Everything’s Brighter When You Turn On Your Love-Light: How to Clean Candle Soot Off Your Walls

Image Credits: “A row of tea candles” by Markus Grossalber is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

I burn a lot of candles and enjoy their ambient lighting. I also have other light sources, such as Christmas lights, a Himalayan salt lamp, sea-glass lamp and wooden branch wrapped with LED lights. I often have a few candles burning as well.

Their low light and ambient glow have a special quality to them. A warmth that brings me peace and ease. The flicker, the way the light changes and softens everything it touches: It’s soothing. I also have a long history with candles. And my love of them started when I was a teenager.

Love Spells

When I was in my early teens, I was into witch-craft. Living next-door to Salem MA, The Witch City, was most likely the catalyst for my interest. A good friend of mine had joined a coven and brought me along for the short lived ride. It was at this time I got it in me that I wanted to cast a love spell. Looking back I think it had to do with my home at the time being so void of emotion.

Nobody talked to one another. Because other than cutting judgements, we didn’t have much to say to eachother. But really, I was scared. I wanted to feel loved and connected to my family, but I didn’t know where, or whom to turn to. So naturally, I cast a love spell 🙂

Connecting with Friends

I was introduced to witchcraft by a friend of mine, as I said above, who had recently moved to my hometown after getting in trouble where he was from. I was also roaming the streets, looking for trouble, so we were two peas in a pod.

I told him my plans to cast a love spell, and we gathered the supplies from some of Salem’s witch shops, and went to the woods in my neighborhood, where I used to play with my childhood friends, for one last visit.

I can’t recall the exact details of the ritual, but what I do remember is that it was at night, there was a blanket of snow on the ground, and as I was walking away, looking back over my shoulder I could see the soft halo of light cast from the candle flame. The light reflected off of the snow covered field. The cozy scene has stayed with me, and one that still brings me peace and ease when it comes to mind. As I walked up the hill that night, I knew it was a special moment, and would be a warm memory for years to come.

Candles, Present Day

Fast forward 20 years and I’ve since stopped practicing witchcraft. But I am burning more candles now than I ever have. I started out buying scented ones from a local department store. But I didn’t know what I was getting into.

I burned three at a time, all different scents, and I lighting them constantly. I was trying to create a cozy environment, one where I could feel safe, the way I felt the night I cast my love spell. But I was going a little overboard. Not to mention it was an expensive habit. $30-$40 every three weeks adds up. Roughly $600 a year. As Melba would say, “is no bueno”.

I’ve recently switched to a more sustainable habit of one large pillar candle and one to three tea lights. But what I hadn’t realized is that burning scented, paraffin wax candles will build up a layer of soot on your walls over time. I noticed this one day when I cleaned a spot, and the difference in shades from where I cleaned, to the rest of the room was markedly different.

The Clean Up: Is This a Good Idea?

I hadn’t realized how much soot had accumulated in the room until I wiped part of it clean. So I started cleaning the walls almost on impulse. But the first time I cleaned them I did so quickly. This left large streaks of soot on my walls that were just as bad as the dark soot that covered them. And to make things worse, the more candles I burned, the worse the soot lay heavy on my walls. So I decided to put cleaning my walls at the top of my to-do list. Then one day, when I walked by the streaked wall, again, on a whim, I started cleaning them. This was a bad idea :/

I started on the wall with the previously cleaned spot. I sprayed it with an all-purpose cleaner, and wiped the wall with a cotton rag using broad strokes. Anyone who’s tried to clean soot this way knows what happens next. I ended up just moving the large streaks of soot around on the wall, contrasted against the light orange paint. This was frustrating. I wasn’t getting far, so I decided to turn to the internet for some guidance.

Looking for Help

The site I landed on was the “The Spruce“, a website I go to often and is dedicated to all things home related and nesting. I discovered that the best cleaner for soot was something called TSP, or Trisodium Phosphate. I looked for it at my local hardware stores, but found that not only is it not sold in stores locally, but is highly toxic and banned in many states. I thought about ordering it online but asked myself, “do I really want to buy a product that’s so bad for the environment and humans that it’s banned in 16 states?” The answer is No.

The alternative method on the site was a combo of dishwashing detergent, water, a sponge and some elbow grease. This, however, was very difficult. The project took me most of the day. Six to eight hours and I made little to no progress. I also had to wash and rewash the same spot upward to five times to get a clean wash. I reconsidered the project and decided to call in back-up.

Calling the Professionals

I searched for a company that specializes in these types of cleaning projects. I read on The Spruce’s website that most companies charge between $100-$900 for this type of job, the average costing $300. I decided that my time is worth more than the cost of paying someone to clean it for me, and also that the days of pushing myself beyond my limits are over. So I started looking for quotes.

Too Much, Too Much

I looked for a local company and found one I recognized and that had good ratings. I gave them a call, set up a time for an estimate, and waited for them to appraise my situation. I was excited about the prospect of having my walls professionally cleaned and thought that since it was only one room, it would be on the cheaper side…

The appraiser came and left, and later that day called to let me know that he had emailed me the estimate. It read $2,200… As my friend used to say, “that’s bonkers”. That’s also a hard no for me. Not to mention disappointing. So I decided to give it another go, only this time in pieces.

Hey Google, How Do I Clean This?

I did another Google search to see if there is anything else I can use to clean my walls. TCP was still the first recommendation. But there were other options listed as well. I came across a “Reddit” article that said to use shaving cream and a damp Magic Eraser. I was surprised, really surprised. I mean come on, shaving cream? But I did some more research and there are loads of uses for shaving cream to clean a variety of things and surfaces. So I gave it a shot.

