Old candle jars have multiple usages in the household. They can fulfill your storage needs in multiple aspects. But to reuse them, you must know how to clean candle jars.
Cleaning a candle jar or removing wax from candles may sound an easy task but if you don’t know what you are doing, you will end up damaging your candle jars.
But you are in the right place where I will mainly talk about how to clean out a Yankee candle jar. I will talk about multiple methods because the same cleaning method won’t be applicable to all cases.
You can apply my technique to clean your jars no matter what brand it is.
How To Remove Wax From Candles?
Let’s break a misconception first before we try to figure out how to get candle wax out of jar. Do not put water in the bottom of the jar hoping it will prevent the wax from sticking to the jar.
Instead, it will make the scenario messy. The candlewick will get wet and it won’t burn evenly. Now, follow the below-mentioned proven to be effective methods on how to get wax out of a candle to get the job done:
Use Soapy Water
The easiest way to remove any leftover wax from the candle jar is to use soapy water. Soak the jars in hot soapy water. All the leftover wax will come off easily then.
In some cases, there will still be some waxy residue attached to the jar. If that happens, place the jar in the microwave only for a few seconds. The wax will melt down easily. Now, you can easily wipe clean the jar!
Pour Boiling Water
Another easy method to get candle wax out of the jar is to pour boiling water into the jars. Yes, hot water can be used without any trouble to remove wax or soot.
First, use a spoon or a butter knife to remove as much wax as you can from the jars. Place the jar on a towel or newspaper so it can absorb spilled water.
Now, pour boiled water into the candle container. Just keep some room empty at the top of the jar. The hot water will melt down the wax and the wax will keep floating.
Let the boiling water cool down and then remove the wax. Use clean water and soap to give the jars a final cleaning.
Create A Double Boiler
Still wondering how to get candle wax out of jar? Well, here is a more advanced method for you.
In this method, instead of pouring hot water inside the jars – we will pour hot water around the jars. But first, remove the excess wax from the jars using a spoon or butter knife.
Now, place the jars inside of a large metal bowl (the metal bowl should be heat-safe). If the jars move, place a folded dish towel under the jars. Pour boiling water into the metal bowl. No need to pour boiling water inside the jar.
Let the jars sit in the water until the wax softens. Now, hold the jars in one hand and use the knife to loosen the wax.
Remove the jars from the water and pop out those wax. As usual, use soapy water to give them a thorough cleaning.
Use Lemon Essential Oil
If you plan to use the jars to store any food items, you may consider using a natural approach to clean the candle jars. In this case, you will find impressive results if you use lemon essential oil to clean the jars.
To get rid of the odor from the jars completely, you can soak those jars in baking soda and vinegar solution as well. Then make sure to place wadded up newspaper so that all the smell is absorbed. Keep the lids off to air the odor out.
Use Soapy Cloth & Tepid Water
Get the last waxy residue removed using tepid water if none of the above methods work and you are still asking yourself how to get wax out of candle jar.
Just soak all of your jars in tepid water only for a few minutes. Then scrub them gently with a soapy and damp cloth. If you are in a rush, put those jars into the dishwasher.
Use Acetone/WD-40
Apply this method only if there is really some stubborn residue inside. Apply acetone first and let it sit down for the night. In the morning, all such stubbornness should come off easily.
If the acetone fails, then apply the WD-40. No matter how stubborn waxy residue you got, it will get the job done. Now, you can use the clean jars to make candles yourself too.
Or do anything you want with them with their new life!
Sink + Warm Water
The first step is to fill your kitchen sink with warm water. Make sure the water is not too hot, just warm enough. Remember, you have to touch the water.
Now, place the jar in the sink to submerge them completely and let it sit there for a while. Notice whether the jars are filled with warm water or not. All the jars should be filled with warm water.
The hot water will soften the wax around the edges. This method will release the wax at the bottom of the jar.
Use a spoon to pull the wax from the jars. This method should also loosen the base of the wick. In the end, all you have to do is just pop them out!
When the majority of the wax is removed, use a scrub brush to wash the inside of the jars. The real beauty of following this method is that it will not only take care of the wax but also remove all the soot and other stains too.
Use The Freezer
If there is a large amount of wax left in the jar, this method won’t work. If the wax amount is little, then put the candle jar in the freezer if the candle has already cool down.
Let it sit in the freezer for about 20 to 30 minutes. Sometimes, it may even take several hours. Just make sure it is frozen and the wax is completely solidified.
After that time, the wax should shrink and become very fragile. That what makes it easy to remove them.
Get the jar from the freezer and put it on the flat surface upside down. Tap with your palm, and automatically the wax should put out from the jar. Use a butter knife to remove the wax if you have to.
This way you can remove the base of metal wick from the jar as well. Do not reuse the jar until it is warm enough similar to room temperature.
Removing Wax From Sides Of Jar
If there is wax attached to the sides of the jar, the freezer method won’t work at first. You have to approach with a different method to remove candle wax from a glass.
First, get a small pot and fill with half with water. Place the pot on the stove. Now place your candle jar on the pot use low heat to warm the pot. This will soften the wax and it will get collected at the bottom of the jar.
Now, let the jar to be completely cool down before you put it in the freezer. As mentioned above, apply the freezer method to pop out the collected wax from the bottom.
Use The Oven
If you have multiple candle jars to clean, this method will be helpful a lot. To make the process faster, use a spoon or butter knife to scrape out as much wax as you can from the jars.
Now, heat the oven up to 180 degrees. Get a rimmed baking pan with tinfoil. Line it with 1 or 2 layers of parchment paper. Place all the candle jars upside down on the pan and put the pan on the oven.
Within just a few minutes the wax will melt. Place the pan on a heat-safe place after removing it from the oven. Get any potholder to hold the jars and use a paper towel to wipe the inside of the jars.
When all the jars cool down, use water and soap to give them a finishing clean. If there are stickers on the bottom of the jars, simply wet them and rub them with your fingers. They should easily come off.
Use A Damp Sponge
If you don’t like the hassle of using the oven or other complicated approaches and you still looking the answer on how do you remove candle wax from glass, this is a great and easy fix to clean the candle jars.
First, you have to use a window scraper or a razor blade to gently scrape any larger chunk of wax from the jars. Now, you have to remove the wax remnants from inside the jars.
Damp the sponge with hot water and use it to moisten the jars. That way, you can loosen up the wax attached to the jars. You do not want to leave any scratch marks on the glass. So, scrub gently.
The gentle scrubbing should remove all the wax debris from the jars. Lastly, just use clean water to wash those jars.
Wrap Up
I literally mentioned lots of ways to remove candle wax from glass, right? No longer you should be wondering how to clean candle jars. Apply any method that works for you best.
Before you can recycle candle jars, you must clean them for your reuse purpose. And they have multiple usages. I will talk about such ideas in a new article pretty soon.
Let me know if you have anything more to learn about the methods I mentioned above.
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Thanks, I am going to try now !