3 Ways to Clean Candle Holders

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My mom has these gorgeous cut crystal candle holders.  We’ve had them in our house for as long as I can remember.  And for the last couple of years they’ve looked like this:

Yikes!  We may or may not have added candles on top of the ones that are stuck in there once or twice.  Then we may or may not have left them collect an unhealthy amount of dust for a year or so after that.  Don’t judge me too harshly.

But last Thursday I was throwing a Norwex party.  Excuse me while I shamelessly plug their amazing cleaning products.  Oh and I could spend an entire post talking about their microfiber cloths!  Seriously, those babies are infused with silver, a natural disinfectant.  Order some.  You will NOT be sorry!

What was I saying?  Oh, right.  Our shamelessly dusty, filthy cut crystal candle holders.  I knew that under the layers of soot, dust, and dirt were these beautiful glass masterpieces and I wanted to get them clean before my party.  I’ve heard of several ways to clean candle holders and decided to try the most popular three.  Stovetop, oven, and freezer.

Don’t forget this is what we started with.  Ew…

The Stovetop Method

Place candle holders in a shallow pan and fill with water until the water covers the amount of wax left in the holder.  Slowly bring the water to a gentle simmer and allow the wax to melt.  As it melts pour it into a disposable cup.  Don’t forget to use an oven mitt when pouring out the melted wax, the glass will be hot!

These eventually got cleaned but the process was tedious and required lots of scrubbing on wax that hardened as soon as it was taken out of the simmering water.  This was my least favorite method.

The Oven Method

I’ve seen this method several times.  Turn the oven on as low as it will go, for me this is 170 degrees, and place the candle holders upside down on a baking sheet lined with a piece of foil.  As the wax melts you’ll have to move the holders.  I checked and moved them every 30 minutes so the wax didn’t build up too much.  It took about 90 minutes for this method.

They also did eventually get clean but I had to scrub them under super hot water with a stiff scrub brush to get the wax off that dripped down the insides.  This was my second favorite method.

The Freezer Method

I saved the best for last for you guys.  Are you ready for how simple this one is?  Stick your candle holders in the freezer and walk away for a few hours.  Come back and the wax will have shrunk enough to just pop them out as a nice little waxcicle.  My favorite method by far.  No fuss, no muss.  All I had to do was give them a quick wash to clean the soot off.

                           

The heat methods in general aren’t the best because there is a big risk of them cracking from the high temperature.  We had a casualty in the stovetop method 🙁  Sorry, Mom.

But aren’t they gorgeous?  I had initially envisioned filling them with fun little colored crystals but the cut of the glass is decoration enough for sure 🙂  Have you tried one or all of these methods?  Which one did you like best?  Let me know in the comments!

Savings Tip: When I asked my mom if I could clean them she told me she got all 6 for $12!  I knew I came from thrifty genes 🙂  Good Will and yard sales are amazing places to find treasures like this.  Don’t shy away from a candle holder with a decade old candle in it.  Just snatch it up for 50 cents, bring it home, and stick it in the freezer!