Guest Blog with Diane Morrison - Learn How to Get Wax Off Your Altar Cloth

Hi there, Paranormalists! My name is Diane Morrison, and in addition to being a science fiction and fantasy writer, I am an IRL witch. I also write Pagan non-fiction under my Craft name, Sable Aradia.

Today I thought I would share with you a tip that is the hidden purview of High Priestesses everywhere, and one of our most important Craft secrets. Are you ready?

I’m going to teach you how to get wax out of an altar cloth.

Preparation:

Break off as much of the wax blob(s) as you can, minimizing the amount of wax you have to deal with.You can also use the tried-and-true ironing method to reduce the amount of wax present before you begin. This method is meant for dealing with the thin layer of wax that always gets stuck in the fibers of the fabric.

Lay the section of the altar cloth that is covered in wax over a bucket or barrel. An ice cream pail in a bathtub, or in a sink, with the hot water tap running, will do. Don’t put the plug in; you want excess wax to run down the pipes in the hot water, to prevent it from gumming up your plumbing. But I prefer to do this in the yard when possible.

Heat water to the boiling point in a large pot or kettle. It doesn’t have to be a rolling boil, and if you’re concerned about color running, it probably shouldn’t be.

Using the kettle, or a glass liquid measuring cup, carefully pour the hot water over the shiny wax spot, starting from the outside and working inward. This will prevent the wax from spreading outwards too much, which can be a concern.

However, the wax will still spread, so keep expanding your circle as you work at the wax, making sure to get any of the shiny bits on the fabric.

Once you think you have removed all visible wax, flip the fabric over and repeat on the opposite side.

When you think you have successfully removed all the wax, allow the fabric to partially dry. When it is damp, hold it up to a light and double-check for more shiny areas, which indicate that a thin layer of wax remains.

If you do see a shiny spot, re-heat your water, and repeat the process as before. Only the most stubborn wax will remain after two cycles of this but, if necessary, it can be repeated a few more times.

While the fabric is drying, and when you are finished, dispose of the wax floating in your pail by first allowing the water to cool (or adding cold water, if you are impatient like me) and then straining the waxy water through a metal sieve, to prevent big globs of it from clogging your pipes. Throw the wax globs in the garbage, and clean the sieve by squirting a little oil-cutting dishwashing liquid into it, letting it sit a moment, then running hot water through it. Make sure the water is good and hot before doing this, as cold or lukewarm water will just turn it solid again. You can use either the water you’ve heated, or the water from your tap, if it gets hot enough.

I hope this helps someone! Happy witching!

My practical approach to magic and my tongue-in-cheek sense of humor are features feature of both my fiction and non-fiction work. You can get my latest novel, A Few Good Elves, now at https://www.books2read.com/afewgoodelves.

A Few Good Elves

Toy Soldier Saga 

Book One

Diane Morrison

Genre: Science fantasy, military science fiction, space opera, epic fantasy, dark fantasy, blackpowder fantasy

Publisher: Aradia Publishing

Date of Publication: September 7, 2021

ISBN Ebook 978-1-9995757-5-5

ISBN Hardcover 978-1-9995757-4-8

ISBN Paperback 978-1-9995757-3-1

ASIN: B09D79BJW1

Number of pages: 490

Word Count: 155k

Cover Artist: Cayotica

Tagline: A dark blackpowder fantasy military space opera

Book Description: 

Toy Soldier: A derogatory slang term for an elven marine.

Battles great and terrible, small and bitter, raged across Known Space as the wars of Elves and Orcs played out their legacy of hatred across the stars themselves. Epics would be written, songs would be sung; but wars are fought by real people with loves and families and homes.

All Shaundar Sunfall ever wanted to be was a Star-Pilot. Raised on his father's ship, he has found an affinity for the stars -- although as a mixed-race elf and a bit of troublemaker, he often runs afoul of his commanding officers.

Now the orcs have returned to once again wage war on their ancient enemies. The fate of his people is at stake. Although he is too young, Shaundar lies about his age to join up. But he is about to learn that no matter what the sagas say, war is no great adventure.

