The Bathroom Essential You Can Use To Easily Remove Dried Candle Wax

If you're a lover of candles, you've probably experienced the occasional run over onto your furniture. Trying to scrape wax off of wood or any other scratchable surface can leave you with abrasion marks, and trying to get some off that leather couch — well, that's a nightmare. While this trick isn't going to work on your carpet — you need a smooth enough surface to really get in there and lift the wax — there is a household staple you probably already have in your bathroom that will make getting that wax cleaned up much easier. All you need is that tub of vaseline. In fact, there are all sorts of handy ways to use vaseline around the house.

 Before you do anything after a wax spill, let the wax dry completely for this trick to work. Along with your container of petroleum jelly, you will want to grab a microfiber cloth — this will help you spread the vaseline on the spill and work the wax up from the surface. If you don't have a microfiber cloth, another item that can help clean up dried candle wax may be in your laundry room — dryer sheets — and they can double as a cloth. This isn't a speed-cleaning job. Not only do you need to wait for the wax to dry, but once you spread vaseline over the spill with a microfiber cloth, you'll need to let it sit for about 10 minutes. Make sure you rub the petroleum jelly all over the wax and around the outer edges of it so it is completely covered.

After the petroleum jelly has sat for 10 minutes, you should be able to easily pick up or wipe away the spilled wax using the same cloth. Take your time; you don't want to scratch your furniture—this is why it's essential to use that cloth rather than something more abrasive. On a softer surface, such as a leather or faux-leather couch or chair, you should be able to push the cloth under the dried spill and pop it off the furniture, likely in one or two pieces. Plus, vaseline might be the secret to fixing up your scuffed leather furniture — so it's doing double duty in this case.

If you're curious about why this works so well, there is one theory. It could be because the candle wax and petroleum jelly share a similar composition: both are nonpolar, so they dissolve each other. When you spread vaseline on the wax, it melts into it and softens it, rather than beading up like water, which is polar. Similarly, petroleum jelly is effective at not only removing wax spills but also at treating lipstick stains, water stains on wooden surfaces, and rust on old tools.