The Cleaning Begins

So, armed with the tools for the job, I made a plan to clean up my mess. I told my dad about it and he said he’d help. I think he agreed solely for the novelty factor, but nonetheless, he agreed and we dove in. When cleaning day came, I moved my furniture, did an initial brushing off of the walls, readied my tools, and we started the clean.

The Steps

1. Brush the walls clean: The article I read on The Spruce said that the first step to ridding your walls of soot is to vacuum them. This removes any particles that are loosely clinging to the walls. I didn’t vacuum my walls, but I did sweep them. This removed any miscellaneous debris and loose soot.
2. Scrub a small section of wall with a “Magic Eraser”: The next step was to wash a small section of wall, about a square foot, and scrub it with a dallop of shaving cream on a damp magic eraser. That type of sponge is especially adept at taking up soot, which is essentially grease from the candle wax mixed with carbon from the wick and impurities like scents.
3. Use a damp rag to wipe away the soap and loosened soot: Once you’ve scrubbed the area, it’s important to wipe it clean so as not to let the soapy streaks of carbon re-soil the area you’re working on. Plus you don’t want to leave shaving cream on your walls (; I used a microfiber cloth, as it’s super absorbent, and wrings out clean easily. It holds very little soot in the fibers of the cloth compared to a cotton rag.
4. Wash, rinse, repeat: This is important for cleaning wooden surfaces like the trim around doors and windows. Sometimes you need an extra scrubbing on walls, depending on how long the soot has been there and how much has built up. For some reason soot sticks to wooden surfaces more so than painted walls, and needs more elbow grease. But be patient, it will lift eventually 🙂

Tips

Use half of a sponge at a time – You’ll have a little more control over the sponge while you are scrubbing the smaller patches of trim. Like the thin strip of molding where the wall meets your ceiling.

You will also need more sponges than shaving cream – This was counter intuitive, as my usual soap to sponge ratio is, I use more soap than sponges. But the magic erasers also magically disappear. They flatten and pill, turning into small, rice sized pieces. Especially around trim work if it isn’t smooth.

Rinse often – The more you rinse, both sponge and rag, the less likely you are to transfer soot you’ve picked up, distributing it elsewhere in the form of streaks on your cleaned area.

Use the magic eraser – I started out with a plain sponge and it worked. But it wasn’t worth the effort. I used exponentially more elbow grease. As Melba says, “is no easy”. And it’s been said before, but work smarter, not harder.

Why It’s So Important to Clean Your Walls

I lived in an apartment where we watched a lot of movies, “Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas” for one. There’s a scene in the movie where the hotel room that Thompson and his attorney were staying in was flooded with garbage and various debris floated around the room. Our apartment started to resemble that scene, and sure, life imitates art, but also, no bueno. Our apartment never got to that level of chaos, but it could have been cleaner.

So, why clean your walls? It’s a pain, but I’m a firm believer that the state of your physical surroundings reflects and influences your internal state. Something that my dad calls, “pride of place”. But also, if you neglect your spaces and fill it with garbage, like I did in my 20’s, you’ll probably feel like garbage.

So for me, cleaning my walls is a way to take care of myself by caring for my environment. Having a clean, bright and well ordered space is important to me feeling as though I’m not steeped in chaos. I can relax with ease, knowing that everything may not be perfect, but I’m not neglecting the corners of my life. And neglect, in all of it’s forms, is something I’d like to avoid 🙂

Love Spell Complete

I think the most unexpected outcome from cleaning my walls was, that I not only showed myself that I was worth my space being clean and cozy, but it also brought me and my father closer together. We both had trouble building and maintaining close bonds with people in general in the past. And it was in this collaboration that we learned to work together and trust each other a little bit more.

Offering to help me and showing up, are two things my family and friends had difficulty doing. We ran from whoever was brave and vulnerable enough to try and build that connection. Because one of our defenses was to viciously, verbally attack the person showing kindness or vulnerability, to avoid being abused. Because kindness was used to get what we wanted and never lasted long. We also confused kindness for weakness, and mistrusted it as well.

Trusting

But my father and I, staying with and helping eachother. Collaborating and knowing we could be abused but choosing not to, was a way to build trust. We cleaned our old relational wounds like removing the soot that accumulated over time. We were learning to trust, and that we could rely on one another, just a little bit more. And for me, that’s one aspect of what love is really about. Knowing you could be hurt, but showing up, and trusting the other person to not hurt you. And forgiveness, because it’s not a one shot.

Forgiveness

It’s inevitable that we will hurt each other. But with patience, practice and forgiveness, we can find our way back to loving kindness. So in a way, the candle from my love spell I casted so long ago worked. Burning candles and the ease I glean from them showed me that love is about showing up and being vulnerable. Especially when you’re scared, even if it’s only showing up to scrub a wall.

Cleaning Up

So friends, if you have to clean soot off a wall, I feel you. But know that you don’t have to go it alone. There are more than likely people in your life that are ready to help. Try reaching out. It isn’t easy being the first to take the leap if you’ve been abused. Whether it’s because you feel like a burden, or have just been let down too many times. But know that there are good people willing to help. And if you don’t have kind, reliable friends and family to lean on, maybe it’s time to reevaluate your relationships. I’ll leave you with the inspiration for the title of this post, Until next time, peace & thanks for reading 🏔️🌙💙💜