Clean wax out of my carpet?

August 19, 2012 7:24 PM

How to get liquid car wax out of my carpet?

I have spilled enough liquid carnuba car wax on my carpet to make a puddle.

The short nap of the carpet was completely saturated.

I did an initial mop-up with paper towels.

Then, I tried tide/water, Dawn/water, isopropyl alcohol, and ammonia/water, vacuuming each time with a wet/dry shop vac.

None of these mixtures is making much of a difference.

What can I do to get this stuff out of my carpet?

G

posted by gnossos to Home & Garden (5 answers total)

Often with wax, freezing it and pulling it off can help. Try applying ice cubes (in a plastic bag) to a small section.
posted by c'mon sea legs at 7:56 PM on August 19, 2012

Best answer: Candle Wax Remover should do the trick. I've used it before with auto wax and it has worked great. Not all auto waxes are the same. Make sure you test a small spot to make sure the problem does not worsen. - Kanaan Minks
posted by kanaan_minks at 8:02 PM on August 19, 2012

I've also placed a towel over dried candle wax on the floor, then ran a hot iron over the towel. The wax heats up, and you pull it up using the towel.
posted by fyrebelley at 8:45 PM on August 19, 2012 [2 favorites]

Alcohols and soaps don't do a thing for carnuba wax. The usual recommendations are heat to soften and use naptha/hydrocarbons to clean up. Other solvents will work too, but will likely damage your carpet, be unsafe or have persistant odors. Weiman wax-away is a heavy naptha product that's pretty cheap and widely available.

I'd do the iron trick above to get rid of as much as possible, then use the solvent to clean the remainder. The solvent will work best while the spot is still warm. Try a of solvent dab on a corner first to make sure it doesn't hurt the carpet.
posted by bonehead at 7:31 AM on August 20, 2012

Response by poster: Thanks for the help.

(I already have a mark on the carpet the shape of an iron from a previous cleaning attempt, so I will pass on that suggestion.)

I looked up the ingredients in Weiman Wax Away, saw it was primarily a naptha hydrocarbon, so I tried something similar: Coleman Camp Fuel (white gas). Worked like a charm, and leaves no residue or odor.

I highly suggest it in similar situations.

G
posted by gnossos at 1:21 PM on August 20, 2012