How to Get Wax Off a Cotton Tablecloth

Candles add elegance to dinners.

A romantic candlelight dinner may result in unsightly wax stains on cotton tablecloths. Candle wax stains generally form when hot wax drips down candlesticks and pools onto tablecloths. Spilled candle wax rapidly hardens on cotton tablecloths, becoming more stuck to the cotton fabric over time. Dyes in candle wax also mar cotton tablecloths with colored stains. Since candle wax detracts from cotton tablecloths' overall appearance, immediately get the wax off the fabric using simple stain removal techniques.

Things You'll Need

• Ice cubes
• Dull knife
• White paper towels
• Ironing board
• Clothes iron
• Prewash stain remover
• Washing machine
• 2 oz. gentle, all-purpose laundry detergent
• Clothes dryer

Instructions

1. Let the candle wax thoroughly cool and solidify. Once the candle wax is solid, rub ice cubes over the wax stain until it freezes and hardens.

2. Scrape the frozen chunks of wax off the cotton tablecloth using a dull knife. Detach as much frozen wax as possible.

3. Place a white paper towel beneath the remaining wax stain and directly over the stain, sandwiching the cotton tablecloth between two paper towels. Lay the sandwiched tablecloth on an ironing board.

4. Rub a warm clothes iron over the paper towel covering the candle wax stain, transferring the remaining wax onto the paper towel. Replace the paper towel once wax stains it.

5. Continue transferring wax from the cotton tablecloth onto paper towels until the wax ceases to transfer.

6. Coat any remaining dye from the wax with prewash stain remover. Blot the dye stain with fresh paper towels, lifting as much color from the cotton tablecloth as possible.

7. Launder the cotton tablecloth in warm water and 2 oz. of gentle, all-purpose laundry detergent.

8. Dry the tablecloth in the clothes dryer, or hang the tablecloth outdoors to air-dry.

Tips & Warnings

• Substitute oxygen bleach for the gentle, all-purpose laundry detergent if the dye stain is stubborn.

• Spot-test a smidgen of prewash stain remover fluid on the tablecloth to avoid damage.

References

• American Cleaning Institute: Candle Wax
• FabricLink: Stain Guide for Washable Fabrics -- Candle Wax
• "Good Housekeeping"; Removing Candle Wax from a Tablecloth; Heloise
• Real Simple; How to Wash Cotton; Sarah Stebbins