You can also add 1 part distilled vinegar and 3 parts water and put it in a spray bottle to spray the beeswax. This can slightly dissolve and soften beeswax. This might be a good method for removing beeswax from fabric.
Like beeswax, apple cider vinegar, or ACV, has many uses from cooking to skincare — but it can also be used on your hair! ACV has clarifying properties that can help strip beeswax from your hair.
The easiest way to clean beeswax is to melt it down to a liquid and strain it through a filtering material to remove impurities. To melt your beeswax, simply put your wax cappings or other un-rendered beeswax into a glass microwaveable container (again we like using Pyrex liquid measuring cups).
“There are a number of solvents that can do the trick, but only a few are lying around your house. The most typical are acetone (found in nail polish remover) and isopropyl alcohol (used in rubbing alcohol).”
Mix a few drops of dishwashing liquid with warm water. Dampen your microfiber cloth with soapy water and gently clean the area where the wax sat to remove any leftover residue. Use a dry microfiber cloth to absorb the remaining liquid and buff any streaks.
Turpentine is a solvent for beeswax, especially when warm.
The beeswax also has antibacterial qualities which help make them a viable, reusable option for food storage. To wash beeswax wraps, rinse the wrap with cool or lukewarm water and eco-friendly dish soap. You can use a cloth or sponge to wipe them down, then rinse off.
After the beeswax, Turpentine is the most important ingredient in our polish. This is because pure gum Turpentine is the solvent that dissolves the beeswax and carries it into the grain of the wood.
Beeswax is yellowish to brownish-yellow, soft to brittle, wiht a melting point of 60-65°F. The wax is glossy and hard but plastic when warm. It is practically insoluble in water, partially soluble in alcohol, and soluble in hot alcohol.
Beeswax (and many other waxes) melts in solvents like mineral spirits, VM&P naptha, turpentine, etc. Don't use things like lacquer thinner or acetone. Coincidentally, these same solvents that melt waxes also blend with drying oil finishes like linseed, tung, etc.
The Fix: Vinegar.
When the wax becomes soft, dab it away with a soft cloth. To prevent stains on light-colored wood, be sure to moisten the cloth beforehand with a mixture of one part vinegar and two parts water. Note: Follow the same process to remove candle wax from hardwood floors.
Vinegar. This common pantry item is useful for many things, but not many people know that it repels bees, as well. Vinegar spray is a great natural way to get the bees out of your yard.
Answer: This white coating is called “Plum Bloom.” The bloom is a light powdery substance that comes from within the wax. It is a normal characteristic of beeswax and beekeepers don't need to do anything about it. Wax bloom happens with changes in temperature.
Beeswax has been reported to have antimicrobial properties. Beeswax may inhibit growth of gram negative bacteria, gram positive bacteria, and fungi. (4, 5, 6) In addition, beeswax impregnated cloth has been reported to exhibit biostatic and biocidal activity under laboratory conditions.
There are some disadvantages to using beeswax as a finish. It is not very waterproof and does not provide much protection against water damage and other stains. Furthermore, beeswax is not very rub or wipe durable and may require periodic maintenance. It is not very glossy and provides a relatively low shine.
DON'T POUR HOT WAX DOWN YOUR DRAIN!
The volume of the wax helps keep it in a liquid state by holding heat. However, when you pour it down the drain, that will dissipate the heat quickly and form into a solid. Once that happens, you have a problem. Even a small amount of wax can cause a sink to clog or drain slowly.
If your beeswax is too hard, soften it in a bowl of hot tap water for about 10 minutes and it will be ready to grate. I've seen similar recipes with olive oil, but like the properties of coconut oil better, especially the scent.
The wax will melt and then drip into a pan with some water in it. The wax can pass through a filter of some type on it's way, but usually if you are starting with wax cappings or something similar; simply allowing the liquid wax to drip into the pan of hot water is enough to clean it.
Beeswax + Borax
Borax, which is an alkaline material, saponifies beeswax to soap. So it's not the beeswax by itself that is the emulsifier, it's the resulting soap.
For example, some people think home cleaning solutions such as vinegar will remove wax stains, but that's not true—not only is vinegar ineffective in this case but wetting the area will make wax removal more difficult.
To remove earwax with baking soda, dissolve ½ teaspoon of baking soda in 2 ounces of warm water. Tilt your head to the side and drop 5 to 10 drops of the solution into each ear. Leave the solution in each ear for up to one hour and rinse with warm water. Do this daily until excess wax is gone.
Using WD-40
Because of its functionality and effectiveness, WD-40 is one of the most recommended methods for a lot of things including cleaning up wax.