Get red wax off a white tablecloth in five simple steps – update!

Last week I found a wonderful candlestick thing that I HAD to use with a vintage Christmas tablecloth. Don’t they look great together? Especially with matching red candles.

Of course the candles DRIPPED! What was I thinking?!

Fortunately for me, this tablecloth can be rescued. Here’s how to do it:

1. FREEZE: Put the tablecloth in the freezer for about an hour. You want the wax to completely harden.

Don’t blot, rub or disturb the wax. Most of it will be sitting on the surface of the fabric.

2. SCRAPE: Use a smooth, thin knife to carefully scrape off the frozen wax. Use the blade, not the point, or you’ll risk making holes.

Oops! There isn’t a big pink stain. I had a red and green tablecloth underneath.

Not all of the wax will come off. That’s okay. You don’t want to damage the fabric by scraping too hard.

The big blobs are gone, but some wax has gone deeper into the fibers.

3. TREAT: Place the tablecloth on a couple layers of paper towels. Saturate the corner of another paper towel with Goo Gone and blot the remaining wax. The wax will dissolve and the red will fade. Give it time to work.

4. RINSE: Stretch the tablecloth over your kitchen sink and rinse the blotted spots with boiling water. I used a completely filled tea kettle.

At this point I can’t even tell where the wax was.

5. LAUNDER: Rub your favorite laundry detergent into the treated areas and wash the tablecloth in hot water. You’ll need extra detergent to remove the oily Goo Gone.

This is how it looked fresh out of the washer. No red spots! No pink spots!

I line dried the tablecloth since it appeared ready to go on the table again.

Whoops! I can’t see them in person, but the photo shows up two pale spots.

Back into the washer! This time I added a scoop of Biz, my favorite stain treatment.

That’s more like it!

I absolutely can’t tell there was red wax anywhere. One more vintage tablecloth saved! Yay!