How Do I Clean The Candle Wax Off Of A Metal Menorah

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On Thursday morning—the last day of Hanukkah—we received the following query from reader Daniel S. Palmer: How do you go those last pesky $.25 of wax off your menorah?

We felt that this was a matter of some importance (if not urgency—after all, Hanukkah and Hannukiahs have been around for a couple thousand years), then we put the question to Tablet's readers on Facebook and Twitter. The most popular methods were freezing, boiling, and baking in the oven (!), but in that location were also some bully pre-lighting tips also.

In summary, hither's what you lot can doafterward Hanukkah:

Freeze your menorah, "and the wax pops correct out." — Lori Ellison

"I fill the sink with HOT h2o, then allow the menorahs sit submerged. After a minute or two, I pull the menorah out and use a newspaper towel to wipe off any remaining wax that hasn't melted and floated to the tiptop of the h2o in the sink. I so user the paper towel to skim the floating wax."— Mike Holzer

Similarly, you can "have the menorah outside and pour hot h2o on information technology to cook off the wax. It's easier to clean upwards exterior than in the sink." — Nicole Appel

"I line a cookie sheet with newspaper towels and gear up the oven for 200 degrees (paper burns at 451, thanks, Ray Bradbury) check after 15 minutes or so and wipe it down with clean paper towels." — Bonnie Gordon

Only. Prophylactic first. Wear oven mitts and brand certain the Hannukiah can handle hot temperatures: "No plastics, metals simply!" — David Bottomley.

And beforeyou light the candles:

"Spray the menorah with a light coating of cooking spray (you know, like PAM?) correct before you begin festivaling the lights; when the eight days are done and you've eaten more gelt than you idea humanly possible the wax will sort of slide right off. You'll want to launder the menorah later on with warm soapy h2o to remove any remainder wax and/or PAM." — Thank you, cleaning maven Jolie Kerr!

"If you freeze the candles before lighting, there will be near no drippy wax." — Susan Shapiro

"This year I invested in Israeli dripless candles… They're cute, too." — Cheryl Ratner, getting FANCY.

"I have something chosen Wax Off, information technology'southward a little spray bottle that works really well!" — Jennifer Winters

"I use oil cups in my Hanukkiah. Clean up is a non-result." — Andrew Hurwitz, keeping it old-school.

We'll leave you lot with this alternate perspective from Barry Glovetsky: "You DON'T remove it, except for the minimum needed to insert candles the side by side time. Every drop of wax is a memory."