A bit like what would happen if Horatio Hornblower met the Honorverse, met Lord of the Rings, met Game of Thrones, A Few Good Elves is part naval adventure, part high fantasy, part space opera, and part war novel.

CW: graphic violence, sexual violence, torture, war, genocide

Book Trailer: https://youtu.be/7LG4_Jp9yfw

Amazon      Books2Read

Excerpt
All about on the decks of the Queen’s Dirk, the crew were running and screaming. There were too many dead and wounded to count, and the Chiurgeons had elves spread out over the tables in the mess, the garden, even the Captain’s bed.

Shaundar sensed Lieutenant Sylria on the remains of the fo’c’sle, now mostly a debris field, commanding the mages to ready spells and the weapons crews to continue their attack. He could also see the gravity well of the Vengeance, just now coming about on their starboard side, though he was certain that it had been much longer than they needed.

“I have the helm!” Shaundar cried.

“Get us out of here, Shaundar!”

He turned his head and studied the rapidly oncoming Balorian ship through both the hole in the starboard wall, and Queenie’s senses. Even with Sylria’s magical boost, he knew this to be hopeless.

“I can’t do it, Sylria,” he said in a hollow voice. “They’re just too fast.”
Sylria looked down at her feet for a long moment. She squared her shoulders. “Then we shall die with honour.”

Shaundar nodded. Amazingly, there was no fear, just sadness, that he would not see his family or Narissa again. “Sails, evasive manoeuvres!” Shaundar commanded. “Hard down!”

As the insectoid ship neared, it closed those claw-like limbs to grapple them. But under Shaundar’s power and direction, they dodged the attempt. Shaundar saw a whole army of armoured Balorian warriors pour out onto the deck and stand to the rails.

Sylria shrieked, “Mages, fire!” and she let off a lightning bolt herself. There were only a couple of elves left alive topside to obey Sylria’s command, but they responded. Flames and electricity washed over the orcs, enough that it stopped them in their tracks and aborted their boarding attempt.

“Bring ‘er about,” Shaundar ordered. “Hard astarboard!”
Queenie answered sluggishly with all the shorn rigging and shorthanded crew, but she came back around. As they swooped back towards each other, Sylria’s command rang out. Defiantly, the Queen’s Dirk fired another volley.

The Balorians greeted it with a broadside of their own as they both swung starboard at the last moment. The larboard ballistae both missed, but two of the three others dented the hull. The third pierced it once more on their larboard side with a ringing tear of sheet metal.

Their catapult did not fire at all. Whether it was because it was damaged, or because there were too few crew left to man it, Shaundar would never know.

The decapitated Vengeance had only one gun it could bring to bear on the pass, but it fired that larboards bombard at point blank range. The fo’c’sle simply collapsed like a sandcastle. Sylria was swallowed into the sinkhole. Shaundar roared in horror and pain but could not hear his own voice in the overwhelming noise.

There was no sail crew left to command, but hoping against hope, Shaundar bellowed anyway,

“Hard aport!” The mizzenmast was shorn away, and he knew it, but knowing there was nothing else to be done, he yelled out, “Prepare to ram! All hands brace for impact!” just as Garan had attempted.

He didn’t flinch as the Queen’s Dirk collided head-on with her foe.

About the Author:

Diane Morrison lives with her partners in the Okanagan Valley, BC, where she was born and raised. She has been published in SFF markets such as Terra! Tara! Terror!, Air & Nothingness Press, and Cossmass Infinities. Under her pen name “Sable Aradia” she is a successful Pagan author, a musician, and a Twitch streamer and podcaster.  She likes pickles and bluegrass, and hates talking about herself.


https://dianemorrisonfiction.com/

http://sablearadia.tumblr.com/

https://www.twitch.tv/sablearadia

https://www.ko-fi.com/sablearadia

https://www.patreon.com/SableAradia

https://aradiapublishing.wordpress.com/

https://www.goodreads.com/sablearadia

https://www.youtube.com/user/sablearadia

https://www.worldanvil.com/w/toysoldiersaga

https://www.amazon.com/author/dianemorrison

https://www.worldanvil.com/author/SableAradia

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/diane-morrison

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