Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Clean Wax Off Cast Iron

Melted candle wax needn't diminish the look of your cast iron any longer.


Many people find the flickering flame of a candle to be relaxing. Others enjoy the aroma, the rustic charm or the romantic atmosphere created by burning candles. Most, however, do not enjoy cleaning up the mess created by dripping or running candle wax. Fortunately, if melted wax has hardened on cast iron, cleaning up the mess shouldn't prove too difficult. Cast iron is extremely resilient and will not be permanently damaged by the wax or the cleaning process. Does this Spark an idea?


Instructions


1. Place the cast iron object into a freezer for roughly 30 minutes or until the wax is noticeably frozen. If the cast iron piece is too large to fit in the freezer, fill a freezer bag with ice cubes and hold the ice against the wax until the wax hardens.


2. Remove the cast iron from the freezer or remove the ice cubes. Quickly tap the cast iron lightly with a blunt object, such as a small hammer or the handle of a screwdriver. This should cause some of the frozen wax to simply fall off the cast iron. If the wax does not fall off, use a small, plastic scraper to scrape the frozen wax from the iron. If the wax begins to soften during this process, re-freeze it.


3. Place a paper towel over any wax residue that remains on the cast iron. Use one hand to hold the paper towel in place over the waxy remnants. This will prevent the towel from blowing away after you turn on the hair dryer.


4. Turn your hair dryer up to its highest/hottest setting and switch it on. Pass the dryer over the paper towel, heating it and the cast iron simultaneously. The wax residue should begin to melt. As the wax melts, the paper towel will soak it up.


5. Wipe the cast iron with a clean towel and check your progress. If any wax remains, continue applying heat and soaking up the melted wax with a paper towel. Continue until you're satisfied you have removed all of the wax from the cast iron.







Tags: cast iron, paper towel, cast iron, cleaning mess, hair dryer