Making your Own Candles
Have you ever wanted to make your own sweet smelling long lasting all natural candle? There can be a lot of personal satisfaction in making your own candles. The designs and styles are only limited by your imagination. There are some basic items you need to make your own candles. We would suggest starting with one of the easiest types of candles - the container candle. These can be in glass jars, metal tins or whatever you can find that is not flammable. When using glass make sure it is thick enough to not crack when it gets hot. Always work in a safe well ventilated area. Keep a fire extinguisher nearby just in case of an accident. Never use water on a wax fire, it will spread the wax and the fire. If you don't have a fire extinguisher keep a box of baking soda nearby. Remember when making candles it is like anything else, the quality of the materials you put in is the quality of the result of your efforts. I would suggest using a good grade Advanced Soy Blend from www.dpswax.com They provide a great quality product and offer fast shipping. Start out small and just purchase a few pounds of wax to experiment. A double boiler is a good thing to have also as this prevents heating the wax unevenly or over heating the wax. A candy thermometer comes in handy as well since you will want to know the temperature of the wax before pouring your candle. Oils can be purchased from many locations online or locally. I would recommend using www.candlescience.com for your oils and containers; they are also a good source for wicks. While you are there grab some dye chips also if you want to add some colour to your candles. They have really high-quality products and fast shipping. Ok now that you have your containers, wicks, wax, dye chips and fragrance let’s get started.
Prior to working with the wax and oils have your containers prepped and ready. Make sure they are clean and dry and free of dust or debris. Glue the wick into the center of the bottom of the container. I’ve found that a hot glue gun works great for this. Just a small “dab will do ya” and it dries very fast.
In your double boiler add about one pound of wax for a 16 oz container or slightly over one pound. A good rule of thumb is one pound of flake wax is roughly 5 large handfuls of wax or if you have small hands 6. Use a metal spoon (or very hard plastic) to stir your wax. DON’T USE WOOD.
Melt the wax on low heat and stir continuously. Add your dye chips and let them dissolve completely, don’t forget your basic science classes when you were a kid... blue and yellow make green, red and yellow make orange... you get the idea. I wouldn’t recommend adding the fragrance in the pot you are melting your wax in because the oils are very strong and you don’t want to end up with banana pine or some other strange combination.
Slowly pour the melted wax into a separate container then add your fragrance. One fluid ounce to one pound of wax is a good ratio, you can always add more or less to suit your preference. Be careful not to get the oils on your hands because they are very strong and even after several washings you can still smell it on your skin. Stir the fragrance for 2-3 minutes until it is mixed very well into the wax. Check the wax with your candy thermometer. Once the wax has cooled to around 120-125 degrees it is ready to be poured.
I’ve found that using a small funnel works great to pour the wax in to your container. Pour the wax slow so it doesn’t splash up on the sides of your jar and remember to leave enough room at the top if you have a lid that fits in to the container such as the apothecary jars. www.candlescience.com has “wick bars” also which are great for holding the wicks in place while the wax is hardening. That’s it!!! Let your candle cool for 24 hours, trim your wick to ¼ inch in length and impress your family and friends with your new creation.
