Wax cleaning

[Cindi]

 I have been searching high and low for a post that was about cleaning wax, there were a couple of methods, this has been in the past two months, maybe even a month, anyone remember what the post was and where it was?  I need to clean some wax really soon.  Have a wonderful and the best of this beautiful day, Cindi

[Understudy]

What are you cleaning the wax off of?


Sincerely,
Brendhan

[Cindi]

Brendhan, beauty, I guess that I was totally unclear with what I was wanting an answer to.

I have all the wax that I have gathered throughout the past year, plus a myriad of other waxes from scrapings, etc.  I have it in a pot of water and I need to clean it to get the liquid wax off.  There was a post recently talking about how to clean wax, and I remember it was pretty specific about how to clean it.  I just can't remember.  I am going to try to do a more advanced search, but sometimes I find the search here awkward.  Best of this beautiful day, Cindi

[Cindi]

Gads, do you know how many posts have the words "wax" "cleaning" "boiling" and so on in them?  Eeeks I could be searching for hours, I am sure someone will remember it was them that spoke RECENTLY about how to clean dead bee bodies, wings, stuff out of wax in a very efficient manner.  Beautiful day in this great life,  Cindi

[Moonshae]

Run the liquid through a (clean) nylon stocking. I actually used an athletic sock, and it worked pretty well. Ruins the stocking/sock, of course.

[Kimbrell]

Hi Cindi,
Type "wax filtering" into the search parameters.  Scroll down to a topic called Wax Processing posted by bayareaartist on May 7,2006.  It may not be what you're looking for, but it has some good ideas.

[randydrivesabus]

i used cheesecloth. heat the wax in a double boiler. when it melts pour it through a double layer of cheesecloth into an empty juice or milk container. the ones made of coated paper. when the wax solidifies you can just peal away the container and you have a block of clean wax.

[Cindi]

Eeks, I am really having a problem trying to get the answer to what I am looking for.  All the replies have been wonderful, thankyou.  BUT....what I want to know is, I have a big pot 3/4 full of bee stuff, wax, propolis, everything that has come from the hives since last summer, hive scrapings,  bee parts, old comb, young comb, cappings, everything. How do I get the wax to separate really nicely from all this goop so I can then strain the wax, that is what I am meaning.  I think I just didn't set the question clear enough.  Kimbrell, I am still going to look at that post, thanks a lot!!  Have a beautiful and wonderful day.  Cindi

[Cindi]

Hi Cindi,
Type "wax filtering" into the search parameters.  Scroll down to a topic called Wax Processing posted by bayareaartist on May 7,2006.  It may not be what you're looking for, but it has some good ideas.

Kimbrell, I tried that too, there are quite a few posts with the words "wax" or "filtering" in them, hard to go through them, but I will try again, I couldn't find the poster "bayareaartist" either, but I will try again, have a wonderful day, Cindi

[Cindi]

Kimbrell, OK, I found that thread, just had to loook a little harder, solar melters, sounds like a good thing for next year, but this year....have that wonderful and beautiful day, Cindi

[annette]

Kimbrell, OK, I found that thread, just had to loook a little harder, solar melters, sounds like a good thing for next year, but this year....have that wonderful and beautiful day, Cindi

Try a search on Wax Melting also.

goodnite dear one
annette

[reinbeau]

Cindi, you need to put the wax into water, then into a double boiler.  Once the wax has melted, things will settle, the wax on top, the debris beneath.  You may have to do this twice, or even three times, if it's particularly nasty.  Just scrape the goop off the bottom and do it again if you have to.  Then filter it through a couple of layers of cheesecloth into a milk or juice container, like Randy said.  You can peel off the wax container and you'll have a lovely block of wax - if there's anything left to scrape, it'll be very little on the bottom of the block.  I've got two of them like that, they're lovely, very pale, and smell heavenly!

[Dick Allen]

A method that works good is to fill an old nylon stocking with your raw wax scrapings, cappings, etc. Place the stocking in a pot of water and weight it down with a rock or something heavy enough to ensure the stocking stays on the bottom of the pot. Place enough water in the pot to completely cover the stocking by at least a couple of inches. Heat the water until you think the wax is all melted then remove it from heat. When it has completely cooled, the wax will be fairly clean and the gunk will have remained in the stocking.

[reinbeau]

Oooh, that's a cook idea, Dick, I'm going to try that out on the next batch!

[Beesilly]

You should also look at this site for a simple solar wax melter... http://www2.gsu.edu/~biojdsx/solmltr.htm