Removing Scentsy Wax from Textured Wall

This started a simple post. But it is now: “The Saga of Removing Scentsy Wax from Textured Walls” (or from wood cabinets…or from laminate floor).

The cabinets in our latest house (we’re military…this is the fourth house in eight years), the cabinets are placed horribly. Or perhaps the outlets. Anyway, when I opened the bottom cabinet door to get out cleaning supplies, it knocked into the Scentsy warmer- which, yes, must live there…cat, no way to air out that section of the house- and got wax on the textured wall, the “wooden” cabinet door, and the laminate floor. While it’s mildly amusing that I got to run an experiment with what worked on what surfaces…after attempt #5, it was less amusing.

If at all possible, clean up the wax immediately after the spill. Trust me, getting the wax up before it’s even hardened is the easiest.

The first attempt at cleaning it was the normal: paper towels, washcloth. Gentle rubbing, hard rubbing. Scraping. Shredded a Magic Eraser trying to get it off. Finally just sat there and glared at it…though that didn’t help. When the glaring didn’t solve anything, I started searching the internet. My first methods had failed because (obviously) wax isn’t water soluble.

Second attempt was hot iron and paper towel. Place the paper towel against the surface, press iron (on medium heat) on top of that. Hold for 15 seconds. There was a very slight improvement.

Hot iron and brown paper bag. Slight improvement was my final result.

So, on to next (fourth) attempt: rubbing alcohol. This was by far the most successful. But only on the walls. A bit of paint came up with the wax, but at this point I really wasn’t concerned. The rubbing alcohol worked slightly on the wood cabinet, but left an odd discoloration on the first spot I tried. I stopped then rather than ruining entire door. And on the laminate floor, the rubbing alcohol was useless.