# Tip for removing wax



## willow_girl (Dec 7, 2002)

The customer I cleaned for today had been giving herself a facial wax and spilled hot wax all down her staircase, which has wooden (pine, polyurethane-type finish) treads. (Don't ask me how she managed to do this!) 

I allowed the wax to 'set' ... (it stays sticky; it doesn't get hard like candle wax) ... then scraped off the top layer (as much as I could without damaging the wood) with a razor knife. I then steamed the wax with her steam mop until it was soft again, applied a large glop of Murphy's Oil Soap, steamed again, then wiped off the goop with a rag. Rinse, lather, repeat. 

It took awhile, but the wax came up with no damage to the wood ... in fact, between all the steam and the Murphy's, it looked great!

I think I may have ruined the fabric cover on the steam mop, though, as it was covered in wax residue. Wish I'd thought to remove the cover and wrap a rag around the head!

Just thought I'd pass this along in case anyone finds it helpful.


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## unregistered5595 (Mar 3, 2003)

willow_girl said:


> The customer I cleaned for today had been giving herself a facial wax and spilled hot wax all down her staircase, which has wooden (pine, polyurethane-type finish) treads. (Don't ask me how she managed to do this!)
> 
> I allowed the wax to 'set' ... (it stays sticky; it doesn't get hard like candle wax) ... then scraped off the top layer (as much as I could without damaging the wood) with a razor knife. I then steamed the wax with her steam mop until it was soft again, applied a large glop of Murphy's Oil Soap, steamed again, then wiped off the goop with a rag. Rinse, lather, repeat.
> 
> ...


A RED candle burned and spilled wax over a large area of carpet. I started by scraping the thick cooled wax off. Then, covered the area with paper bag paper, then, heating with an iron. Paper towels over the paper grocery bag paper. The paper absorbed both the color and the wax. I thought it might leave permanent damage but it didn't. It took about 50 applications, and the carpet shows no sign of wax or color. Good as new, surprisingly.


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