Accidents can happen in life, and how we respond can often affect whether they are little blips on the radar or become cringe-worthy events. Read on for some tips for removing unwanted and accidental wax from hair, skin, and your salon furniture.
Be prepared by knowing the steps that should be taken if the wax accidentally gets onto the hair (head) or other areas of the body. Your training as an esthetician will probably include how to remove wax from the skin, but we will cover that as well.
How to Remove Wax from Skin
Many waxing pros know that one of the best ways for how to get wax off skin post-depilation is with a good oil. Nacach Post Wax Body Oil with pomegranate is a superb way to get any lingering wax off the skin after using soft wax. It’s non-greasy and can be massaged into the skin like the legs for a relaxing post-wax treatment.
Or if you are using a sugar paste wax, you may want to try calming Post Wax Moisturizing Milk. It’s a moisturizing lotion that has soothing aloe along with calendula and chestnut extracts that cleanse the skin and leave it refreshed and silky smooth. It’s gentle enough for the face.
Using a good quality wax will minimize the amount of time needed to clean up wax after depilation. Hard wax leaves no sticky residue, so it’s much easier to clean up than soft wax. Nacach’s hard waxes are professional grade, made in Italy with natural ingredients. They adhere only to the hair, yet are incredibly gentle on the skin. Roll-on wax is a no-mess method of applying wax, and Nacach has low-temperature disposable waxes that are perfect for waxing larger areas of the body.
Wax for hair removal is meant to grab and lock onto the hair, but what happens when you mistakenly drip wax onto the hair on your head? Don’t panic. There’s a way to get it out.
Steps to Remove Wax from the Hair:
- If solid wax has gotten in your (or worse, your client’s) hair, it will need to be melted to be removed.
- Begin by wrapping the waxed portion of the hair in paper towels.
- Use a hairdryer on high heat to heat up the wax through the paper towel. As the wax begins to melt, it will get absorbed by the paper towels.
- Remove the paper towel and replace it with new, clean paper towels.
- Repeat until the wax is removed.
- If any wax remains, wet the hair with very warm water to soften the wax and apply a quality hair conditioner to lubricate hair so that the wax can be removed. Working the wax out of the hair strands with your hands, and begin rinsing the hair with running water.
- After the conditioner is rinsed out, if any wax remains, apply a bit of shampoo, and work it in to remove any lingering wax. You can comb through the hair while rinsing to remove traces of wax. Repeat if necessary.
Note: You can also try using a bit of Nacach Post Wax Oil massaged into the hair strands and gently combing the wax out before resorting to shampoo.
Removing Wax from Clothes
What happens when you get wax on clothes? Depilatory waxes can stain clothes. Read the clothing’s care label to find out regular laundering instructions. You can try a hairdryer to melt the wax and daub the spot with paper towels or a clean cotton towel. If you take the clothes home, you can try using an iron with an ink-free paper bag both underneath the clothing and between the iron and the clothes to melt the wax out of the fabric. Keep the iron on low and move the bag periodically to a clean area to absorb more of the wax. This technique can get cold wax out of sheets as well.
How to Remove Wax from Furniture and Other Hard Surfaces
- Rub ice cubes over the wax to make it harder.
- Once it’s hard and brittle, use a non-gouging scraper to chip the wax gently off the surface. Make sure you pick a tool that will be safe for the specific furniture surface. Avoid using a metal object like a knife on tile or wood, as it may permanently scratch the surface. A credit card can work well if you don't have another plastic item to use as a scraper, although you may have to replace it after using it.
- If any wax remains or is stubborn or in a hard-to-reach crevice, you can try using a hairdryer to melt the remaining wax. You will need paper towels or an old towel to absorb the wax as it softens.
You can also use Step 3 to remove wax from carpet.
Can Wax Damage Furniture or Other Home Appliances?
Depilatory wax is more likely to leave furniture and home appliances damaged by hasty removal processes that gouge and scratch the furniture or appliance than by the wax itself. Scratches can often be covered by Old English or another polish on wood, but metal will be hard to hide if scratched by overzealous scraping. If you are working in a salon with a white on white interior design scheme, unless everything is made of tile, you might want to avoid deeply colored hard waxes until you are confident that you will not have any errant spills.
Takeaway
If you learn how to use hair wax carefully and meticulously at the beginning of your waxing career, you can avoid a lot of unnecessary hours cleaning up after yourself. Careful handling of hot wax can avoid worrying about dilemmas, such as how to get wax out of hair or how to remove an unfortunate stain on the salon owner’s pricey furniture. You may want to read the related article How to Properly Clean a Wax Warmer for tips on keeping your wax warmer pot pristine.
It’s rare that when you wax hair that you will have an accident if you are conscientious in your habits and avoid unnecessary rushing in any steps of the process.
