One minute all is going well. You're jamming to the tunes flowing through your headphones as you wax your floor and get ready to cross this chore off your to-do list. The next minute, you look down and realize you've spilled floor wax on your favorite jeans or the living room carpet. Yikes! Fortunately, you can remove the floor wax if you act promptly and address the problem as soon as you discover it. The best way to remove floor wax depends on where you've spilled it. Removing the wax from your clothes will require a dry cleaning solvent and laundry detergent. You can clean most other surfaces with some ammonia and dish soap. No matter what cleaning agent you use or what surface you use it on, always remember to test the solution on an inconspicuous area before you go all in.
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Wax Stains on Clothes
If you've dripped wax onto your clothing, remove the stained garment and place it on a clean white towel with the stain facing down. Always use a white towel so that you don't transfer any dye from the towel to your garment accidentally. Saturate the stain with a dry-cleaning solvent and allow the solvent to dry. Rinse the fabric in cold water. If any of the stains remain, soak the clothing in color-safe chlorine bleach or oxygen bleach. If bleach makes you nervous, soak the area in laundry detergent instead. After a good soak, wash the clothing in your washing machine using warm, but not hot, water. When the wash cycle ends, line-dry your garment and examine it thoroughly. Repeat this process if any remnants of the stain remain.
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Furniture and Carpet
You can't throw your couch or your carpet in the washing machine, so floor wax on these surfaces requires a different approach. The first step to wax stain removal on carpet and upholstery is applying a dry cleaning solvent, but you must use the solvent differently than you do on clothing. Never saturate the surface with the solvent. Instead, sponge the solvent onto the affected area. Give the solvent a minute to work, then blot the surface with a clean white towel. When blotting stops lifting the stain, mix together a teaspoon of white dish detergent, a cup of warm water and a few drops of ammonia. Sponge this mixture onto the stain just as you did the dry cleaning solvent and begin blotting again. Use a sponge, warm water and your now perfected blotting technique to rinse the soap and chemicals out of the fabric and remove what remains of the stain.
The Window and Even the Kitchen Sink
It's easy to get some floor wax on glass patio doors accidentally. Or you may splash some onto your sink while cleaning your mop. If any of the wax has solidified, use a plastic scraper or credit card to remove any excess that you can. To remove the film left behind, soak a nylon scrub sponge in ammonia and scrub the sink or glass surface. Wipe away the ammonia residue with a paper towel when you're done. Don't use ammonia to clean your sink if it's made of marble, granite or other natural materials, however. Instead, contact the sink manufacturer or seller for advice on how to remove the wax without damaging the sink's surface.