Around this time of the year, we get calls from customers who ask what can be done about accidental wax drippings on upholstery. A quick Google search will recommend blotting up the stain by ironing brown paper over the stain. Please don’t do this.

The problem is that as the wax is melted and partially blotted up, a small amount of wax inevitably gets pushed deeper into the fibers of the material. The stain is less apparent but still obvious. Furthermore, heat, even on the low setting, can easily damage some fabrics. Also, dyes contained in candles can be released into the fabric.

The correct way to safely and more effectively remove the wax stain is to use specially formulated spotting chemicals and dry cleaning. This spotting and dry cleaning approach, of course, will be less effective if the iron and paper method has already been tried since the wax is now deeper into the upholstery fabric fibers.