Refresh and Reuse: Cleaning Out Your Candle Jars

Scented candles can be a great way to infuse a room with a subtle fragrance. But if you're a frequent candle-burner like me, you've probably found yourself with many beautiful, nearly empty glass jars and leftover wax that just didn't melt the first time around. Here's a simple way to get all the leftover wax and wax-residue safely out of your jar, so you can reuse it again and again.

What You'll Need

• candle in a jar
• boiling hot water
• open mouth container that's safe to hold hot water

What to Do

1. Heat up some hot water over the stove or in the microwave until it's boiling hot.
2. Carefully pour the boiling water into your almost-empty candle jar.
3. Let the hot water sit in the jar until the wax has liquified and floated to the top of the jar.
4. Carefully pour out the liquid into a container with a wide mouth. If your jar has an opening that is either even all around or gets wider at the top, you can leave the water in the jar.
5. Allow the water to cool off completely. You can pop it in the refrigerator or freezer to speed things up, but don't leave it in long enough to freeze the water.
6. Once the water cools off, the wax that has floated to the top of the container should be solidified again.
7. Run a sharp knife around the edges of the container to loosen the candle wax.
8. Move the container over the sink and flip it over – catching the candle wax in your hand and draining out the water.
9. Use soap and water to clean out any remaining wax residue.
10. Dry the jar with a clean towel and you should be left with a clean jar you can re-use.

With your glass jar now clean, you can re-use it for all sorts of purposes, and if you have a wax warmer, you can re-use your still-scented wax and continue to refresh your home with the fragrance.

If you're unsure of how you can reuse your glass jars, check out next week's Refresh and Reuse!

Important Things to Know

• When you get to step 4, DO NOT simply pour the liquid candle/water mixer down the sink. Melted candle wax will eventually re-harden, so pouring it down the drain can cause serious clogs. It's really important for you to let the candle wax solidify and then either re-use it or throw it out with the garbage.
• Boiling water is hot. Placing boiling water in glass jars will make the glass also really hot. Please be careful when touching/holding the very hot glass jar and pouring hot water.

Many thanks to isak valtersen and losing control. for editing.