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I'd like to remove a wax seal from one of my porcelain plates. Yes, it's on the bottom... but I don't like it.

I'm wondering how to do this right. My first thought was to use a lighter to melt the wax and and then a cloth dipped in alcohol to wipe the wax away. But this does not seem to be the recommended way.

What's your advice? I don't want to damage it, because it wasn't cheap.

pic?

i'd gently warm the plate with a heat gun, scrape most of the wax off with a razor, and then wipe the remaining residue off with paper towel dipped in a non-polar (or less-polar-than-water) solvent. i'd try vegetable oil first (again, with the plate heated). if that doesn't work, i'd keep trying whatever else i had access to. alcohol, acetone, EtOAc, ether, xylene, toluene, hexane, etc. or some product like 'goo gone' formulated to remove stickers. finally, i'd give the plate a good washing with soap and water.

Can you scrape it at all?

I'd pull out my lemon oil and go for it. I keep it around for baking: it's more concentrated than extracts so you can add a lot of flavor without much textural impact. And it is great for cleaning stuff too--I'm sure I use larger volumes for cleaning than for cooking, even if I reach for it more often for recipes.

@pedant

Thanks The heat gun is a great idea... but I won't use a razor blade at first. I used it on my phone to remove a screen protector and scratched the display during the process.

@debunix

Thanks for the advice, but I don't have lemon oil at home. Maybe I can use distilled vinegar.

I think I'll use a heat gun, dental floss and then distilled vinegar... If this is not sufficient I'll consider the other methods.

Yep, lemon oil would probably work very well (primary component is limonene which is a pretty decent solvent). My preference would be to use something more refined and less smelly though, but lemon oil is probably a useful thing to have around for more than just cleaning.

Vinegar won't help, but it doesn't hurt to try if you have nothing else.

Yes, razor takes some experience.

well, I like that seal, I would not peal it off .

@pedantI bought some lemon oil for about $5 today from Amazon. I guess it's better to do it right from the beginning.

olivierd wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 14, 2021 3:13 am

well, I like that seal, I would not peal it off .

I know that most collectors wouldn't remove it. It's the same with the F1 stickers. But I like them better without.