@edwinlbaker,
I am going to assume that these aren't dry clean only, because if they are, just take them to the dry cleaner.
So - for pants which can be washed in water, try first gently scraping off any excess with a butter knife. Just get anything off that you can feel is raised above the fabric itself. I don't think you need to dig.
I would do this as a first step for any of the below methods.
Once that's done, I'd try soaking in hot water.
BUT read the care label carefully. If the pants can only be washed in cold or warm water, or they are prone to shrinking (e. g. all cotton), don't do this! But if you can use heat, do so, but with hot water and not with flame. Wax will soften and melt with heat.
If you can't heat them up, you can try freezing (what the hell), and see if you can get the wax off. This means, fold them up and put them in your freezer.