How To Make Candles At Home

by admin on October 23, 2009

Learning how to make candles at home can be a lot of fun, and a good family project, although if you are having to heat wax, an adult must do this, as it does get extremely hot. However, if you are making beeswax candles, which basically means that you roll half a sheet of bees wax around a candle wick, then any age can do this as there is no heating of wax involved.

Let’s assume you are going to be more creative, and color and scent your own candles, then you will need:

  • double boiler, or a coffee can placed inside a pan which is half filled with water
  • candy thermometer
  • paraffin wax, cut into chips to speed the melting process
  • pre-tabbed wicks
  • essential oils or scented oils
  • food coloring

Once you have gathered your supplies together then:

1. Place the paraffin wax chips into the top of the double boiler, or coffee can, and heat the water in the lower pan so that it boils.

2. Check the temperature of the melting wax. It needs to be about 160 degrees.

3. While the wax chips are melting, you can be gently warming the candle jar in the oven on its lowest setting. This will help the wax to stick to the glass a little better.

4. Slowly add the essential oils or the scented oils to the hot wax, and mix thoroughly.

5. Add the food colouring – just a little at a time, and again stir thoroughly.

6. Carefully remove the candle jar from the oven, and place the wick in the center of the jar, with the metal tag in the center at the bottom of the jar.

7. Now even more carefully, pour most of the melted wax into the jar, keeping the wick in the center. As the wax cools, the wax in the center will drop a little, so save some wax so that you can pour it in to level it off later.

8. Let the candle wax cool, may be even as long as 6 hours, and at this time reheat the remaining wax, and pour it in the dip at the center to level the candle, letting the wax just spread to the sides of the jar.

9.Once this layer has cooled sufficiently, trim the candle wick so it is about 1/4″ high.

10. Your candle making is complete, so you can light it whenever you choose.

Above is the basic method of how to make candles at home, but obviously there are variations, depending on the type of wax or gel you use, and you can make candles to your own choice of color and scent. But knowing these basics, you can then go on to make other candles at home, experimenting with different wax or gel, using essential oils or scent oils, and varying the colors. Your creativity can go to work, and you can produce some interesting candle shapes for your friends and family, perhaps making pillar candles, or tin candles, depending on the container you use to pour the wax into. There is a lot you can do to make unique candles when you make candles at home.

Pillar Candles

Pillar Candles

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How To Make Gel Candles At Home

by admin on October 23, 2009

Learning how to make gel candles at home is easy to do, and by using gel rather than wax, you can be even more creative by adding little trinkets into the gel, anything that is inflammable, so things like pearls, or polished stones, coloured marbles, sand, or pebbles, just make sure that it is something that will not burn!

Ok, so what do you need to make your first gel candles at home?

  • gel
  • zinc candle wicks (do not use the cotton wicks for gel candles, as they will absorb too much of the gel)
  • essential oil of your choice
  • liquid color dye
  • candy thermometer
  • embeds – items to decorate the candle if you choose to glass containers

Or, you can go to a craft store, or candle making suppliers, and purchase a gel candle making kit which will have everything you need to make your first few gel candles. Do not plan to use fragrance oils from a cosmetics shop as these are not suitable for use in gel candles.

Now the containers for your gel candles are best made from glass, so that you can put embeds in to make them more unique and interesting.

Although you an buy glass jars inexpensively at dollar stores, you may find that you can easily pick up a supply of them from garage sales and second hand or thrift stores, and if it is a family project, your children may enjoy being given this task.

Ok, so now we have all the supplies we need to make our gel candles at home, and we can start.

1. Using a small amount of hot glue at the center of the jar, attach your wick to it, and let the glue dry. Make sure the wick is longer than the height of your jar so you can trim it later.

2. To get the gel to melt faster, cut it into small pieces and melt it in a pan over a medium heat.

3. Let the temperature of the gel reach 200 degrees, but no higher. If gel is overheated, it becomes less clear. The gel should all melt and become smooth like a syrup.

4. Add color to the gel, gradually until you reach the color you want.

Remember that if you are using embeds, then you will want to use less color so that you will still be able to see the emeds.

5. Add the essential oil of your choice – you only need about 1/3 teaspoon for each candle. Obviously the more you add, the stronger it will be.

6. Gently heat the glass jar in the oven, as this will reduce the chance of bubbles in the gel.

7. If you are using embeds, then quickly dip them in the hot gel first, and then place them in the glass jar. Keep them to toward the outside of the jar so they can be seen more easily.

8. Make sure your container is on a level surface, and then carefully pour the hot gel into the container.

9. Make sure the wick is upright in the gel – you could do this by wrapping the end around the middle of a  pencil, and placing the pencil over the container.

10. Let the gel cool, then trim the wick to about 1/4 inch.

That’s it, you have now made your first gel candle. It is not difficult, and you have lots of options for decorating and making your gel candles at home more interesting, but at least now you have the basics on how to make them,gel candles at home.

Gel candles

Gel candles

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How To Make Beeswax Candles At Home

by admin on October 23, 2009

Learning how to make beeswax candles at home will not take you long at all, and it is a great craft to involve children in, whether as a candle making project at home, or a craft at Brownies, Guides or Boy Scouts.

There are very few supplies you need too, basically a pair of scissors, a sheet of beeswax, one for every two people as the sheets are cut in half, and a cotton wick that is at least half an inch longer than the sheet of beeswax. Note that the beeswax sheets can be purchased at craft stores, that they come in many different colors, and they have a natural scent which is very pleasant.

Okay, so the first step is to carefully fold your sheet of beeswax in half, and then press along the fold. This will flatten the sheet, and make it easier to cut, which is the next step. Cut the beeswax sheet along the fold line with the scissors.

Now you are ready to start making your first candle, so place your half sheet of bees wax on a clean surface. Place the candle wick along one long edge of the sheet of beeswax, with at least half an inch of the wick extending beyond the sheet at both ends.

Now you slowly and carefully begin to roll the edge of the wax sheet around the candle wick, tucking in the beeswax sheet around the wick as tightly as possible. Continue rolling your sheet of wax as evenly and neatly as possible, using a little pressure from your fingers to push the wax sheet evenly. The tighter you roll your candle the better it will look, and the nicer it will burn.

Once you have finished rolling, use the warmth from your fingers to gently press the edge of the bees wax sheet, starting in the middle of the roll, and working out to the top and bottom of the candle. This will seal the candle to itself stop it unrolling. You do not need to use any heat, just the warmth from your hands is usually sufficient.

Next, using the scissors, trim the wick at the bottom of the candle so that it is flush with the wax. At the top of the candle, trim the wick to about 1/4″ inch, just enough for it to light. And there you have it, one beeswax candle, made at home and ready to use or to give away.

If you are planning to give these as gifts, you could make some of different colors, and tie them together in a bundle with a nice big bow of ribbon that goes well with the candle colors you have made, or that goes with the season. For example, use Christmas ribbon for Christmas gifts.

As you can see from the details above, it is very easy to make beeswax candles at home, or anywhere else, and it is a good project for children to do.

Bees Wax Candles

Bees Wax Candles

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How To Make Scented Candles At Home

October 23, 2009

Learning how to make scented candles at home is a fun hobby to have. If you make a mistake, you can simply melt the wax and start again! There are a lot of candle making kits on the market these days, so you can just pick up one of those to start with, and then [...]

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How To Make Soy Candles At Home

October 22, 2009

If you are wanting to make soy candles at home, then you have come to the right place. Below are the instructions for you, but first of all, for those not sure about soy candles, a few words about the success of soy for candles.
For many years paraffin wax was the only wax used for [...]

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