How do you get candle wax out of a rayon polly blend shirt?

Question

I had spilled some candle wax on this shirt I have; not very happy since it's one of the few nice shirts I have. I read online the best method to get wax out of clothes was using an iron, with a paper towel or in between, to melt and draw out the wax. I did this and it worked for the most part, but there's still some wax left, a thin film, but enough that when it's dry, the fabric in that area is a little stiff; it still has give, but there's a noticable difference. from what it should be.

After using the iron, I looked online to see if there was anything different when removing wax from regular clothes and rayon and found almost nothing, save for a single site that suggested putting it in the freezer, freezing the wax so it would be hard and chipping it off. I don't know, had I found that site sooner, if it would have made a difference; as the bits of wax I had chipped off before using the iron left a residue anyway; only now, it's not as noticable.

Is there anything else to do? Since it's really not noticable now, am I just stuck with that (large) spot being a bit stiff from from now on? What about washing it? I've read that rayon isn't supposed to go through the wash unless it says it can. I never noticed that before and it doesn't say that it is machine washable, but I know I've put it through the wash in the past, without it hurting it, but what kind of effect might it have on the what's left of the wax, especially once it's in the dryer? Would the dryer make the spot worse?

Answer 1

Do the iron method once or twice more.  Just when you remove the iron, dip the problem spot into some hot water with detergent and gently scrub, or pour a couple drops liquid dish soap on the problem area and rub it gently with a towel dipped into hot water.  That should do the trick.

Answer 2

Citra-Solv

or

De-Solv-it

Either of these products works wonders.  The "green" community has known about these products for years, since they're not based on petroleum solvents, but on citrus. Easily found at Whole Foods or many "health" stores.

Since you've removed most of the wax already, this should work well.  Follow the directions, and let the product work slowly.  Rinse in the sink and let it air dry to see if it worked.  DO NOT machine dry any stained clothes until you're satisfied with the results -- you can actually "cook" the stain into the fabric.

I have used De-Solv-it on old stains with good results.  The only warning:  it is powerful enough to remove some color, depending on the fabric, etc.  So I'd test it somewhere that's not so obvious first.

By the way, rayon doesn't do so well in the dryer anyway -- some types of rayon can shrink or weaken.

Good Luck... :)

Answer 3

You are doing the right thing!  We've had lots of experience with candle wax, and I do just what you did. Rayon/poly is much easier than velour , believe me!

You really have to iron it quite a bit. We used newspaper and a hot iron (not recommended for light colors, just in case).

Move the paper about a few times to clean with a clean paper area for optimum results.

Just try another go at it with the iron and then wash your shirt normally. The wash/dry process should actually help remove the last bits.