Hi,

 

I was doing some experiments with wax and now that I'm done I want to clean everything up. Problem is my beakers are coated with wax and its a pain to get the stuff off. I tried scraping it and heating it. I can't seem to find a way to get the beaker clean of that stuff. Anyone know a solvent that can dissolve wax? or an effecient method of cleaning up my glassware?

 

Thanks

 

Edit: Oh yeah, It's candle wax in case it matters.

remember, like dissolves like, so perhaps some sort of oil? Or maybe you can emulsify it with a soap or detergent.

I think that ligroin, naphta or a solvent like white spirit can do the job for you.

 

To get rid of the final thin coating, scrubbing with hot water and soap should be OK.

agreed, heating the white spirits until the wax melts in it makes a pourable liquid that`s easy to remove, and hot soapy water after will do the rest.

 

also (but I`m not 100% certain) I think wax Should saponify in a soln of NaOH or KOH if warm, effectively turning your wax into Soap, that would come in handy for smaller glass ware that you maynot be able to get a bottle brush into etc...

MEK is my favorite to remove wax. But boiling in hot water to float the stuff off works well too. Mind you you now have the pot to clean....

another way that would work for a beaker or some test tubes would be to fill the whole thing with molten wax, put a wire in it with a knot in the end, and shove it in the freezer.

wax shrinks really well, and so you could easily pull the lot out in one go and leave it perfectly clean

Surprisingly that works. The trick is to leave the items in the hot wax long enough to come to the same temperature. If you don't a light film will be left on the parts afterward.

I have had good reports of the efficacy of both caustic soda and washing soda for wax removal, but not tried it.