Just be glad your honey mess wasn't a two year old pouring it all over your rugs...oops, sorry still a little bitter over that one...anyway, I would go with the scraping method, like with a metal dough scraper? Have a bowl near the shelf in case it pours over the edge. Then use hot water at the end when it's thinned out to clean up the residue. Good luck!

Actually, honey will wipe up very easily with hot water and a sponge. Wipe, rinse sponge, repeat. If the honey has thickened or crystallized much, you might want to scrape up the big globs with a spatula before you wipe, but you really won't need a lot of elbow grease to clean this mess.

Honey is amazing. It doesn't leave a sticky residue. It is unlike any other sticky sweetener. It melts completely in warm water. Try rinsing some off your hands - you won't need soap! (Though you pry will want to use soap on your shelf!)

Agreed with maryam.

Just remember to dry the shelf off right away with a towel to try to prevent warping.

I had a bottle of molasses spill in my lazy susan. I used hot salt water to clean it up, it worked really well.

Ha. This couldn't have been posted at a better time. Just this morning I discovered my honey had leaked out of its bottle and all over my wooden pantry shelf, and I had no idea how to clean it up. Thanks for the tips!

Hot water...but also...if you need help liquifying it...milk. Milk will help break it down. I know it sounds weird but a recent recipe taught me this! lol

Labrador retriever. Problem solved.

I found the hot water and sponge method really messy, so went for newspaper and hot iron (same as removing wax).

Take 4 or more sheets of newspaper (thicker the spill, the more sheets), place over the honey, using a very hot iron press down and glide across the paper with only a few strokes. When you see the paper darken/dampen stop. Discard the paper, place fresh down and iron again until the paper is staying dry.

If a sticky film persists, then use very hot water to remove the last traces.

Hot water all the way. Also, I always wrap my (wooden) pantry shelves in (clear) contact paper. In situations like this it might actually be easiest to just remove the contact paper, and add another new layer.

Helloooo! Licking! Licking BEFORE the Labrador retreiver finds it!

Put a warm hair dryer on it as honey has a low heat rate to liquefy. Use slightly damp paper towels after you heat it up to clean it all up - the dryer will be a cleaner heat then warm water -

For honey hot water is key.

For almost anything else that is difficult I ALWAYS turn to ammonia.

I agree with hot water and a large cloth.

Probably been said already, but honey softens and melts away easily with hot water. Just use a cloth and wipe away!

let the dog lick it up then go over the area with Method all purpose cleaner. Want to borrow my dog?

@craftmomma! HA! I like your solution the best.