If you made wax seals before, you probably know it can be a messy process. Bits and pieces of wax that leaked out of the glue gun, or wax spillage when you used a wax seal spoon... It can happen! But being prepared can help you with cleaning, and most importantly, protect your tabletop from heat marks or stains. 

There are several things that you can use to protect your surface, like using a silicon mat, porcelain plate or coaster, or even parchment paper. Each method has its pros and cons, so let's go over them to see what's best for you. I've made a little list as well of these additional supplies I use for wax sealing, aside of course of our own wax seal supplies in the shop. Please note there are some affiliate links in this post where we may earn a small commission.

There is a reason why we offer the Silicon Mat on its own, or include it in our Wax Seal Starter Kits. Because of its size, it covers your table while giving you enough working space to create your wax seals. Especially practical when you are planning to make a bunch of wax seals. Since the mat is flexible, you can easily peel off the wax seals after it has completely hardened. And if you did create a mess, it is easily cleaned with water, and optionally a little bit of soap. 

When you do use a silicon mat, it might be prone to staining, depending on the dye or pigment used to give the wax its color. With an intense colored sealing wax, there is a higher chance of staining which may be hard to wash off. Just keep this in mind if you would like to keep your silicon mat in pristine condition.

 In case you are using the mat for a prolonged time, keep in mind that even though silicon does protect your surface from heat marks, it is still able to keep some of the heat, although very slowly. This can prolong the hardening time of the seal and might slow you down a bit. But if you are not in a hurry or are using a cooling pack, you probably won't even notice it!

We love using porcelain plates or marble coasters because they look so aesthetically pleasing while protecting our tabletop. This is one of the reasons why you see them so often in our videos on our socials! 

If you don't have a silicon mat or a porcelain surface, don't fret. You probably have some parchment paper in-house that you can use if you need to get some wax sealing done, stat. Because it has a waxy coating, the wax seals are easily removable. However, just note that since it is pretty thin and isn't as heat-resistant as the other two. You might need an additional layer like a sheet of cardboard to place underneath the parchment paper if heat marks are a big concern to you. Parchment paper also tends to crinkle, so sometimes the resulting wax seal isn't as flat. I personally have reused the parchment paper for many, many times, and if you feel like it's no longer working as well, you can just easily dispose of it.