How do I remove candle wax from carpet?

As we always say, “Don’t Drink & Burn.” That is inevitably the first step to preventing wax from getting into the carpet of your mancave. If you have made the bold decision to sip on some suds AND burn your favorite Barley & Hops Craft Candle all at the same time, you might encounter some spillage. If this has happened to you, follow our simple instructions below and you will have that candle wax out of the carpet in no time!

Step-by-Step “Remove Wax from Carpet” Tutorial

• Plastic Bag
• Ice
• Dull Knife
• 2-3 Brown Paper Grocery Bags
• Iron

1. Chill-out.  The first step to cleaning up a craft beer candle wax party foul is to hit the ice. Grab a plastic bag, fill it with ice, tie it off and lay it down. Make sure the bag is completely sealed shut and cover the wax pool with the bag. Pour yourself a brew and chill. The wax needs to completely harden.
2. Chisel & scrape. Once the candle wax has hardened, pull out your handy-dandy “wax-in-the-carpet stain removal kit.” If you don’t have one, everything you will need to make your very own should be in your kitchen. You will need a dull knife. That is your kit. Carefully, start to chip and scrape away at the hardened wax. This might take awhile but be a thorough as you can, this will make the next step much easier and more effective.
3. Brown-bag it. Some candle wax removal methods suggest using a washcloth or a towel. We have just had better luck with a brown paper bag. Make sure you are using the bigger sized bag.
4. Iron Maiden. Grab the iron. Make sure it is on a warm setting, not super hot, you don’t want to burn the bag or your carpet. Carefully press the iron across the top of the bag. You will start to see the wax absorb into the bag. We will usually use a few bags, this way we can tell when all of the wax has been removed from the carpet.
5. The Final Solution. Head to the cleaning solution section of your home and grab some carpet cleaner. Barley & Hops Craft Candles are made with an Apricot wax with no dyes. If you are burning a candle that has any dyes, use rubbing alcohol to blot any dye staining.

There you have it! Now, reward yourself with a nap on the couch. You deserve it!

Aren’t All Candle’s the Same?

For over 5,000 years, candle’s have been used to make light. This is the primary factor that makes all candles the same.

Just like candles, evidence of Beer production and consumption has been around for over 7,000 years.

When the “Maker’s” of Barley & Hops Craft Candles really thought about it, the combination of the 2 ancient traditions just made sense.

Afterall, a good beer and the right candle have been deemed both the rulers of the night for thousands of years!

What are some of the factors that make a brand or type of candle unique?

• Scent
• Shape
• Color
• Wax
• Wicks
• Blends
• Experience
• The Maker

What are some of the factors that make a craft beer unique?

• Type or Quality of Water
• Malt – For Color & Flavor
• Hops – For Bitterness & Flavor (Florals & Fruits)
• Yeast – Ale or Lager, Fermentation Time
• Experience
• The Maker

As you can see, there is a certain amount of complexity that goes into the creation of both a beer candle and a craft brew.

It Doesn’t Take an Expert to Know

If you have a love for the craft beer or microbrew, more than likely you know just how different they can be. Similarly, if you are a true candle lover – you know what makes a candle a good one, or a bad one.

The Difference a Good Craft Beer Can Make

Brewmasters spend hundreds of hours perfecting their craft. I’ve heard local Kansas City brewmasters say that what makes a microbrew “good” is the experience that goes into it. Where a brewmaster has been, both geographically and in life experience, makes a microbrew what it is. Brewmasters are constantly improving upon their trade, and are very serious about the beer they produce.

Craft beer lovers can be pretty serious when it comes to reviewing and rating a beer. Ranking websites for craft beers – such as Untapped, BeerAdvocate, and RateBeer – are all over the world wide web. Brewmasters know that craft beer enthusiasts and craft beer critics can be a relentless and tough lot.

A good beer can make or break a brand. This is why it is so very important to take their trade very seriously, not only for themselves, but for their tasters.

The Difference a Good Craft Beer Candle Can Make

CandleMeThis really says it best, “A good candle starts with a clean wax, (wax of any kind), a good wick (no lead), and a heat proof container. Add a good quality fragrance oil that is pure and undiluted, and you are well on your way. Then the trick becomes, do all of your parts work together? That is the basis of a good candle. If your parts don’t match up and work together, each part may be of excellent quality, but the marriage is bad.”

What makes a manly scent worthy of a MANdle?

