How to Get Candle Burns Off the Wall

Keep candles away from walls or they'll leave soot marks.

Burning candles freshens a room and creates ambience. Candles that burn too close to a wall can leave ugly black marks on the wall. Over time the appearance of these marks from candle smoke can darken and be an eyesore. Remove the soot marks from your wall with common household items.

Things You'll Need

• Hand vacuum or vacuum with attachments
• Bucket
• Liquid dishwashing soap
• Sponge
• Ammonia

Instructions

1. Place a hand vacuum or a brush attachment on the smoke stain to remove excess soot from the wall before you begin cleaning it.

2. Fill a bucket with 1 qt. of water and add a squirt of liquid dishwashing detergent.

3. Place a sponge into the mixture and begin cleaning the soot with the wet sponge. Don't saturate the walls so you don't remove paint. Lightly rinse each area after removing the soot with a clean sponge.

4. Add a cup of ammonia to the mixture to remove stubborn soot stains.

Tips & Warnings

• Wear gloves when using ammonia.

• A foam cleaning eraser may also work to remove soot stains if you don't want to use ammonia.

References

• Mrs. Clean: Tips To Remove Stains
• Good Housekeeping: Cleaning Candle Soot