How Can I Clean Up a Major Honey Spill?

Faith Durand
Faith DurandSenior Vice President of Content at AT Media
Faith is the SVP of Content at Apartment Therapy Media and former Editor-in-Chief of The Kitchn. She is the author of three cookbooks, including the James Beard Award-winning, The Kitchn Cookbook. She lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband and two daughters.
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published Feb 5, 2010
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(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

Q: Any good tips for getting a major honey spill off of my wood pantry shelf? I was thinking about scraping it, or steaming it, but I don’t even know where to start without making a bigger mess.

Sent by Alexis

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

Editor: Alexis, when we spill something majorly sticky like this, our approach is usually to just use lots and lots of very hot water. You could try soaking a kitchen cloth in boiling water and laying it over the honey to soften it. Then wipe as much honey as you can off the shelf, and then repeat. Eventually, when you’ve wiped off enough honey for it to be just a sticky residue, use more hot water and soap (and maybe some Goo-Gone!) to get the last of it.

In our experience, cleaners just haven’t worked as well in this particular situation. It comes down to lots of really, really hot water, and elbow grease!

Readers, do you have any tips, tricks, or especially good methods for cleaning up honey spills?

Next question?

Related: Good Question: Best Honey Dispenser?

(Image: Alexis via email)