Experimental Results - removing wax stains from patio stones

TL/DR - Citronella Wax stains are almost impossible to get out of patio stones. Pour-N-Restore works best against them.

A few weeks ago, we suffered a major spill of OFF's Citronella Candle wax on our patio. Our earlier Reddit post, combined with input we received from the makers of the paving stones, resulted in several suggestions about how to remove the stain. Not wanting to make a bad problem worse, I decided to test each idea on some spare stones and document the results for all to see, hopefully making life better for the next guy. Check here... imgur.com/a/sjb0a

The above shows 7 different attempts at removing the stains. Some notes for each...

• A: Pour-N-Restore - I suspect the bottle I tried had been sitting on the shelf too long, as it came out like frosting, and was a real bother to apply. Even so, it appears to have done the best job of the bunch.
• B: Alliance Gator Clean, Oil & Grease Cleaner - The link to the left is for the QR code that was on the side of the bottle, but it does not take you to the actual product page. In fact, I can't find a page for this anywhere. The stuff I used as a pink, watery liquid, and not the stuff they appear to sell now. The pink stuff was close to useless.
• C: Dawn dishwashing liquid - There were a few posts suggesting this would work. We applied it strait out of the bottle and let it soak in, the used a scrub brush and power washer to rinse it off. Repeat. No effect.
• D: OxiClean - Made a paste, let it soak in, scrubbed and washed off. No effect.
• E: DuPont StoneTech Professional Oil Stain Remover - While the application was significantly easier than the Pour-N-Restore (above), it was a bitch to remove after the drying period. I scraped what I could off with a strong bristle brush, but I had to resort to the power washer to get the rest. Stuff stuck on like mortar. No real effect on the stain.
• F: Mineral Spirits - This was the recommendation of the people at SC Johnson, the manufacturers of the damned OFF! candle that caused all this grief. It softened the edges around the stain, but was basically useless.
• H: Classic Iron and Towel Approach - Many recommendations came in saying to put a towel over the area and heat it up with an iron. It was supposed to draw the wax out. No such luck. :-(

We have one stone left to do an experiment with (G). My thoughts right now are to re-try the Pour-N-Restore and make our decision after that.

I hope this helps.

Submitted July 30, 2016 at 09:43PM by GazpachoZen http://ift.tt/2aEyB5U