removing wax from teaware

[Poohblah]

Hi guys,
How should I remove wax from glazed cups? It appears to be scented beeswax. I've tried scrubbing with soap and water and also boiling the cups, but I still get little flakes of wax that float to the surface and a nice candlewax aroma every time I fill the cups with hot water.

(my companion bought some artisan cups from a thrift store for me on the condition that we use them for tea, but alas and alack, we get wax-tea when we try drinking from them instead; we suspect they've been used as candle holders their whole lives)

[entropyembrace]

You can remove wax easily with nonpolar solvents like mineral spirits, but they´re all toxic and you probably don´t want to use them on something that you´re going to drink out of.

[wyardley]

Maybe a stiff brush will work, or, if not, a melamine sponge?

[edkrueger]

That is bizarre. When I saw the title, I thought you were talking about the "export wax."

[Poohblah]

Maybe a stiff brush will work, or, if not, a melamine sponge?

I have steel wool somewhere in my apartment that I could try using. The wax is translucent and impossible to see against the dark glaze, which is one of the reasons we never noticed there was wax in the cups to begin with. We didn't even realize it until the first time we tried to drink from them

[Chip]

... I read somewhere they use or used to use lead in candle wicks ... just sayin'

When we were just at WTE-East, there was a vendor selling teapots, etc. filled with candles (as in candle wax was poured right into the teapot). I could not help but think what if someone tried to use them for actually brewing tea after. Not to mention the obnoxious fake aromas, you could smell it 3 booths down. I would have hated to be a tea vendor serving samples of tea next door.