Hanukkah Is Over

I wish I had found this Tablet article, HOW TO GET WAX OFF YOUR MENORAH, before I killed my manicure cleaning my menorah. Sadly Hanukkah 2015 is in the history books &, while I love the tradition of lighting the candles & watching them glow, I hate the waxy aftermath.

Here are some of the popular methods for keeping your menorah shiny and bright, my favorite is the simple “If you freeze the candles before lighting, there will be almost no drippy wax.”
— Susan Shapiro

Freeze your menorah, “and the wax pops right out.” — Lori Ellison

“I fill the sink with HOT water, then let the menorahs sit submerged. After a minute or two, I pull the menorah out and use a paper towel to wipe off any remaining wax that hasn’t melted and floated to the top of the water in the sink. I then user the paper towel to skim the floating wax.”— Mike Holzer

Similarly, you can “take the menorah outside and pour hot water on it to melt off the wax. It’s easier to clean up outside than in the sink.” — Nicole Appel

“I line a cookie sheet with paper towels and set 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

But. Safety first. Wear oven mitts and make sure the Hannukiah can handle hot temperatures: “No plastics, metals only!” — David Bottomley.

And before you light the candles:

“Spray the menorah with a light coating of cooking spray (you know, like PAM?) right before you begin festivaling the lights; when the eight days are done and you’ve eaten more gelt than you thought humanly possible the wax will sort of slide right off. You’ll want to wash the menorah afterwards with warm soapy water to remove any residual wax and/or PAM.” — Thank you, cleaning maven Jolie Kerr!

“If you freeze the candles before lighting, there will be almost no drippy wax.” — Susan Shapiro

“This year I invested in Israeli dripless candles… They’re beautiful, too.” — Cheryl Ratner, getting FANCY.

“I have something called Wax Off, it’s a little spray bottle that works really well!” — Jennifer Winters

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

We’ll leave you with this alternate perspective from Barry Glovetsky: “You DON’T remove it, except for the minimum needed to insert candles the next time. Every drop of wax is a memory.”

Good luck!

Alya