How To Remove Melted Lip Balm From Clothes

Lip balm is a great way to moisturize your lips, but it can make a huge mess if you leave it in your pocket on laundry day. If the balm makes its way through the washer or dryer, a melted mess may ensue. Removing melted lip balm sometimes requires washing the clothing again after scraping away any remaining residue. Check the washer and dryer for loose bits of lip balm and clean away any you find to help prevent a messy problem with the next load of laundry.

Here's how to remove melted lip balm from your clothing:

Inspect the clothing for other lip balm spots after you've found one; there may be more than one problem area. Check the reverse side of the fabric as bits of wax may have gathered in an inconspicuous area. Carefully inspect everything that was in the laundry along with the lip balm, as it may have made a mess on other items as well. Check the insides of pockets that may have held the lip balm as it went into the laundry; there may be another waxy mess to handle.

Scrape away as much of the waxy residue as possible using a plastic knife or the bowl of a plastic spoon. Wipe the gathered wax off onto a paper towel with each pass of the plastic to avoid depositing it elsewhere on the clothing.

Sprinkle some baking soda over the lip balm stain to help absorb some of the oils. Use a toothbrush to scrub the soda into the stain. It should create little balls as the baking soda soaks up the oil. Remove the baking soda and repeat the process until no more balls form. This method can help on the greasy stain, which is often difficult to remove.

Pour a small amount of liquid laundry detergent over the waxy spot on the affected clothing, then fold and rub the fabric to work the detergent into the fibers. Allow the item to sit for several minutes. You can also use a stain stick product on the area.

Wash it in the washing machine at the hottest setting recommended on the clothing's care tag. Always check clothing pockets before placing items in the wash, as small forgotten objects such as tissues, gum, and candy may result in a huge mess once the wash load is done.

Air dry the clothing once the final spin cycle is done. Once it's completely dry, check the spots that were stained with lip balm to ensure all traces are gone. Drying it in a clothes dryer before verifying that the lip balm is gone can set in the stain and increase the difficulty of removing it.

Repeat this process (air drying each time) until you get the desired results.