What To Do If You Get Candle Wax Stuck In Your Pipes

It's not hard to imagine a scenario in which candle wax gets tipped out of a candle's container and into a sink drain or toilet. Unfortunately, for some of us it's easier than for others. All it really takes is for a child, left unsupervised for only a moment and eager to see a candle burning more brightly, to decide that pouring off that liquid on top of the candle might help. And, after all, liquids seem to disappear right down the drain. Sometime later — perhaps mere days or hours or, in the case of a rosemary mint aromatherapy candle and a kitchen sink drain, seconds — that drain is clogged and you're standing there scratching your head. You know, hypothetically.

What probably happened, in no way hypothetically, is well-understood by Eduardo Linares, Virtual Plumbing Expert at Frontdoor, an all-in-one app that provides homeowners with live video chats to address all their home care and maintenance needs. "Pouring candle wax down any drain will almost certainly always result in that drain becoming clogged," Linares said when he spoke with House Digest exclusively. "It may take multiple times of doing so, but the buildup of wax will eventually cut off the flow of the drain." To fix this, calling a professional is a good idea, but you can also try seeing if the wax is stuck in the trap, which is easy to take apart and clean out. But there's more to know about what to do and not to do.

There is one scenario in which candle wax in your plumbing can be dealt with fairly easily by a homeowner. "If by chance someone does happen to pour wax down a sink drain and it hasn't made it past the trap," Linares told House Digest exclusively, "it may be possible to take the trap apart and clean it out." This is often the fastest fix for a clogged sink. And it's the best-case scenario, really, because the hot candle wax hits the comparatively cold water that always occupies a sink's P-trap and almost instantly solidifies. It usually makes for an instant and often complete clog, but also an easily removed one.

But the situation isn't always that simple. "I would recommend calling in a professional if they can't fix the problem themselves or if they don't feel comfortable taking on this sort of job," Linares said. "Alternatively, they can also use the Frontdoor app to video chat with a plumbing expert who may be able to walk them through fixing the issue."

Some say the wax will end in fire, some say in ice. While you can clean wax drippings off a table with ice, a common solution for drains is boiling water. When House Digest asked Linares about a viral video showing boiling water clearing a wax-clogged drain, Linares told us exclusively, "Sink drains are meant to handle higher temperatures of water, such as when you drain boiling water from a pot of pasta. However, it is never recommended to pour boiling water down a toilet drain, because the water in the toilet is cold, and introducing a hot liquid could shatter the porcelain that the toilet is made out of." Removing toilet clogs with boiling water could also soften the wax ring that prevents leaks at your toilet's base. "As to whether pouring boiling water will clear wax out of a drain, I suppose it's possible, but I would recommend just not pouring wax down the drain in the first place," he said.

There's good advice, and even great advice, but this is obviously a perfect solution. "Yes," Linares continued, "a better alternative to pouring the wax down the drain would be to pour some boiling water in the container holding the wax — the water will melt the wax, which will then float to the surface. Once it cools, you can remove the wax easily by hand and either repurpose it or throw it in the trash."