How to Get Wax Out of Carpet [3 Fast and Easy Ways]

In your home, you are probably used to the typical household stains that are the results of accidents. Juice, milk, soda – your regular grocery store carpet cleaner has no problem tackling these amateur stains.

What happens if a hot candle spills over and dries on the carpet? I have done this before. If you have kids, you know what I mean. Once the wax dries on the carpet, you find a tough to clean, hardened mess.

We’re going to focus on three primary strategies of how to get wax out of a carpet:

Strategy 1: Clothes Iron

If you get wax on your carpet, one of the most excellent methods for removing it is a hot clothes iron. This method is really simple and an effective way to tackle this.

1. Allow the candle wax to harden before starting to eradicate it.
2. Get a few paper towels or some sturdy, absorbent cloth.
3. Fill up and pre-heat the clothes iron.
4. Cover the waxed carpet area with the paper towels.
5. Once the iron is heated up, apply the hot iron to the top of the paper towels and let it rest for five to ten seconds at a time before removing it. Continue reapplying it until the paper towel starts to soak up the warm wax.
6. Continue doing this until the paper towel becomes fully saturated with wax.
7. Replace the paper towel with new and continue until all the wax is soaked up out of the carpet.

Strategy 2: Freeze it Off

On the opposite side of the spectrum. Instead of heating the wax to make it liquid and remove it. You can freeze the wax and make it easier to scrape off. This method is as effective as the previous for removing wax, and it requires little more elbow grease.

1. Take action quickly on this as soon as the wax hits the carpet get to work.
2. Get a large plastic bag and fill it with enough ice to cover the entire waxed area.
3. Lay the plastic bag on the waxed area of the carpet.
4. Let the plastic bag sit on the carpet for a few minutes to freeze the wax.
5. Take the bag away and start to scrape the wax from the carpet with a knife. Freezing the wax will make it harder and it should break up into larger chunks.
6. Once you have scraped a majority of the wax off the surface of the carpet, you remove the rest using a store bought a carpet cleaner.

Strategy 3: The Combo Method

For this method, we combine the elements of hot and cold for the best strategy for removing wax from a carpet. This strategy works well regardless of what kind of carpet you have. For those with a plusher rug, it can be excessively burdensome to remove wax, so you need all the help you can get. This strategy will become your go-to solution for getting the job done.

1. As soon as the spill occurs, fill up a large plastic bag with ice and place it over the waxed area of the carpet. Freezing the wax will make sure it hardens fast without spreading across the carpet.
2. Let the bag of ice lay on the carpet for a few minutes.
3. Once the wax is fully hardened, scrape the wax with a knife until you cannot get any more wax out of the carpet fibers.
4. Use a vacuum and suck up all of the loose wax.
5. Place an absorbent towel like paper towels over the waxed area and using a pre-heated iron, soak up as much of the wax as possible. Once the paper towels have soaked up a significant portion of the wax, replace the cloth and repeat the process.
6. Once you have soaked up everything you can with the towel, a regular store-bought carpet cleaner should be able to take it from here.

If you do not have a clothes iron, heating the bottom of a pot or pan and using it works just as well. It takes a little more time.

Spilling wax on a carpet can be a scary experience if you have never done it before. Once the wax hardens, you’re left feeling like there is no way out. Rest assured, getting wax out of a carpet is incredibly simple if you know what to do.

Using these quick and easy methods, you should be able to remove wax from your carpet and not leave any permanent damage.