Candle Making Supplies

Candle making basic supplies

The first thing you need in order to make candles, of course, is wax. You can melt down the ends of old candles or buy wax in slabs from your local craft store. Or, find wax and tons of other candle making supplies at websites such as Gen Wax.

On the Web or at specialty candle supply stores, you will find a wide variety of wax. There are special kinds of wax available especially for making votives, pillars, jar candles and taper candles, as well as beeswax, vegetable or soy wax and other specialty waxes.

Those different kinds of waxes used for different kinds of candles are really all paraffin wax. If you are shopping at your local craft shop, you will probably find one kind of paraffin wax, with a melting point of around 130 degrees F. By comparison, the wax made specifically for containers melts at about 127 and taper wax at about 140, so this basic wax is around the middle and will work for most basic melting applications.

Once you have purchased wax, you will need something to melt it in and something to melt it on. I use a hot plate and a nonstick pan, both of which are completely dedicated to craft use (you don’t want to use them for food after they’ve had wax in/on them). Many crafters set up a double-boiler to melt their wax (you can even buy one made for melting wax) but I’ve found the wax won’t pose a fire threat if you keep the burner on low and never walk away from it, even for a second. You’ll also need something to stir the wax with; I use a wooden skewer or a spoon from my craft stash.

Wicks

Every candle has to have a wick, and wicking material comes in all sorts of thicknesses. Basically, the thicker the wick the bigger the candle that wick can burn cleanly, without making smoke or leaving the edges of the candle unmelted.

You might not be able to find a wide variety of wicks at your local craft store, but there will probably at least be pretrimmed wicks for votive candles (they are often attached to a little piece of metal that helps hold the wick in place so you can just drop it in the mold, straighten it and it will stand up) and one or two sizes of bulk wick packaged as one long string. The package should tell you what size range of candles the wick works for.

What you will find in the crafts store is good for most standard sized candles, and they’ll probably stock wick that works with the molds they sell, so if you buy your molds and wick in the same place you should be OK. Once you have made enough candles to know you enjoy the process and want to keep doing it, you may want to go online and buy some different molds and the wick to match.

When you’re buying wick, also get some wick sealer. This putty like substance is used to keep the wick in place in the mold and to keep the wax from leaking out the hole that the wick is threaded through.

Colors and scents for candle making

You’ll probably won’t want to make a whole bunch of clear white candles, so you’ll also want some candle dye and scents to start with. dye can be purchased in chips or blocks and added to the wax as it is melting. A little goes a long way, so put in a chip, allow it to melt and then use a spoon to remove a small bit of melted wax. Pour the wax on a piece of waxed paper and allow to cool. That is the color your candle will be. If you need more dye, add it.

It bears acknowledging that candle dye is pretty tough stuff, so be careful not to get any on your clothes, floors or anything else fabric.

Candle dye can be purchased in small vials that look a lot like essential oil bottles. They are usually chemically produced, though, so don’t use them as you would essential oils. Again, these are pretty strong, so start with a couple of drops as the wax is melting. Keep good records and you will soon learn how many drops are too many and how many are too subtle for your taste.

Molds for candle making

Sure, you can buy molds at the craft store. You can find an almost endless array of molds online, from pyramids to ovals, stars to hearts. Plastic molds allow even more diversity, with molds in almost any shape you can dream of: turkeys, Santas, dragons, moons, roses, dinosaurs and more.

These molds are wonderful, and they make beautiful and fun candles for any occasion, but they can be a little pricey. But with a little creativity, you can find basic molds in your own home.

Consider a soft drink can. Cut the top off with good industrial metal snippers, then use an awl or a nail to make a small hole in the bottom for the wick to go through. You could also use an aluminum can, a coated paper container or a clean glass jar for a container candle. You could even make a mold out of heavy cardboard (rippled side in to make a really neat effect) and lots of tape. Once you start thinking about making your own molds you will see useable items everywhere.

Other candle making supplies

These basics are really all you need to make a variety of fun candles. But there are many additives you can buy and use to experiment with different kinds of candles. Kemamide, for instance, is a mold release powder (you can also buy mold release spray, or use cooking spray). Paraflint and micro wax are two commercial hardeners with a translucent finish, while Poly AC, stearic powder and Vybar are opaque hardeners. (Hardeners give the candle a more consistent look and max the wax stronger.) UVasorb helps your color stay true by inhibiting UV rays and parol oil aids in mottling, a very cool technique that makes sort of starbursts on the surface of the candle.

If you want to play with any of these additives, you’ll likely have to buy them from a website or specialty candle supply house. They are a lot of fun to experiment with as you move beyond the basics.

You can also buy candle luster spray to make your candles shiny or paints to decorate the surface of the candles. There are all sorts of fun things to try, and if you don’t like the results you can always melt the wax and try again.