Getting Wax out of Wool?

[crowley_greene]

I played with the Allendale Melodians at Mill Springs, and during one of the shows I accidentally got a drop of wax on the knee of my wool trousers as I was changing out candles on my stand and lighting the new one. The hot wax melted into the fabric before it cooled and hardened.

What removes wax from wool?

Murray Therrell
Paragould, AR

[Rob]

http://forum.doityourself.com/showthread.php?t=154063

Good luck.

[Poor Private]

My wife with 30 plus years of raising sheep for wool and being a professional sewer for the same amount of years. Said either of the 2 methods should work. First don't freeze the pants/wax, just get cold enough to harden the wax, freezingmay have the possibility of breaking the fibers of the wool. Also using dry cleaning chemical can take color out of your wool ending up with spots, so first test in a hidden area such as an inside seam, and next is do not wipe the solvent but blot.

[mmescher]

A method my mother used to get candle drips out of the carpet at our church (those altarboys sometimes didn't hold their candles up straight) is to heat an iron hot enough to melt wax. Then put a few layers of newspaper over the spot and iron it until the wax melts into the newspaper.

You didn't mention whether the candle was beeswax, adamantine, or modern paraffin. If it was beeswax, it won't leave a grease stain. If it was paraffin and maybe with adamantine, you may need to send to the cleaners to remove the grease stain or else treat it with one of the period "dry" cleaning methods. Let me know if you have a grease stain, too, and I'll look up some of the other methods.

Michael Mescher

[Edwin Carl Erwin]

Mr. Therrell,

As a hat restorer/renovator, I've removed candle wax from fur felt hats by applying steam heat to liquify the wax & then blotting off the wax with a clean cotton cloth. Keep reheating the wax & blotting. Don't rub the wax.

Granted my method was used on fur felt not wool fabric, but the applicable physics of the wax removal remains viable.

You may also need to have your trousers dry cleaned after removing the wax.

Regards,