0
$\begingroup$

I work for a company that occasionally rents out candles and (mostly glass) holders for events. Many times these holders come back covered in candle wax. I am looking for an efficient way to clean these. I know of many substances that can dissolve candle wax, but most of them require each piece to be cleaned by hand or the substance itself requires its own cleanup.

Can anyone think of a cost efficient way to clean hundreds of candle holders at a time without much physical labor? Perhaps a solution that they can sit in overnight that could fully dissolve even thick wax buildup? It would be best if the solution was non flammable, and not too noxious.

Right now my best idea is heated vegetable oil to both melt and dissolve the wax, but that will have to be cleaned up as well.

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
6
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ Rather than a chemical method, can you use a physical one? How about placing the candle holders upside-down inside a low temperature oven and then just let the wax drip out? The chemical solutions are flammable and/or somewhat toxic, and you'd rather not have to deal with the solvent use and disposal. $\endgroup$
    – Nicolau Saker Neto
    Commented Nov 16, 2023 at 22:29
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Just like you need to rinse dirty dishes after soaping them, you also need to rinse your glasses after the initial solvent treatment. Otherwise a film of wax-containing solvent will remain, and even if the solvent evaporates, the wax won't. If vegetable oil dissolves the wax successfully, you could then put the glassware in a dishwasher to remove the oil. $\endgroup$
    – anon
    Commented Nov 16, 2023 at 23:45
  • $\begingroup$ I wonder about dipping in a pot of boiling water. Not sure if that would be hot enough to melt whatever wax. The other problem with this would be the thermal shock. Don't know if that would break some of the holders. I also wonder about adding some dishwasher detergent to the water (dishwasher so it won't foam). This might work better if the candle holders were small votive candle holders and you could get fill the pot cold, then heat and left cool down overnight. $\endgroup$
    – MaxW
    Commented Nov 17, 2023 at 0:08
  • $\begingroup$ After giving this a bit more thought, it might be best to just use hot water. The wax will be hydrophobic so water may be better at removing it without leaving any residue. The wax should either float or sink. I’m not sure about candlewax density. I guess I’ll have to test it. This might remove the residue as well because wax can mix with water without dissolving if it is hot enough If I did have to go with the vegetable oil, the dishwasher would probably work once most of the wax is removed. I would just have to make sure that there is very little wax left so that it didn’t clog the pipes. $\endgroup$
    – user139673
    Commented Nov 17, 2023 at 0:21
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Just agreeing with @NicolauSakerNeto: easiest way to clean a candelabra is place it in an oven upside down through the top rack, with a cookie sheet underneath, keeping the temp just above the wax m.p. Of course, this could also be a serious smoke and fire hazard -- watch closely, and have an extinguisher handy (e.g., a box of baking soda.) This really belongs on lifehacks.stackexchange.com , not here, though. $\endgroup$
    – DrMoishe Pippik
    Commented Nov 17, 2023 at 4:50

0

Reset to default

Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.