Beeswax that I just finished cleaning

[Down South]

I just finished cleaning 59.8 lbs of beeswax that I got from the wife's uncle. This is about one half of what I have but I ran out of time cleaning and had to start picking up for the end of the week end.

I'll put this up for sale in the Swappin & Selling next weekend. I would do it now but I have to make a trip offshore and will be out of pocket until Thursday evening.

Hopefully in a couple weeks I can get around to cleaning the rest. I'm just trying to recoup some of my expense of purchase and cleaning the beeswax. I'll keep some of it as I don't need near this much wax.

This is clean wax. I double filtered it and it came out nice. It's a pain to clean and I spilled some on the concrete so I gotta figure how to clean that up. Anybody got a good suggestion for cleaning beeswax on concrete?

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/picture.php?albumid=6&pictureid=5783


http://castboolits.gunloads.com/picture.php?albumid=6&pictureid=5784

[geargnasher]

If you spill it on concrete, you just made a waterproofed spot. Now you're obligated to do the rest of it! A weed burner helps.

Gear

[shooter93]

Ask Blammer/DJ....I'm sure he's spilled beeswax every place imaginable.

[Rockydog]

I can tell you what doesn't work. I spilled some on my driveway. I was working on another project and had a wire cup brush on my 8" grinder. It was cold and the wax had set. My reasoning was that by catching lifting the top layer it would pull the wax up out of the concrete pores. NOT! I ended up with the nicest, slickest spot in my concrete that one could buff in to it. Advantage? Snow hasn't stuck in that spot for two winters. Disadvantage? Cold snowy boots don't either. But you don't need to worry about that in your area. RD

[crabo]

I have a spot on my deck that is waterproofed.

[runfiverun]

heat and soppage.
old towell and a heat source [like a clothes iron] is your best bet.

[Down South]

heat and soppage.
old towell and a heat source [like a clothes iron] is your best bet.

That's an idea that I will try. I have my old Black & Decker iron that I use as a lube sizer heater.

[gbrown]

Just let it sit for a couple of years in the Houston sun. It'll go away. I know. LOL If you are impatient, make a propane "brush" torch. It'll burn it off in a sec.

[montana_charlie]

I don't need any, myself, but that is some nice looking wax.

CM

[Blammer]

I'd hit it with a propane torch and burn it off, it will smell nice and you may attract a few honeybees too.

purple power will take it off the concrete.

[Blammer]

the slum gum makes for good flux

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

sweet !!!



http://castboolits.gunloads.com/picture.php?albumid=6&pictureid=5783

[trevj]

PRETTY !

How are you filtering that?

Cheese cloth under water?

I have a few pounds left from when I kept bees. It's clean, but not that clean looking. But at one point I ran near 45 hives worth of equipment through a solar melter to recover as much of the wax as I could.
My main method of cleaning it was to melt it over water, decant the wax into a mold of some sort (usually a plastic bucket) allow it to settle and cool, then carve off the bottom layer, with the settled contaminants, and then process the clean wax for sale. The dirty cuts went back through the system.

Worked pretty well, but my stuff was fairly old, dark equipment, rather than clean white new honeycomb, so it is/was darker than that.

Cheers
Trev

[Jim]

Ya' think a pressure washer would cut it out?

[Down South]

PRETTY !

How are you filtering that?

Cheese cloth under water?

I have a few pounds left from when I kept bees. It's clean, but not that clean looking. But at one point I ran near 45 hives worth of equipment through a solar melter to recover as much of the wax as I could.
My main method of cleaning it was to melt it over water, decant the wax into a mold of some sort (usually a plastic bucket) allow it to settle and cool, then carve off the bottom layer, with the settled contaminants, and then process the clean wax for sale. The dirty cuts went back through the system.

Worked pretty well, but my stuff was fairly old, dark equipment, rather than clean white new honeycomb, so it is/was darker than that.

Cheers
Trev

I'm using grease filters made for cooking grease. I use two doubled together and so far as I can tell, there is no visable trash left.
I'll post the setup when I get back on the beach. I'm offshore right now and time and resources are scarce.

[rwsem]

I'd be interested in seeing that too. I've spotted a few hobby hives in the local area and may ask them for some wax.

[fryboy]

five has it right , heat and soppage ( ie; heat it up and blot it ) there are some harsh commercial chemicals but after the heat and soppage 50/50 vinegar and water is what grams always told me , isopropyl alcohol will also work once you have the bulk blotted up

[shadowcaster]

This might sound a bit crazy but I was amazed at how well it works. Use some vegetable oil and a scrub brush and a putty knife. The oil surrounds the wax and doesn't allow it to re-stick anywhere. When you think you have it all cleaned up, use a little dish soap and water to remove the oil. It should come up just fine.

Shad