Diwali Special- Tips To Clean Oil And Wax Post Diwali

On occasion of Diwali-- which is an official national holiday in many a countries like India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Mauritius, Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago, Suriname, Malaysia, Singapore and Fiji-- people light up 'diyaas' (earthen or metallic eye-shaped oil-filled lamps), candles and electric lights primarily to mark the significance of triumph of good over evil following the mythological epic 'The Ramayana'.However the day after the celebrations and festivities are over, the household cleaning process starts again. Removal of candle-wax-burns, diya oil-spills, etc. from the walls, floors, window sills, etc. becomes a priority as the stains that are resulted could very well damage the painted surfaces of the walls and the likes.

We provide our readers two quick tips for cleaning the wax spill-overs/ left-overs and diya oil stains from the floors, parapets and especially from the painted surfaces:

# Cleaning Wax

- Remove excess of the wax left-over surface slowly by any sharp edged tool, like- spatula/ knife/ painter's sheet, trowel, or any similar tool that has a sharp end surface. Inclined slow sweeps onto the wax left-over may help in loosening the otherwise hardened patch.

- Once the excess of wax left-over been swiped-off, removal of the stubborn wax-stain becomes the next step. For this, take hold of a longish tool of iron/ steel/ alloy tool (especially having flatter end on one side and something to hold on on the other side) and heat its flatter/broader end on low temperature.

- Once the iron tool becomes reasonably hotter, place an absorbing tissue paper or piece of thin absorbing cloth on the hot part of the tool and then slowly but steadily press the same against the wax end-patch.

- This will help in melting of the wax end patch by the hotter tool, and thereafter absorbance of the inherent paraffin oil into the tissue. Repeat this step numerous times till the entire end deposit of wax/paraffin is melted and absorbed by the tissue paper.

# Cleaning Oil Spill

- Wipe-off excess of the oil with a tissue paper or thick absorbing piece of cloth. The best practice could be to place a thick tissue paper swab over the oil spill-pool after removing the diyaas, and allow the tissue to absorb the excess of oil.

- Put over a little pinch of talc/ cornstarch/ mild detergent powder and leave it there for about 5-10 minutes.

- Use a mild liquid soap or floor cleaning liquid detergent and make a little soapy solution. Wipe off the oil-stained surfaces with gentle swipes & tabs while avoiding damage to the painted surface beneath.

- In case the oil stain has gone deep inside the painted surface and spread across as a blotted patch, repeat the above step a few more times ensuring that the receiving surface has dried before applying a second application.

- However, in case nothing works significantly, the only option left with you is to pledge that you shall place the diyaas over small plates or tiny tin sheet pieces the next Diwali, and source small quantity of matching paint to do a paint patch job.