What might I do to restore this candle holder?

Why can’t you submerge it in boiling water, which will remove the wax?

I use a spoon and chip it away. It takes a while until you work the spoon around the edge of the wax and it tends to pop out at that point.

I’ve microwaved glass candle holders before with good results, but that along with @Marina‘s excellent suggestion should be done slowly. If the glass is cold and heated too quickly it can crack. Most should be ok with it but if you’re not sure or just want to be safe heat it in the microwave or water slowly.

I like that idea, @Marina. I’ll go try that now.

@wonderingwhy thanks for the tip.

When it’s nice and warm after boiling, take a piece of steel wool and scrub it down.

I’m always afraid to heat up my candle holder so what I normally do is get a slim knife hold it over a lighter, then run it around the edge. It will usuall pop right out after that, but I’m sure the boiling water works too!

I’d say be careful, depending on the construction of the candle holder. I boiled one and the candle holder itself came apart. It was an assemblage of crystals similar to this, and the glue came undone. Also the wax, which was all down inside among the crystals, just coated the crystals instead of separating.

Previously I had tried using a hair dryer on it (as suggested in a response to my question on this subject), but my husband stopped me, saying the glass was just too thick and it would shatter when part of it got hot and the rest didn’t.

I would not have cared to have all those crystal elements burst in the microwave.

@Jeruba Oh, no! Thankfully, ours is easily replacable.

Ha, I microwaved it for 20 seconds and the entire chunk of wax came out. Simplicity for the win.

Next time, hairdryer.
Put in a paper bag and run a hot hairdryer over it. The wax melts comepletely off and is absorbed by the bag.

Putting a candle holder in the freezer overnight works too. A lot of times the wax will pop out.