What scents do men really like? Which of those scents would a man want bottled in wax? Do we really need to differentiate candles into a manly and girly category?  These are just a few of the questions that run through my head on the daily.

Top 3 manly smells HE likes, but I don’t

Nag Champa

When my husband gets a wild hair and burns an incense stick from his ancient box of Nag Champa from college, I will. Mostly I think of how much I wished it would magically extinguish.

I wouldn’t say I don’t’ “like” the smell, it is just an overwhelmingly strong smell that, after burning for a couple of minutes, makes my head throb.

Chewing Tobacco

To be fair, I have to share some background information on this one. I grew up in a household with 5 brothers, 2 dads and 2 male hunting dogs. 3 of those brothers chewed tobacco. 1 of those brothers drove me to school everyday, up until my junior year of high school, and every morning I would open the door to find a gag-worthy, nasty chewing tobacco Sonic styrofoam spit-cup. Even writing “spit-cup” makes me cringe. That smell, OMG – that SMELL! Sweaty dank mint meets rotten ass tobacco plus bad-breath, day-old spit.

GAHHHH!

But what is the real reason I harbor such disgust for that snuff? One morning, he had it sitting on the seat and (wait for it) I sat on it. All of that nastiness broke free of the Route 44 nightmare and soaked deep up into my blue jeans and panties. And then, I puked. And puked.

The worst part? He wouldn’t take me home to change. I had to sit in the nurse’s office, all covered in this putrid funk, waiting for my dad to bring me my least favorite pair of jeans.

Fast-forward to today: My husband chews. The horror.

Sauerkraut

Simply put, it smells like a locker room without an actively employed janitor. Barf.

Top 3 manly smells we both like

Pipe Tobacco

Reminds me of my grandfather, Bud. He would sit in his favorite well-worn leather recliner and puff-puff away on his equally well-worn wooden pipe. He always smoked a cherry tobacco blend. Brings back so many very fond memories. Same goes with my husband, Brandon. His grandfather also smoked a pipe. Have you smelled our Stogie from Muskogee? Heaven.

Microbreweries

Craft Beers & Microbrews

For Brandon, the “nose” knows. He loves the aroma of a good microbrew or craft beer. Sometimes I think he will never even get to drinking it! He just sits on his bar stool….sniffing. I used to think it was so weird, almost like watching a dog greeting. Today? I find myself doing the same thing. I have to admit it, I LOVE sniffing out a good brew and sharing it with Marsha, Barley & Hops Craft Candle scentmaster and candle pourer. In fact, this is a text she sent me from the other day!

“Prairie Bomb is DA BOMB!!!”

Espresso & Coffee

Working in coffee shops in every town I attended college was my “thing.” I lived, loved and appreciated a good bean. When I grew up, I lived in downtown Kansas City smack dab across the block from a coffee manufacturing facility. So did Brandon. I have yet to meet someone who DOESN’T like the aroma of freshly ground coffee beans. What makes the bean even better? You can find it’s roast aroma in most Stout beers! DOUBLE SCORE!

Do we really need to make it a gender thing?

This is the part of this “Making of a MANdle” section that is not meant to offend but instead, answer the question of,  “Do we really need to make it a gender thing?”

Do I really want to smear some freshly cut grass on my body and say, “Hey baby, mow me.”

Do men really prefer or long-for the scent of gasoline bottled in wax? Don’t get me wrong, I admit that I love sniffing a little gas when I am filling the tank, but do I want to take it with me? Nope. Do I love the smell of freshly cut grass after my husband or I finally get to mowing? Sure! But do I want my house to smell like my mower? Again, no. And finally, both my husband and I love to cook and BBQ, but when it is all said and done and the kitchen has been cleaned – I really prefer the smell to be gone.

Brian Sinning says, “A Bacon candle? That would piss me off. I wake-up, I smell bacon, I get out of bed early and no bacon.”

I firmly believe that gender plays no part in determining if something smells good. Heck, before I put my nose to a microbrew, I simply assumed it would smell like yeasty funk. Today, after visiting countless breweries and sniffing hundreds of craft beers, I can honestly say that a craft brew candle is one of my favorite smells! Why should we assume that a woman would or could not enjoy the aroma of a good microbrew?

“Is my husband ashamed to say he likes the smell of the perfume Paloma Picasso? Hell no! He knows he’s going to get lucky tonight!” says one of Marsha’s good friends.

Balderdash, I say!

Cheers!