Candle Making Tips
From LoveToKnow Crafts
Candle making is a great craft and it is relatively quick and easy (for the basic candles, anyway) once you’ve made a few candles, but it can be intimidating the first time around. Anything that involves heat and things that catch on fire can be dangerous, but if you follow a few simple safety precautions and the following tips, you should have no problem churning out candles safely from your own kitchen.
Clear up your space
Seems basic enough, but sometimes we all need to be reminded that it is easier to get a task done quickly and safely when our work area is clean. This doesn’t mean you have to disinfect the whole kitchen before making candles, but it does mean you should have a cleared-off countertop where you are planning to work.
Once you clear the flat surface, cover it with newspaper. This is just in case you spill a little hot wax. You can also line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and stand your mold in that before you pour your wax for extra insurance in case your mold wasn’t completely sealed. If you’re using a hot plate, you can set it on newspapers or not as you like, but make sure that’s it is stable, wherever it’s sitting.
You probably also will want to clear the space (ie. the room you’re working in) of animals that might trip you up while you’re carrying hot wax or curious children who might tip something over. Older kids can help as long as a grownup is in the room at all times.
Preparing to craft
Melting wax should never be left unattended. Wax can go from perfectly melted to on fire very quickly. Because of this, you should make sure that you have all the equipment you need handy before you turn on the heat. There’s more about what you’ll need in Candle Making Supplies, but at least make sure you have your heat source, pan or pans for melting, your wax, colorant, scent and any other additives, your prepared mold with wick (properly sealed if needed), something to stir the wax with, a thermometer if you use one and a lid that will fit over your wax melting pan in case of fire.
Lay out all your materials in the order you will need them, and keep the supplies you don’t need out of the way.
Working with wax
Different kinds of wax behave differently. They melt at different temperatures and are usually best for different kinds of candles. Most websites about candle making confuse the beginning candle maker with all sorts of talk about optimum pour temperatures and the best wax for container candles.
And all of that is important if you want to sell your candles or make simply the most perfect homemade candles on the planet. But if you’re just starting to make candles and you’re intimidated by all the rules, don’t worry.
Just go to your local crafts store and buy whatever kind of wax they have on the shelf. You’ll probably only find one type, unless you happen to have a specialty candle making store you can visit. (If you do happen to be so lucky, ask someone at the store what the best wax would be for whatever project you want to make). Then buy any mold off the shelf. This wax and this mold will work fine together.
How do I know? Because the stuff sold at craft shops is least-common-denominator product. It’s meant to work uniformly well in a lot of different applications. And odds are the store purchased the wax and the molds from the same supplier, so they are meant to work together.
Yes, least common denominator means lower quality (and price) than supplies you could buy at a specialty store or from the Internet. But if you’re new to the craft, that’s fine. Buy what you can easily get your hands on, try it out, and if you become obsessed with candle making, find a supplier online that can get you better wax at a good price.
Warming trends
I don’t believe in using a thermometer in candle making. I know that I should, my candles would probably turn out better if I did because I would pour at just the right temperature.
But I just pour the wax when it’s melted, or within a minute after I’ve noticed that it’s all melted. I don’t know if it’s too hot or too cold, but I do know that it’s all liquid and I’ve never had a candle disintegrate (or whatever’s supposed to happen) because I didn’t pour the wax at the right time. So relax and use your senses. It’ll all work out just fine.
Pouring and cooling
I already mentioned using a cookie sheet to contain wax just in case you didn’t get the mold sealed perfectly (you won’t think it’s silly when you’ve got hardening wax all over your kitchen). Other tips for pouring include to make sure all the wax is melted and the colorant is completely stirred in so the wax has a uniform color.
Place the mold somewhere it can sit undisturbed for a few hours and slowly pour the wax into the mold. Try to pour toward the middle of the candle so you don’t splash wax up on the sides of the mold. Pouring slowly helps limit bubbles.
Leave a little bit of melted wax in your pot, because as the wax cools it will pull away from the wick and form a sort of cyclone shaped tunnel in your candle. Once the candle is cool, remelt the wax you saved and pour it down into the tunnel, being careful not to pour new wax higher than the edge of the cooled candle.
Then allow the candle to cool again and unmold.
Candle removal
It sounds easy, but sometimes getting the candle out of the mold is the hardest part of candle making. You should be able to just remove the mold sealer, invert the mold and have the candle slide right out. But it doesn’t always work this way.
The best tip for a stubborn candle is to put it in the freezer for about 10 minutes. Usually after a short rest in the freezer the candle will be more cooperative.
Burning tips
Candles burn best when their wicks are kept trimmed to a quarter of an inch. Candles should not be burned for more than a couple hours at a time, and they should never be left unattended. Don’t burn candles where an animal or child could knock them over and start a fire. Don’t move candles, especially those in glass containers, until they are cool, and don’t blow a candle out an immediately light it again.
With these simple tips you should be well on your way to making all sorts of great candles in your home. Don’t be afraid!
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