Thursday, November 05, 2009

Lamp Shade Trauma

Last weekend, in celebration of my friend Barbie's birthday, my girlfriends and I made candles. We found this adorable shop in Laguna (where we could bring in wine!) that specializes in custom candles and allows you to make your own with a host of design goodies! At Pure Light Candle Company, we chose our candle shape, wax colors, accessories, and scent. Mine was a mixture of greens and whites, had little silver blessings inside, and smells like pumpkin spice. YUM!

HOWEVER, I clearly got a wee bit over-excited about the scent and couldn't wait to light the candle...so I did. About 15 minutes later, I looked over to see how it was melting and to make sure there weren't any rivers of wax on my side table. Instead of a wax problem, I realized I had a too tall flame problem, and as a result, I was getting a lovely smoke stain on the inside of my lampshade.

Has anyone else experienced this? And, is there a way of treating it? I really don't want to have to go out and get a new one right now.

Help me solve this lamp shade trauma...and I'll be your best friend! ; )


5 comments:

Sallie said...

You will probably have to wash the whole shade so that it isn't left with a watermark. First, use your brush attachment to vacuum the shade. This should remove most/all of the soot. Then use a dry cloth or sponge to try and press up any leftover soot. Last, if you have to, spray the spot with vinegar and pat dry. Be patient and take your time... that's the hardest part :-) Like I said, you may have to wash the whole shade so that you aren't left with water mark. Hope this helps!!

Heidi Pocketbook said...

Tide to go pen?

Mr. Clean eraser?

I'm just throwing those suggestions out--I've never dealt with a sooty lampshade.

CarleeKajsa said...

we could put some fabric over it...i am sure steffi has covered a few lampshades in her day!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

routerguy said...

http://www.ehow.com/way_5566834_removing-smoke-lampshades.html

Might be worth a try.

Contemporary Portraits said...

that is crazy!! I would try the tide wipes , they clean anything!! Thanks for sharing, now I will keep a better eye out for that!

Vanessa