you burn candles in certain places around your home, sometimes the wax drips over an edge or spills and ends up on your wooden floor. When that happens, it can seem a daunting challenge to clean. But there's actually a great trick that will make cleaning up a breeze: Manipulate the temperature to get the wax off, either by freezing it and scraping it off or using a hair dryer to soften it before removal. Before you do anything, it's important to let the wax sit and harden. While it may seem counterintuitive, letting the wax congeal into a more solid state will make it easier to remove. If you try to wipe it while it's still runny, you'll end up mostly just smearing the wax around your floor.

One thing to note in both the heating and freezing methods is you don't want to use any harsh chemicals, rough sponges or steel wool, and definitely don't use a metal scraper to try to get the wax up, as these potentially could gouge and damage your floors. You're better off using a credit card or a plastic scraper to scoop up the frozen or heated wax.

The first method of manipulating temperature is to freeze the wax. Take an ice cube — or a freezer cold pack if you have one handy — and lay it over the wax. Leave it there for at least 30 seconds and then you should be able to use a credit card to work under each bit of wax and pop it free. You might need to repeat the process a few times if some of the wax is more resistant.

The second method is to warm the wax back up, but not to the point of melting. You want to make it soft and malleable, but not liquid. Using a low to medium setting, point a hair dryer at the wax, keeping it about a foot away. As it starts to lightly soften, you should be able to get under the edges with the credit card or scraper and peel the wax off the floor.

If you have wax residue that you still can't get up using this method, point the hair dryer — on a medium to high setting this time — at the spot, still keeping it about 12 inches away. This time you will want to try to melt the wax all the way and then clean it with a paper towel. You might have to repeat this a few times with new paper towels until all the wax is gone. 

If you only had a little bit of wax on the floor, you can also use your iron to melt it up. Lay a clean towel over the wax, and with the iron on low (with steam off) slowly melt the wax into the towel. You'll need to keep turning the towel to clean parts as it absorbs the wax so you don't end up getting wax back on the floor. You'll probably want to use an old towel you'll be willing to throw away, though, as it will be covered in wax. 

Once all the wax is gone, the next step is really important, and that's to clean and treat your floors. It's a good idea to clean the area with a little rubbing alcohol just to make sure that any remnant from the wax is gone. Once you're sure everything is removed, clean the area with wood floor cleaner. And then finally, once everything is dry, apply a coat of floor wax — furniture wax works too — and buff it with a clean cloth or rag. That will help keep it safe in the future. And remember, these methods don't just work for floors. You can use them on wooden tables and other furniture, too!